DOHA: With his financial future already looking uncertain, disgraced former superhuman Lance Armstrong is to soon have his troubles amplified by a Qatari man who claims he was duped into exercising by the drugs cheat.

In a lawsuit filed yesterday, Wassam Angina says he was “inspired” to start training by Armstrong, having watched him win seven Tour De France titles, something he now understands was achieved under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs.

“I feel like such a fool,” Angina, 35, told reporters. “Every time I would go for a run on the treadmill and then stop, wheezing, five minutes later, I’d be dreaming of being a winner, like Armstrong. He kept me going, spurring me on and willing me to achieve my goal of dropping below 120 kilograms. But now I know he was just lying to me.”

Angina is seeking $12 million in damages for the ongoing trauma he still suffers from the Armstrong-inspired exercise regime he began in late 2007 and stopped two weeks later because he “really wasn’t feeling any benefit at all”.