THE Sunday Times has issued proceedings against Lance Armstrong, the American cyclist exposed as a drug cheat, over his 2004 libel action against the newspaper.

Armstrong sued the title after it raised questions about whether he had been cheating. The case was subsequently settled, with the newspaper paying £300,000 towards Armstrong’s legal fees.

However, Armstrong was formally stripped of his Tour de France titles in October after a United States Anti-Doping Agency investigation found he was a systematic drugs cheat.

Pat McQuaid, president of the international cycling union UCI, said: “Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling. He deserves to be forgotten in cycling.”

The Sunday Times is now demanding a return of the settlement payment plus interest, as well as its costs in defending