CYCLING Armstrong vowing to take action

He strongly denied the latest allegations of drug use.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) -- Lance Armstrong juggled controversy and ceremony Tuesday, promising to take action against "absolutely untrue" doping accusations and announcing a new sponsor.
Just 21/2 weeks before he begins his attempt to win an unprecedented sixth consecutive Tour de France, Armstrong strongly denied claims by a former assistant in a new book. The assistant says Armstrong once asked her to dispose of used syringes and to give him makeup to conceal needle marks on his arms.
"I can absolutely confirm that we don't use doping products," Armstrong said at a news conference at the headquarters of Discovery Communications, which will begin sponsoring his team next year.
"This is not the first time I've lived through this. I heard it in 1999. I heard it in 2002, again in 2003. It happens all the time."
Armstrong said he usually ignores such claims but decided he had had enough.
He also said he was frustrated to have to deal with a distraction so close to the Tour de France.
"We're sick and tired of these allegations and we're going to do everything we can to fight them," he said.
"They're absolutely untrue."
The allegations took some of the shine away from the announcement of a three-year, multimillion-dollar deal with Discovery, which will replace the U.S. Postal Service as the sponsor of Armstrong's team. The prospect of not having a sponsor left the 32-year-old Armstrong contemplating retirement, but now he says he'll ride in next year's Tour de France and possibly beyond.
"I just didn't want to go away," said Armstrong, who was accompanied by his girlfriend, rocker Sheryl Crow. "I love what I do. I still love the bike."
The latest accusations appear in the French-language book "L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance Armstrong" by David Walsh and Pierre Ballester.