Lance Armstrong’s wealth could be in danger in the face of several lawsuits based on his confession of doping during Tour de France wins. (Getty Images)

Lance Armstrong’s confession of doping and using performance-enhancing drugs has brought on another lawsuit. The insurance company that paid him $3 million in bonuses for his first three Tour de France victories is suing Armstrong for fraud, according to Juliet Macur of The New York Times.

Acceptance Insurance Company sued Armstrong and Tailwind Sports Corp., his former team’s management company, in a Travis County court in Austin, Tex. on Thursday, claiming that Armstrong’s lies about doping in those Tour wins voided the policy and resulted in fraud.

The report adds that the fortune Armstrong amassed during his cycling and marketing career may take another big hit.

Though Armstrong’s estimated worth is about $125 million, his fortune appears to be in jeopardy, with potential legal payouts in excess of $106 million. The greatest threat to his bank account is a federal whistle-blower lawsuit unsealed last week in Washington.

Last week, the Justice Department joined a lawsuit against Armstrong that alleges he defrauded his longtime sponsor, the U.S. Postal Service.

In whistle-blower cases, plaintiffs could be awarded triple damages, which could mean Armstrong could owe the government about $90 million if he loses. Johan Bruyneel, his former team manager, and Tailwind Sports are also defendants.

Armstrong has also been sued by another insurance company that paid him $12.1 million in bonuses for winning several Tours. A British newspaper is also suing Armstrong to repay the $1.5 million it awarded him after he won a libel suit years ago.

Alex Rodriguez’s offseason has included a link to PEDs and rehabbing his hip. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Alex Rodriguez’s tumultuous off-season has included his being linked to the purchase and use of performance-enhancing drugs, and rumors that the Yankees were looking for a legal remedy to void the five years, $114 million remaining on his contract — all while the three-time American League Most Valuable Player has been rehabbing from a torn labrum in his left hip. Rodriguez said Thursday — despite all the negative press — he wants to remain a Yankee.

Rodriguez’s rehab and training is expected to keep him out of the lineup until midseason.

“I am conducting two rehab sessions each and every day in an effort to get back on the field and rejoin my Yankees teammates,” Rodriguez said through a spokesman. “I think we have a great team and I want to be a part of it.”

“Right now I’m dedicating 100 percent of my energy and focus on my rehabilitation,” Rodriguez said.

Melky Cabrera addressed his 50-game suspension in a statement on his first day at Blue Jays camp. (Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

Melky Cabrera issued a statement Friday at the Blue Jays spring training camp accepting responsibility for the failed drug test that resulted in his 50-game suspension, but feels that he still deserves a Giants World Series ring.

The Jays signed Cabrera to a two-year, $16 million deal in November.

Under the advice of his lawyers, Cabrera kept his remarks short, especially answers to questions about his name reportedly appeared in records of the Biogenisis clinic now under investigation by MLB for selling performance-enhancing drugs.

“Last season ended for me when I admitted taking a banned substance and accepted and served my punishment of a 50 game suspension. Since that day, my goals have been to serve my punishment and to put that mistake behind me, and to work hard to be the best baseball player I can be. At the end of last season, when it became clear that I would win the batting title despite my positive test, I asked the Players Association and MLB to make sure a more deserving player won, and I am very happy that my former teammate Buster Posey won that award instead of me.
“I also accepted the Giants’ decision not to bring me back for the Playoffs after I served my punishment. Instead, I continued to work hard so I could be ready for the 2013 season. I hoped and expected that I would be allowed to put my mistake behind me and to start this season fresh.

“I am aware that in the past weeks, there have been news articles written about so-called patient files from a Miami clinic, and the MLB and others are investigating those allegations. I have told MLB I will cooperate in their investigation the best I can, just as my legal counsel has told federal investigators. I have been instructed by legal counsel not to answer questions relating to the pending investigations. This statement will be the last comment I will make on the events of the 2012 season. I have put my mistakes behind me, have learned my lesson, and have served my punishment.

“I am here to play the best baseball I can to help the Toronto Blue Jays win a World Championship.”

Cabrera said he was happy that the Giants won the World Series and he wasn’t sure whether the team would give him a World Series ring. He said the Giants have not asked for his ring size.

“I feel like I deserve a ring,” he said. “I gave everything to that organization. If they decide not to give me a ring, I’d understand that, too.”

Former Olympic shot put champion, Udo Beyer, admitted to doping in a recent documentary. (Tony Duffy/Getty Images)

Udo Beyer, shot put gold medalist at the 1976 Games, admitted to doping in a documentary, according to the Globe and Mail:

Beyer competed for East Germany, which had a systematic doping program for its top athletes, many of whom have said they were not aware they were being given performance-enhancing substances.

Beyer made the statements in the documentary, “The Lone Wolf,” which was made by former diver, Sandra Kaudelka, and shown at the Berlin Film Festival this week. He said the decision was his and insisted that he won gold in’76 because he was “the best” and not because he had taken PEDs:

“I knew everything that was done with me. Things I did were my own decision. I gave myself the right to do it,” he said. “There were things I refused and there were things I did. And there were no secret things in the tea.”

“Everything else is hard work. And if you are not properly trained, you can swallow as many pills as you want … you will never be a top athlete.”

Beyer also said doping accounted for only about two or three percent of an athlete’s performance. He also competed in the 1980, 1988 and 1992 Games and won bronze in ’80.

Alex Rodriguez has denied a report linking him to a South Florida PEDs supplier. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The latest on the Major League Baseball investigation into performance-enhancing drugs includes MLB officials judiciously gathering information in South Florida and Alex Rodriguez likely avoiding having his Yankees contract voided, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.

Major League Baseball will wait to interview players linked to a Miami-area “wellness” clinic by a Miami New Times report this week. While the league was already investigating PEDs issues in South Florida, officials want to build as definitive a case as possible before interviewing players such as Rodriguez, Gio Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz.

MLB reportedly is already interviewing “people” associated with the University of Miami.

Heyman reports the Yankees are letting MLB handle Rodriguez’s alleged ties to the clinic and there is no belief that any team can void a contract based on PEDs use. Penalties for PEDs use in MLB’s drug agreement do not include an option for voiding a contract.

Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz was linked to a Miami “wellness” clinic that allegedly supplied PEDs. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz denied allegations that he purchased $4,000 worth of products from a Miami “wellness” clinic reported to have supplied performance-enhancing drugs to several major-league players, according to a statement issued through his lawyer.

Cruz was one of the major-league players, including Alex Rodriguez, Gio Gonzalez and Bartolo Colon, to be linked to Biogenesis through a now closed “wellness clinic” run by Anthony Bosch, according to a Miami New Times report.

“We are aware of certain allegations and inferences,” Cruz’s law firm, Farrell & Reisinger, said in a statement released to the Associated Press. “To the extent these allegations and inferences refer to Nelson, they are denied.”

The Dallas Morning News reports Farrell & Reisinger is not Cruz’s baseball representative. He is represented by Seth and Sam Levinson of ACEs. The statement apparently was released before Thursday.

Reisinger and Farrell has represented several current and former major leaguers involved in Congressional investigations of PEDs including New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte and Sammy Sosa.

Alex Rodriguez has denied a recent report linking him to PEDs. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Yankees are exploring legal remedies to void their contract with Alex Rodriguez after new allegations of illegal performance-enhancing drug use, according to ESPNNewYork.com.

According to several baseball sources who spoke to ESPNNewYork.com on the condition of anonymity, the Yankees may be hard-pressed to void Rodriguez’s contract — with five years, $114 million remaining — even if the charges made in a story by the Miami New Times are true. No Major League Baseball contract has ever been voided by PEDs use.

The three-time American League Most Valuable Player is one of six  MLB players reportedly linked to a Miami-area “wellness clinic” that allegedly distributed performance-enhancing drugs and set players up with detailed doping regimens.

According to an industry source in ESPN.com’s report, the Yankees “are looking at about 20 different things,” including whether Rodriguez breached the contract by taking medical treatment from an outside doctor without the team’s authorization, and the possibility that he may have broken the law by purchasing controlled substances from the clinic run by nutritionist Anthony Bosch.

“(The Yankees) can’t do anything until the MLB investigation is concluded and they take action, if any,” the source said.

On Tuesday, Rodriguez denied the report that alleges he purchased performance-enhancing drugs and human growth hormone from the clinic.

Anthony Bosch, a south Florida biochemist, supplied performance-enhancing drugs to Alex Rodriguez and more than half a dozen other major league players according to a report from the Miami New Times. MLB officials believe the news could grow into a doping scandal that would rival the BALCO case that implicated Barry Bonds, says Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan.

Bosch reportedly gave out human growth hormone, synthetic testosterone and other PEDs to players who had previously not been linked including Rodriguez and Nelson Cruz. A few of Bosch’s other clients had already been caught by the league (Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon and Yasmani Grandal).

There, at number seven on the list, is Alex Rodriguez. He paid $3,500, Bosch notes. Below that, he writes, “1.5/1.5 HGH (sports perf.) creams test., glut., MIC, supplement, sports perf. Diet.” HGH, of course, is banned in baseball, as are testosterone creams.

The mentions of Rodriguez begin in 2009 and continue all the way through last season. Take a page in another notebook, which is labeled “2012″ and looks to have been written last spring. Under the heading “A-Rod/Cacique,” Bosch writes, “He is paid through April 30th. He will owe May 1 $4,000… I need to see him between April 13-19, deliver troches, pink cream, and… May meds. Has three weeks of Sub-Q (as of April).”

arod in particular has a lot to answer to. he testified to mlb powers that his usage was limited to 2001-03. #peds—
Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) January 29, 2013

The #Yankees will wait for #MLB to do its thing on this Miami New Times story before dealing with A-Rod. That's the protocol.—
Ken Davidoff (@KenDavidoff) January 29, 2013

According to the report, Cruz gave Bosch $4,000 in July 2012, and Gio Gonzalez is also mentioned five times in the records. The report also includes boxers and tennis players with links to the South Florida area.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig will announce the decision to begin in-season testing of HGH. (Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Baseball will expand its drug-testing program to include in-season testing for human growth hormone (HGH) and testosterone, according to the New York Times. The league and players union reached a deal which is expected to be officially announced on Thursday during the owners meetings.

Random, unannounced tests will begin this season, and punishments will be the same as those for steroids: a 50-game suspension for the first positive test, a 100-game suspension for the second positive test and a lifetime ban after a third positive test.

MLB agreed to begin testing for HGH in November 2011 but only in spring training and the offseason; there were concerns that player performance would be affected by blood tests before or after regular season games.

The new agreement also includes a new testing procedure for testosterone — establishing baseline levels of the substance in players and citing them for a positive test if there is a substantially higher amount in their system.

Russian discus thrower, Darya Pishchalnikova, may lose the silver medal she won in London after testing positive for a banned substance. (Jonathan Nackstrand/Getty Images)

Russian Olympian, Darya Pishchalnikova may lose the silver medal she won in the discus at the 2012 Games in London after testing positive in a doping test, reports the Associated Press:

Russia’s All Sports agency says Pishchalnikova tested positive for the banned substance Oxandrolone in a reanalysis of a sample taken in an out-of-competition control last May. The original test was negative, but her sample was checked again months later based on a more advanced testing method introduced by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Pishchalnikova, 27, who was competing in her first Olympics in London, also faces a lifetime ban. If she is stripped of her medal, the silver would go to China’s Li Yanfeng and bronze to Yareli Barriosnikova of Cuba.

Former U.S. cyclist Bobby Julich is the latest rider to come forward about PED use. He was relieved of his Team Sky coaching duties after his confession. (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Former U.S. cyclist Bobby Julich admitted to using PEDs during the late 1990s and was subsequently relieved of his duties as a coach with Team Sky on Thursday. The British team asked staff and riders to confirm they had no links to doping in a move to clean up the sport after the USADA report that led to Lance Armstrong being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.

Julich, who was a teammate of Armstrong’s between 1995 and 1997, admitted to using EPO between August 1996 and July 1998. His wife discovered that he was doping during the 1998 Tour de France when he finished third, the best result of his career. In his confession letter, which was sent to Cycling News, Julich said:

“Those days were very different from today, but it was not a decision that I reached easily. I knew that it was wrong, but over those two years, the attitude surrounding the use of EPO in the peloton was so casual and accepted that I personally lost perspective of the gravity of the situation…. I apologise to everyone, especially those associated with Team Sky for my past indiscretions. I made some poor decisions and have paid and will pay a huge price.”

Julich spent two years with Team Sky. He also left a message to new cyclists in his confession letter:

“To this new generation of young riders; I hope that you will learn from the past and avoid the mistakes many of us have made. It is up to your generation to insure that the issues of the past do not affect your future. I am truly sorry that you all are dealing with something that you had no part in creating.”

Robinson Cano said he is not worried about false PED suspension rumors. (Elsa/Getty Images)

New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano and his agent, Scott Boras, yesterday said there was no truth to rumors of Cano being suspended for performance-enhancing drugs.

A Major League Baseball official with knowledge of the league’s drug testing backed up Cano’s denial, confirming to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that Cano did not test positive for a performance-enhancing substance.

“Not at all,” Cano told The New York Daily News. “There’s no test or anything.”

Cano’s agent, Scott Boras, told The News that the rumors were baseless. He said his office had traced the allegation to a rumor that originated in the Dominican Republic, a reporter in the U.S. and a rival agent who has been saying that a prominent Latin player has been mired in baseball’s appeals process.

The Players Association notifies players who test positive for performance-enhancing drugs, and players then usually turn to their agents and other representatives to prepare an appeal.

“I have not been told anything about it,” Boras said.

Cano’s friendship with Melky Cabrera, suspended by MLB last month for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, led to speculation that Cano would also test positive. But Cano said he isn’t concerned about what other people say or think.

“You can’t control what people say,” Cano said. “There’s a lot of negative stuff out there and I can’t control that. I have to stay above that. There’s been the same thing for a long time. It’s something I can’t control.”

A’s pitcher Bartolo Colon reportedly failed an MLB drug test. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Another Bay Area Major League Baseball player has reportedly failed a drug test.

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports is reporting A’s pitcher Bartolo Colon failed an MLB drug test and “is subject to a 50-game suspension.”

Colon, whose career improved after a controversial stem-cell treatment, is 10-9 with a 3.43 ERA for the A’s in 2012. He finished 8-10 with a 4.00 ERA with the Yankees in 2011.

Colon’s suspension comes after MLB gave San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera a 50-game suspension.

Victor Conte said he knew Melky Cabrera was cheating. (Scott Wintrow/Getty Images)

Victor Conte, the former founder of BALCO, told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale he knew Melky Cabrera was cheating before the San Francisco Giants outfielder was suspended by Major League Baseball for using synthetic testosterone. Conte believes “as much as half” of current MLB players are using performance-enhancing drugs.

Wait, you’re saying that 50% of baseball players might still be cheating today, when the steroid era is supposed to be over?

“I’m not going to name names,” Conte said, “but I’ve talked to a lot of top players in Major League Baseball, and they tell me this is what they’re doing. There is rampant use of synthetic testosterone in Major League Baseball.”

Major League Baseball, which insists it has the most stringent drug-testing program in American sports, has difficulty believing the numbers could be that high.

“There is no way that Victor Conte would have information that would allow him to have any basis on that,” MLB vice president Rob Manfred told USA TODAY Sports. “He’s just making that up. It’s a guess.

“We use the very best, most sophisticated methodologies that are available.”

The new Major League Baseball collective bargain agreement is itself just a report at this point, a verbal agreement that is expected to be signed early next week.  But within that overarching narrative, there are rumors of specifics within the agreement, perhaps most notably a report from ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney that the new CBA will include blood testing for human growth hormone.

Olney cites two league sources claiming that this testing will begin in spring training prior to the 2012 season, and that the penalty for a positive HGH test will not exceed the penalty for a positive steroid test: a 50 game suspension.

HGH testing in minor league baseball has been in place since last year; Mike Jacobs, a first baseman then with the Colorado Rockies organization, was the first minor league ballplayers suspended for failing an HGH test, in August of 2011.