Armstrong Case Heads for Court

Lance Armstrong's legal battle against the Sunday Times is set to go to trial after a judge ruled today that an article about drug abuse in cycling did suggest he was guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Mr Justice Gray told lawyers at the high court in London that the article did not merely raise questions about Armstrong's conduct, as the Sunday Times argued at a hearing earlier this week.

In a statement, the seven-times Tour de France winner said he was "extremely happy" with today's ruling.

"The Sunday Times position that the article simply raised questions about Mr Armstrong's conduct as a professional cyclist has today been shown to be without merit," said Keith Schilling, Armstrong's solicitor.

Armstrong is suing the Sunday Times over an article from June 13 2004, which discussed allegations of drug use made in a biography co-written by the paper's then chief sports writer, David Walsh, and a French journalist, Pierre Ballester.

The cyclist, who has always denied using performance-enhancing drugs, has taken action against the paper, Walsh and the author of the article, Alan English.