Armstrong goes to court over US doping probe leaks

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The legal team for cycling  superstar Lance Armstrong, who is under federal investigation  for doping, has asked a U.S. judge to probe apparent leaks of  secret grand jury proceedings examining the sport.

Lance Armstrong

Armstrong, who won the Tour de France seven times, has  denied taking banned substances but has had to fend off  accusations by former teammates that he did so despite never  failing drug tests.

The cyclist’s newly hired legal team filed a motion in  federal court in California asking a judge to investigate  purported leaks from grand jury proceedings and require  prosecutors to show why they should not be held in contempt.

“Each leak has revealed information damaging to Armstrong’s  reputation and has been carefully calculated to drum up  publicity and cultivate public support for an investigation  that is, to say the least, questionable in both its motive and  its merits,” his lawyers wrote in the 20-page motion filed last  week and released on Monday.