Lance back on offensive

"Predictably, I will be the subject tomorrow of another baseless attack by another French book," Armstrong said in a statement on his website.

"The authors, David Walsh and Pierre Ballester, now issue a sequel to an earlier French book that was likewise founded upon a demonstrably false string of sensational, untrue and fabricated allegations."

Released on Thursday, "LA Official" is a follow-up to 2004's "L.A. Confidential: The Secrets of Lance Armstrong."

Armstrong said that the book was being published "only in France to hide from legal accountability."

The latest book uses testimony from Armstrong's lawsuit with SCA Promotions claiming that the American used performance enhancing drugs to win his record seven Tour de France titles.

Armstrong won the arbitration hearing, as well as a $7.5 million (&euro6 million) award, from the company which refused to pay him a bonus contract because of doping allegations.

"Beyond the web of deception that Lance Armstrong spun around his image one has to ask questions about the serious repercussions of this tactic," read a statement from "L.A. Official's" authors.

"After the disturbing revelation of a blood-doping network in Spain and the shameful Floyd Landis episode, does elite cycling retain any crumbs of credibility?"

Armstrong has supported compatriot and former team-mate Floyd Landis, who tested positive for heightened testosterone levels during his 2006 Tour de France victory and now faces a USADA hearing to determine the future of his crown.

Armstrong, however, has never once tested positive in an official doping control.

"I raced clean. I won clean. I am the most tested athlete in the history of sports. I have defended myself and won every court case to prove I was clean," Armstrong said.

"Yet another French book with baseless, sensational and rejected allegations will not overcome the truth."