AUSTIN, Texas – Lance Armstrong angrily denied the latest allegation that he used performance-enhancing drugs, dismissing the claims of a former teammate’s wife that he admitted it a few days after brain surgery in 1996.

In a two-page denial released Friday, the seven-time Tour de France champion called the allegations reported in Le Monde, France’s most prestigious newspaper, “stale, unfounded and untrue.”

The newspaper reported Friday it received a copy of Betsy Andreu’s sworn statements before an arbitration panel in January.

Andreu’s husband, Frankie Andreu, rode with Armstrong on his winning Tours in 1999 and 2000 before leaving Armstrong’s team.

A telephone message for Betsy Andreu at their home in Michigan was not immediately returned.

Le Monde reported that Frankie Andreu gave sworn testimony in October with the same allegations as his wife.

According to Le Monde, Betsy Andreu said Armstrong’s alleged admission came Oct. 28, 1996, three days after his brain surgery.

She said she was in Armstrong’s hospital room when the doctor asked if he had ever taken doping products. She said Armstrong replied “yes.”

“He asks which ones. And Lance replies, ‘EPO, growth hormones, cortisone, steroids, testosterone,'” Andreu was quoted as saying.

To refute her claim, Armstrong’s attorney, Tim Herman, released to The Associated Press a sworn statement from Dr. Craig Nichols, who administered Armstrong’s chemotherapy at Indiana University Medical Center. Nichols is now the chair of hematology-oncology at Oregon Health and Sciences University.

In a statement submitted during arbitration, Nichols said that in multiple doctor-patient interviews, Armstrong never admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Nichols said he began Armstrong’s chemotherapy that same day as the alleged admission. He said he and other medical personnel had talked with Armstrong about his medical history.

“Lance Armstrong never admitted, suggested or indicated that he has ever taken performance-enhancing drugs. Had this been disclosed to me, I would have recorded it, or been aware of it, as a pertinent aspect of Lance Armstrong’s past medical history as I always do,” Nichols said.

Armstrong’s statement said part of his cancer treatments included steroids and EPO.

Armstrong’s doctors repeatedly asked him during his treatment about substances he may have taken and he answered only that he occasionally drank beer, Herman said.

All witness testimony in the arbitration case was supposed to be kept confidential. Armstrong said his legal team is trying to find out who leaked documents to the newspaper and is considering legal action.