AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A former personal assistant to Lance Armstrong filed court papers Thursday alleging that he discovered a banned substance in the cycling champion's apartment early last year.
Armstrong's attorney, Timothy Herman, called the allegation false and "absurd."
Speculation kept building, meanwhile, that Armstrong would retire later this year after trying to win his seventh straight Tour de France.
"Four more months and it's over ...," he told Gazzetta dello Sport, the Italian newspaper reported Thursday.
"I miss my kids and all the pressure I have on me is taking its toll," he said.
Armstrong has scheduled a press conference in the United States on April 18 before the Tour of Georgia. He signed a two-year contract with his new team sponsor before this season, but the deal requires that he race just one more Tour de France.
"You will all know a little more in two weeks' time," he said after finishing 24th in the Paris-Camembert cycling race this week. "I have to talk to the press and I have to tell them something important.
"The only thing I know for sure is that I will be starting the Tour de France this year. But it could be the last."
Mark Higgins, a spokesman for Capital Sports Entertainment -- which represents Armstrong and runs the Discovery Channel team -- would only say Thursday: "Lance will make an announcement at the press conference that is to be determined."
In Texas, Mike Anderson, who is involved in a legal fight with Armstrong over alleged promises the cyclist made to help Anderson start a bike shop, made the claim about a banned substance in a brief filed in state district court.
Armstrong, who is in Europe, has maintained that he is drug-free. The cancer survivor frequently notes he is one of the most drug-tested athletes in the world.
"We are not going to be blackmailed or pay extortion money to hide something that isn't true," Herman said.
Anderson, who says he had a key to Armstrong's apartment in Girona, Spain, alleges he was cleaning the bathroom in "early 2004" when he found a white box labeled "like any other prescription drug" but that did not have a doctor's prescription attached.
Written on the box was the trademark name "Androstenine, or something very close to this," Anderson said.
"He went to the computer, looked it up on the WADA or USADA Web site(s), and confirmed that what he had found was an androgen, a listed banned substance," Anderson's court brief states, referring to the World Anti-Doping Agency and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Anderson said he put the box back in the medicine cabinet where he found it. Fearing he would be fired, he said he did not confront Armstrong about it. He said he looked for the box again after Armstrong left Girona to train in the Canary Islands, but didn't find it.
In an interview, Anderson said, "I had a job to do, that's why I kept my mouth shut. I tried for a very long time to give him the benefit of the doubt. I waited for months to even tell my wife."
Anderson said it was the only time he found the alleged substance and that he never saw Armstrong take any steroids or other banned substances.
Anderson also said he and Armstrong had a discussion in 2004 about cyclists who dope and claimed Armstrong told him, "Everyone does it."
Armstrong's attorney, Hal Gillespie, said that conversation took place before Anderson allegedly found the steroid. The lawyer also said he plans to depose Armstrong.
Anderson said he believes Armstrong knew about the alleged discovery because their relationship began to deteriorate almost immediately.
"We were friends, and then overnight, we were treated as very, very low class servants," Anderson said, although he continued to work for him until November.
Herman countered that the two maintained a good relationship for several more months.
Anderson said he was working as a mechanic at a local bike store when he met Armstrong more than four years ago. They became friends, often riding together, and Anderson regularly worked on Armstrong's bikes before becoming his personal assistant in November 2002.
Anderson said he was paid about $3,000 a month for duties that ranged from building bike trails on Armstrong's Hill Country property to doing his grocery shopping in Spain.
Anderson said he was fired in November 2004 after asking for, and getting, a $500-a-month raise. He said Armstrong's representatives offered him a severance package totaling $7,000.
Armstrong and his personal service company, Luke David LLC, sued Anderson about a month later, claiming Anderson demanded Armstrong pay him $500,000, give him a signed Tour de France jersey and future endorsements to help him set up his own bike shop.
Anderson countersued, accusing the cyclist of fraud, breach of contract and causing him severe emotional distress. Anderson says an e-mail Armstrong sent to offer him the job promised the help and should be considered a binding contract.
Anderson said Armstrong also demanded he sign a confidentiality agreement that would have held him liable for up to $1 million in damages.
Thursday's filing came because the court wanted more details in support of Anderson's claim.
Anderson said he reported the steroid claim to bolster his case that he was mistreated by Armstrong.
"I had no desire whatsoever to come out with this stuff," Anderson said. "I sought a settlement and then they sued me. If somebody wants to say I want to get money out of it, they're insulting my intelligence."
