London - Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong says he is afraid of being attacked by spectators if he competes in the 2009 edition of the race.

"I don't want to enter an unsafe situation but you see this stuff coming out of France. There are some aggressive, angry emotions. If you believe what you read my personal safety could be in jeopardy," Armstrong told Tuesday's Guardian newspaper.

"Cycling is a sport of the open road and spectators are lining that road. I try to believe that people, even if they don't like me, will let the race unfold."

Lausanne, Switzerland  - Italian cyclist Riccardo Ricco has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against a two-year ban imposed on him for doping by the Anti-doping Tribunal of the National Olympic Committee of Italy (CONI) last month.

Ricco tested positive for the blood-booster CERA (Continuous Erythropietin Receptor Activator), described as third-generation EPO, after the fourth stage of the race, on July 8.

However, the 25-year-old admitted to EPO doping three days after the positive result and decided against calling for his B-sample to be tested.

Dusseldorf - The former boss of the Coast cycling team was on Wednesday ordered by a German court to pay Jan Ullrich 340,000 euros (432,000 dollars) plus interest for failing to honour outstanding wages due to the now retired cyclist.

Guenther Dahms refused to pay Ullrich the money due to him because he was of the opinion the 1997 Tour de France winner was doped during his time with the Coast team.

"It is good that truth won out. It was easy for me today, telling the truth is always easy," said Ullrich after the verdict from a court in Dusseldorf.

Rome - A prosecutor for the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) recommended Tuesday that cyclist Emanuele Sella face a one-year ban rather than the maximum two years after admitting to doping.

Sella tested positive for the blood booster EPO in an out-of- competition test in July and subsequently confessed to doping during this year's Giro d'Italia, where he finished sixth overall, at a CONI hearing in August.