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Athletic gear maker Nike and the bicycle maker that sponsors Lance Armstrong's racing team are cooperating with federal authorities investigating.

The seven-time Tour de France champion and others in cycling, spokesmen for both companies said Friday.

Investigators requested documents from Trek Bicycle Corp. early in July and company officials complied fully, said Bill Mashek, a spokesman for the Waterloo, Wis.-based company.

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Just when he thought he was out, Lance Armstrong gets pulled back in. The 38-year-old cyclist says he feels all of his years these days and notices how long it takes him to recover from.

A big crash, much unlike when he was, say, in his 20s. That said, he's still on the fence about whether or not he'll ultimately jump back on a bike in any competitive sense.

But you better believe he's thinking about it.On Wednesday, the seven-time Tour de France champion announced plans to hold an international pro-cycling competition in Colorado, scheduled for August 22-28, 2011.

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Lance Armstrong took to the streets of downtown Denver on Wednesday with Gov. Bill Ritter and hundreds of citizen cyclists to celebrate the realization of his dream of bringing a major international pro-cycling stage race to Colorado next year.

It was a welcome respite for Armstrong, who is under scrutiny from federal investigators looking into cheating in professional cycling following claims by former teammate Floyd Landis that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

The exact route of the Aug. 22-28, 2011, race, called the Quiznos Pro Challenge, has not been mapped out yet, but it will include a mix of mountain, sprint and downtown stages like the old Coors Classic, which ended in 1988, Armstrong told The Associated Press in advance of the announcement on the steps of the state capitol.

Fresh off his second retirement from the Tour de France, which he won a record seven times, Armstrong said he hopes to ride in the Quiznos Pro Challenge himself, but he wasn't making any promises.

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Lance Armstrong's attorney has lashed out at a report that a former teammate of the seven-time Tour de France champion told investigators.

Armstrong knew of widespread performance-enhancing drug use on the US Postal Service team.Attorney Bryan D. Daly said there are hundreds of former Armstrong teammates who would deny he broke the rules to win.

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Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong helped reveal a new US cycling stage race to debut in 2011 and the American star said he might even ride in it. Armstrong and state officials announced on Wednesday the creation of the Quiznos Pro Challenge, a seven-stage race likely to begin and end in Denver that will take place next August and be sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI).

"This race is about future generations of cycling in the US," 38-year-old Armstrong said. "What started out as a wacky idea is a reality."Armstrong said he has not ruled out racing in the event even though he made it clear his days of riding at the Tour de France and other elite European races are definitely over.

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Doping Scandal May Hurt Lance Armstrong Foundation: Lance Armstrong has overcome cancer, rival cyclists and nagging allegations of doping to become one of the world's best-paid athletes and a sought-after pitchmen. He's also turned the Lance Armstrong Foundation, better known as Livestrong, into one of the top 10 groups funding cancer research in the United States. Since its inception in 1997 it has raised more than $325 million, and become synonymous with the 72 million yellow bracelets it has sold bearing the Livestrong name.

The Armstrong brand is one of the best in sports. Yet everything the seven-time Tour de France champion has created is now threatened by a new opponent: a federal investigation. Philanthropy experts say the foundation, in particular, is at risk of losing future donations if its namesake and chairman is dragged down in scandal.
Federal prosecutors have been investigating pro cycling since Floyd Landis, a former Armstrong teammate who was stripped of his 2006 Tour title, admitted this spring that he used performance-enchancing drugs. Landis also accused many others in the sport, including Armstrong, of doping too.

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Commonwealth Games hopeful Peter Latham continued the recent success on the roads of North America for New Zealand cyclists yesterday. The Te Awamutu cyclist won the opening time trial stage of the Tour of Elk Grove near Chicago, edging out 2007 champion Mike Friedman by less than 0.2 seconds over the 7.2km test.

Latham, riding for Team Bissell, hopes to be named this week in the New Zealand team for October's Commonwealth Games, where he would swap the road for his more accustomed role in the team pursuit squad on the track, although he could be called on to also cover for the road race.

It is the silence that Julian Dean finds toughest to take. Nestled away in Gandia, just south of Valencia, Spain, Dean should be contentedly resting on a bed of laurels as his family - wife Carole and kids Tanner and Val - go about the business of having their husband and father back home.

But there's something missing. "It's very, very strange," Dean says. "`One of the things about the Tour is it's a constant barrage of people, a constant barrage of noise. There's always cars, traffic; there's always something going on. The moment you step outside your hotel door, you're surrounded by people.

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Lance Armstrong drew the curtain down on an amazing career in top-class international cycling on Sunday as a hero to his devoted followers.

But much less so to the sceptics. Armstrong, who won the Tour de France a record seven times, helped cycling shift from a sport of tradition and folklore into a modern, professional, global one.

The 38-year-old American, who finished a distant 23rd in his final Tour de France, has won the world’s greatest race more than anyone else, reigning on the Tour from 1999-2005.

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Alberto Contador stood atop the podium at the Tour de France on Sunday for the third time in four years, struggling to rein in his emotions as Spain's national anthem echoed across the wide boulevard of the Champs-Elysees. Off to one side, Lance Armstrong applauded and then, without much fanfare, headed toward the exit.

"I need a cold beer," he said when asked his thoughts at the finish line. Rarely has the emergence of a sport's newest superstar dovetailed so neatly with the departure of the last one. Contador held off a next-to-last day challenge from Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, his runner-up for a second consecutive year, draining much of the drama from the 20th and final stage. Denis Menchov of Russia was third overall.

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