Lance Armstrong never took steroids. Federal prosecutors dropped their investigation today after trying for nearly two-years to determine if the 7-time Tour de France winner used performance enhancing drugs.

Armstrong has been accused of using steroids often by former teammates, but the cyclists has strongly denied the rumors.  Armstrong attorney Mark Fabiani said in a statement today:

“This is great news. Lance is pleased that the United States Attorney made the right decision, and he is more determined than ever to devote his time and energy to Livestrong and to the causes that have defined his career.”

The Associated Press reports that the charges stem from an investigation into the Rock Racing cycling team which was owned by fashion entrepreneur Michael Ball and Lance Armstrong.

United States Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. announced today that the investigation was over. Birotte Jr. did not provide a reason. Birotte Jr. said:

“(We are) closing the investigation into allegations of federal criminal conduct by members and associates of a professional bicycle racing team owned in part by Lance Armstrong.”

The NY Times reports that the federal government was investigation charges of defrauding of the government, drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy. Government officials were especially interested to find out of the Rock Cycle team used any funds from the United States Postal Service, one of its main sponsors, to buy PEDs.

Betsy Andreu, who has accused of Armstrong of using steroids, said that the decision to end the investigation was baffling. Andreu said:

“Our legal system failed us. This is what happens when you have a lot of money and you can buy attorneys who have people in high places in the Department of Justice.”

Do you think the government made the right decision to drop the case against Lance Armstrong?

Lance Armstrong Steroid Case Closed, Charges Dropped is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s been a while since October hit the scene as breast cancer awareness month- and a wave of pink descends across the retail market as well as the internet after the movement became high-profile years ago.

While breast cancer is an issue with a significant amount of awareness, far less attention is paid to issues that mainly strike men (although I am obligated to point out here that men can and do suffer from breast cancer, albeit in far smaller numbers than women tend to) like prostate cancer and testicular cancer. Thus Movember began, a month where men abandon their razors and sport mustaches to draw awareness to men’s concerns.

If you are a dude and concerned with dude’s issues, or you have a dude who you think could help draw awareness to dude’s issues, you can log on to Movember.com and learn how to support no-shave November. The site explains:

Once registered at www.movember.com, men start Movember 1st clean shaven. For the rest of the month, these selfless and generous men, known as Mo Bros, groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of fine moustachery. Supported by the women in their lives, Mo Sistas, Movember Mo Bros raise funds by seeking out sponsorship for their Mo-growing efforts… Mo Bros effectively become walking, talking billboards for the 30 days of November. Through their actions and words they raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men’s health.

And the movement for Movember isn’t just grassroots- it is linked to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG, the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Funds raised are directed to support these goals. Do you think it’s time men’s concerns got the same amount of airtime as issues like breast cancer do?

Movember Kicks Off Month of No Shaving to Boost Men’s Issues is a post from: The Inquisitr

Lance Armstrong turned 40-years-old eight days ago and to celebrate he has entered the XTERRA USA championship at Snowbasin Ski Resort in Utah.

Armstrong confirmed on Thursday that he would compete in the competition which includes a 1-mile swim, 20-mile mountain bike ride and 6-mile trail run.

To prepare for the race Armstrong spent three hours checking out the course this week and told the Associated Press:

“It seemed like a fun time and the training has been going very well,” while adding,  ”I’ll go out there and have a good time and see how it goes.”

Armstrong also revealed that it has been 23 years since he’s competed in a triathlon and while he doesn’t expect to win he says training for the event has been on-going for the last eight months.

Among competitors at the triatlon will be five-time national champion Josiah Middaugh and two-time Ironman world champion Tim DeBoom.

When asked about aspirations to take on the Tour de France again Armstrong said he wasn’t interested but wanted to give this “beast” a try.

While Armstrong has never taken on the XTERRA competition he has experience in triathlons, having started his career in the three stage events at the age of 16, ranking as the top 19-and-under competitor in the late 1980s.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that the biking part of the triathlon will be Lance Armstrong’s biggest strength.

Do you think at 40-years-old Armstrong can place well in the competition despite his lack of triathlon experience in the last several decades?

Lance Armstrong To Compete In Triathlon is a post from: The Inquisitr

I love it when the people stocking shelves do stuff like this.

[via reddit]

Lance Armstrong book placement pwnage is a post from: The Inquisitr

Floyd Landis, the US cyclist who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France win after turning up elevated levels of testosterone in tests, has always maintained that he did not use performance enhancing drugs.

Now, in a series of emails sent to sponsors and cycling officials, Landis has admitted to using substances to gain a competitive edge in the sport during most of his career. He also accuses prominent fellow cyclists, including Lance Armstrong, of engaging in the practice:

…Mr. Landis said that Mr. Armstrong’s longtime coach, Johan Bruyneel, introduced Mr. Landis to the use of steroid patches, blood doping and human growth hormone in 2002 and 2003, his first two years on the U.S. Postal Service team. He alleged Mr. Armstrong helped him understand the way the drugs worked. “He and I had lengthy discussions about it on our training rides during which time he also explained to me the evolution of EPO testing and how transfusions were now necessary due to the inconvenience of the new test,” Mr. Landis claimed in the email.

Cycling fans have been watching Lance Armstrong’s Twitter account for comment, but the cyclist has not acknowledged Landis’s accusations on the microblogging service yet. Landis throws a few other cyclists under the bus as well:

In addition to these allegations, Mr. Landis’s emails called current anti-doping efforts “a charade,” detailed how to use EPO without getting caught and claimed he helped former teammates Levi Leipheimer and Dave Zabriskie take EPO before one Tour of California race.

Pat McQuaid, president of the International Cycling Union, has read Landis’s emails but says the cyclist’s credibility is so damaged at this point that his accounts are unreliable:

“I think Landis is in a very sad situation and I feel sorry for the guy because I don’t accept anything he says as true,” McQuaid said in a telephone interview on Thursday. “This is a guy who has been condemned in court, who has stood up in court and stated that he never saw any doping in cycling. He’s written a book saying he won the Tour de France clean. Where does that leave his credibility? He has an agenda and is obviously out to seek revenge.”

Landis says he chose now to come clean because a statue of limitations may run out.

[WSJ, NYT]

Floyd Landis cops to doping 4 years ago, accuses other prominent US cyclists is a post from: The Inquisitr

I do think this year’s Tour de France will go into the history books. I found the Tour pretty boring with a few mountain etapes (routes) and poor competition from the other teams. Saxo Bank and Team Colombia managed to threaten Astana from time to time, but it never became really exciting.

About the lack of mountain routes how can Thor Hushovd win a mountain route? He is a sprinter.

One moment might go into the history books. As Alberto Contador is stood on the podium in Paris they played the Danish anthem instead of the Spanish.

Ironically enough two years ago Contador was “given” the Tour victory after Danish rider Michael Rasmussen was kicked out of Tour de France.

Still a shame for Contador to have his moment ruined by a simple error.

Contador wins Tour de France – Wrong Nat’l hymn is played is a post from: The Inquisitr

Lance Armstrong will secure a podium finish in the 2009 Tour de France today in a fractured and divided Team Astana behind winner and team mate Alberto Contador, but he’s already looking ahead to building a team around himself for next year’s Tour sponsored by Radio Shack.

The Texas-based electronics conglomerate follows in the footsteps of US Postal and Discovery Channel, who have sponsored previous teams during the Texan’s run of seven consecutive Tour de France wins. Armstrong has indicated on his Web site that he will build a team for next year’s Tour and plenty of other activities surrounding his anti-cancer vehicle Livestrong.

As to who else will be on the team, no one other than Armstrong has been confirmed. Johan Bruyneel, the director of Astana, has indicated that he will be leaving the team next year, and given his history with previous Armstrong teams he would be a strong candidate to steer Team Radio Shack.

Armstrong has already built a developmental team of young riders called Trek-Livestrong, which did not compete at this year’s Tour but could provide some domestiques to help the champion out in future races. Team captain Taylor Phinney is one of a number of young American riders who could well make the easy transition. Former US junior national road champion Ben King is another. The full Trek-Livestrong rider list also includes Ryan Bauman, Sam Bewley, Ben Bradshaw, Cody Campbell, Guy East, Ryohei Komori, Taylor Kuphaldt, Julian Kyer, Bjorn Selander and Jesse Sergent.

Phinney won the Under 23 Paris-Roubaix in June, riding with three of his Trek-Livestrong team mates in the final leading group of the road race.

Lance Armstrong has a mountain to climb to build Team Radio Shack is a post from: The Inquisitr

Rinaldo Nocentini of the AG2R La Mondiale team is the surprising new leader of the 2009 Tour de France after the opening mountain stage 7 from Barcelona to Andorra.

At some times during the stage it was looking like Lance Armstrong would pass leader Swiss Fabian Cancellara of Team Saxo Bank after Cancellara fell behind the group containing most of the leaders with about 4 kilometres left to ride. The 224km stage was all uphill, with two major climbs including the first of three mountaintop finishes in this year’s Tour.

Frenchman Brice Feillu of the Agritubel team won the stage, but his gap of over eight minutes behind the leaqders meant he was not in contention to steal yellow. The Italian Nocentini started the day 3:13 behind and lead the main group by as much as five minutes at times during the stage.

Nocentini is not expected to challenge for the lead long term in the race, but he has at least one night to enjoy himself wearing the most famous vest in professional sport.

Rinaldo Nocentini wears yellow jersey after 2009 Tour de France stage 7 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sitting at a lowly 26th in the general classification of the 2009 Tour de France with all of his major rivals in front of him, it seems it’s not Australian cyclist Cadel Evans’ year yet again, after finishing second the last two years. But can he ever win the event?

There are several factors militating against him. First is that the teams around him are often flawed – no more than this year, where even before the two late withdrawals by team mates through association with doping he was going to struggle to get the support from Silence-Lotto that the likes of Lance Armstrong, Carlos Sastre and the Schleck brothers enjoy in their teams. This is mostly due to Euro economics: the most popular teams want European faces at the head of their teams because it makes them more attractive to sponsors to get attention from the media.

Armstrong fought this obstacle, which applied to him too as he was American, by managing to build a team sponsored by American interests. There have been muted discussions about mounting an Australian-flavoured team to take on the Tours, and there would certainly be enough Australian cycling talent to build a team full of compatriots capable of challenging for major honours and supporting Evans in a serious tilt at the top of the pedestal in Paris. However, unless a major Antipodean sponsor has significant Euopean interests, it is hard to see any Australian-based company justifying the millions upon millions of dollars needed to fund a team to enter the Tour de France.

The other major obstacle to Evans’ prospects is, naturally, the other riders in the race, but it’s not as simple as that. Tour cycling is not just about teams banding together, but Evans has fallen victim in the past to major contenders from rival teams joining together to push him out of contention by working him over on the tough mountain stages, with riders like Sastre and Alberto Contador taking turns to jump the field and tire Evans out in chasing down every attack.

The only hope in 2009 for Evans is if he can somehow forge a temporary alliance with one of the other contending riders, like a Sastre or LeipheimerKirchen, to get some of his own back on the dominant Astana team. If Evans can find a way to communicate with his European counterparts the need for them to bind together to fight the strong team of Armstrong and Contador, there may be a chance for Evans to use his obvious natural ability and work ethic to grind his way back into a position where he can contend for the maillot jaune once again.

Maybe next year, Cadel.

Why Cadel Evans can’t win the Tour de France is a post from: The Inquisitr

The comeback of Lance Armstrong is almost complete with the legendary American cyclist drawing equal in time with the leader of the Tour de France after the stage four team time trial, but not wearing the yellow jersey due to a countback.

After leaping from tenth to third yesterday, Armstrong’s Team Astana blitzed the 38km team time trial around the French city of Montpellier, finishing in a time of 46 hours and 9 seconds. The team of previous leader Fabian Cancellara, Team Saxobank, finished third at 40 seconds behind Armstrong’s team, putting Cancellara at exactly the same overall time as the American.

The decision on who was to wear the famed maillot jaune on stage five came back to a countback of fractions of a second based on the individual time trial in stage one, leaving the yellow jersey on the back of the Swiss Cancellara with Armstrong officially zero seconds behind.

While Armstrong will be the one getting all the attention today, it may be that his team mate Alberto Contador of Spain will be the major beneficiary of today’s stage in the end, as he moves into third at 19 seconds behind Armstrong and Cancellara.

Australia’s Cadel Evans was a big loser for the second day running, with his Silence-Lotto team finishing 2 minutes and 35 seconds behind Astana after waiting for one of their riders who crashed on the difficult street stage.

Full stage four results:

1. Astana 46.29
2. Garmin-Slipstream 0.18 seconds behind
3. Team Saxo Bank 0.40
4. Liquigas 0.58
5. Columbia-HTC 0.59
6. Team Katusha 1.23
7. Caisse d’Epargne 1.39
8. Cervélo TestTeam 1.37
9. AG2R La Mondiale 1.48
10. Euskatel-Euskadi 2.09
11. Rabobank 2.38
12. Quick Step 2.44
13. Silence-Lotto 2.35
14. Française des Jeux 2.46
15. Team Milram 2.48
16. Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 2.58
17. Lampre-NGC 3.24
18. Agritubel 4.17
19. BBox Bouygues Telecom 4.41
20. Skil-Shimano 5.23

Lance Armstrong up to second on countback in Tour de France stage four is a post from: The Inquisitr

Lance Armstrong was one of the main beneficiaries from a surprising third stage of the Tour de France, with strong crosswinds allowing a huge breakaway to split the field wide open.

Team Columbia was the architect of an enormous 28-man breakaway which shook up the general classifications in the 2009 Tour de France, keeping Fabian Cancellara of Team Saxo Bank in the yellow jersey, Tony Martin of Columbia second at 33 seconds behind but lifting Armstrong from tenth to third only 40 seconds behind Cancellara.

Mark Cavendish of Columbia won the 374km stage from Marseille to La Grande-Motte in a sprint from Thor Hushovd of Cervelo Test Team, capping off a wonderful day for Columbia which had eight of the 28 riders in the breakaway which finished 39 seconds in front of the main group. Other major contenders in the breakaway group included Michael Rogers and Kim Kirchen of Columbia, Fabian Wegmann of Team Milram. Armstrong was joined by Team Astana team mates Yaroslav Popovych and Haimar Zubeldia.

The riders who lost the most on the day include last year’s first and second placegetters, Carlos Sastre and Cadel Evans, plus Levi Leipheimer and former winner Alberto Contador. Post-race media speculation centred around Contador’s unsuitability to flat stages such as this one.

Armstrong third after Tour de France stage three is a post from: The Inquisitr

Lance tweeted: “Wassup, world? My name is Max Armstrong and I just arrived. My Mommy is healthy and so am I!”

Little Max weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and is 20 inches long.

What makes the birth of Max somewhat special is that Lance Armstrong is a survivor of testicular cancer. He has three children with his ex wife, Kristen, all conceived through invetro fertilization due to the cancer treatments, but Max was reportedly conceived naturally.

Anna Hansen Photo

Below is a photo of Anna Hansen and Lance Armstrong. The couple and their newborn son live in Aspen Colorado.

Cyclist Lance Armstrong and GF Anna Hansen Welcome Baby Boy [PHOTOS] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Armstrong, 37, was taken into an ambulance, Bloomberg reports, “grimac[ing]” as medical personnel treated him. He was transported to the hospital and did not return to the race.

Specifics of Armstrong’s injuries have not yet been released. Witnesses, however, say he clutched his arm and was pointing to his collarbone after falling.

Lance Armstrong was using the Vuelta Castilla y Leon event to get ready for his return to the Tour de France. Armstrong hadn’t been in the race for three years. It’s not yet clear whether today’s injuries will affect his plans to make the Tour.

Lance Armstrong Hospitalized After Cycling Crash is a post from: The Inquisitr

Cycling great Lance Armstrong and girlfriend Anna Hansen are to be parents.

Lance Amstrong’s charitable organization confirmed the pregnancy news after it first broke on Perez Hilton.

The news is more remarkable given Armstrong is a survivor of testicular cancer, and the baby was conceived naturally.

Amstrong has three children by ex wife Kristin Richards that were concieved using sperm the he had donated before the cancer treatment.

Armstrong and Hansen are said to be “thrilled” with the baby news.

Anna Hansen and Lance Armstrong to be parents is a post from: The Inquisitr

Okay so it’s only a photograph of a nude Lance Armstrong on a bike taken by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair but hey I’m sure the ladies won’t care. The photo is also included as part of the photo gallery over at Treehugger of their favourite guys on bikes i.e.: big stars pretending to be green.

Lance Armstrong caught biking nude is a post from: The Inquisitr

Livestrong.com, Armstrong’s online destination for health, fitness, and lifestyle, announced the launch of “Dare to Share Your Story” contest on YouTube.

Contestants must upload an original video describing how they dared to make a healthy or positive change in their life or the life of someone else and post it as a video response to Lance Armstrong’s call out video on YouTube.

The purpose of the contest is to share stories of bravery in daring to overcome challenges to make a change in one’s life – to serve as inspiration to others who are looking to do the same. Video submissions should reflect these stories and how they are produced is up to the entrants.

Video submissions must not exceed two minutes in length. Each submission will be reviewed and the field will be narrowed to 12 finalists. The finalists will be featured on Livestrong.com on September 15th.

Community and visitors to Livestrong.com will be asked to view the 12 finalists and vote to determine the winner. The winner will be announced on September 23rd and will receive an autographed Trek bicycle from Lance’s shop, Mellow Johnny’s.

Lance Armstrong Launches Video Contest on YouTube is a post from: The Inquisitr

Kate Hudson’s romance with Lance Armstrong, poor thing, has been under the radar since she broke up with her last flame Owen Wilson. While we were all wondering if it was a rebound– fairly tantalizing subject matter, I might add– Kate revved the gossip mill up yet again when she was seen introducing her kid to Lance on Father’s Day. And she was almost scot-free from the drama until the pictures came out, where she was spotted not with just son Ryder and Lance, but with his brood Luke, Isabelle, and Grace for a NYC brunch.

So I ask you: do you think that was it inappropriate for Kate to bring Ryder together with Lance? According to a recent quiz of celeb-news (and children) lovin’ individuals, it looks like most of us wish the kids had been left out of it for a while longer.

Was Kate Hudson’s Choice “Appropo”? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Kate Hudson wasted no time in finding her rebound man in an overseas romantic fling that (dare I say it?) will probably end up being quite short-lived. The lucky guy? Lance Armstrong, of all people, who just so happens to be friends with her ex-flame Owen Wilson. Ouch. Could she be any more obvious?

Despite the “are they” “aren’t they” rumors swirling about, Kate’s been seen motoring with Lance, hanging at the D&G party, and generally looking like they were up to some basic exercises in backstabbing. Despite what we’ve heard about Owen, I can muster up a little pity for the guy. Some people say that it doesn’t count when you’re on another continent, but I’m sure that hasn’t stopped him from caring!

Image: WireImage

Kate Hudson’s Big Rebound is a post from: The Inquisitr