The wheels of justice are catching up to those two hapless co-defendants involved in the theft of Lance Armstrong's bike in Sacramento during the Tour of California in February, as some ironic details emerge.

The man charged with taking the three bicycles -- including Armstrong's one-of-a-kind time trial bike -- from the Astana truck has pleaded no contest and will be sentenced to a 3-year prison term on Monday.

The man who pleaded no contest to receiving the stolen property already has been sentenced to a 3 years, suspended, and 90 days in jail.

Three years in prison might seem a little harsh for taking a bicycle, but the Sacramento Bee reports the theft suspect, 40-year-old Lee Monroe Crider, has a police rap sheet that goes back 21 years in Sacramento. He was on probation for a bike theft at Sacramento State. ...   more »

The 2,000 participants in the inaugural LiveStrong Challenge in Seattle this Sunday might be disappointed to learn that Lance Armstrong won't be appearing at the charity bicycle ride.

Instead, Armstrong announced Tuesday that he and teammates Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner will be racing at the Nevada City Classic that day.

Responding on his Twitter account to a discouraged fan, Armstrong wrote:

"I hear ya. If it weren't for the TdF then I'd be there. Have to get some racing in prior to the big race. Tough to balance it all." ...   more »

It's not quite time for "Lights. Camera. Action!" for the Lance Armstrong biographical movie, but apparently plans are shifting into a higher gear.

The screenwriter for the movie "Seabiscuit," Gary Ross, has been hired to write a script for the movie based on Armstrong's first book, "It's Not About the Bike."

The film's producer, Frank Marshall, told the Risky Biz Blog that the tale of the pro cyclist and the race horse have certain similarities ...   more »

Lance Armstrong's fiance Anna Hansen gave birth to the couple's son, Maxwell Edward Armstrong, Thursday night  in Aspen.

Armstrong had rushed back to their home  immediately after the conclusion of the Giro d'Italia so he could be present for the birth.

Known for his penchant of Twittering news about himself, Armstrong immediately established a Twitter account for his son -- maxarmstrong1. He wrote that he just he'd had his first night of sleep "out here." ...   more »

That failed sprint up Pinos Altos in the Tour of the Gila last Sunday must have sent the message to Lance Armstrong that he's not ready to win the 3-week Giro d'Italia that starts on Saturday.

In a dramatic turnaround, the 7-time Tour de France winner announced Tuesday that he'll ride in support of Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer, the 3-time winner of the Tour of California and winner of last week's Tour of the Gila.

Armstrong had said early in his comeback season that he wanted to race to win the Giro; it would be his first appearance in bike race around Italy. But a broken collarbone suffered in a crash at the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon in March delayed his training ...   more »

You might think the odds that someone could beat Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer in an uphill stage finish are about the same as a 50-1 horse winning the Kentucky Derby.

Well, Mine That Bird won at Churchill Downs on Saturday and Phil Zajicek, 30, won the final stage of the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico on Sunday.

Leipheimer and Armstrong, teammates on Mellow Johnny's bike shop team for this year, did finish 1st and 2nd overall in the five stage Gila bike race; Zajicek finished in 3rd overall ...   more »

Three-time Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer won the individual time trial at the Tour of the Gila on Friday, solidifying his overall lead.

Unofficial results show Leipheimer beating Tom Zirbel of Bissell by 53 seconds and Lance Armstrong by 1:23. Other top five finishers were Philip Zajicek of Fly V and Rory Sutherland of Team OUCH.

The ITT accounted for Stage 3 of the five stage bicycle race based in Silver City, New Mexico. The 16.15-mile course out-and-back course left from the town of Tyrone and featured two climbs ...   more »

Flying the colors of the Mellow Johnny's bike shop team, Levi Leipheimer won Stage 1 of the Tour of the Gila bike race on Wednesday.

Although he's a member of the ProTour team Astana, he and teammates Lance Armstrong and Chris Horner had to wear the "neutral" jerseys to compete in national-level race, according to UCI rules.

A representative from race title sponsor SRAM reported that Armstrong finished in the top 10. He wrote on his Twitter website: "Didn't feel so bad myself for first race back after the crash."

Armstrong has been on the mend from a crash during a bike race in Spain last month in which he broke his collarbone. He's planning to compete in the Giro d'Italia that begins May 9. ...   more »

A little ol' 5-day stage race based in Silver City, New Mexico, has suddenly taken on international significance with the arrival of Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner as competitors.

The trio literally found out on Tuesday afternoon that they were cleared to ride the 23rd edition of the Tour of the Gila bike race that runs Wednesday through Sunday in southern New Mexico.

Also in the peloton will be Floyd Landis and Rory Sutherland, riding for the OUCH team. Because Armstrong, Leipheimer and Horner compete for the ProTour level Astana team, they cannot compete as Astana members in the national-level race. The three will be wearing jerseys from Armstrong's Mellow Johnny's bike shop in Austin.

The details of UCI giving them permission to race weren't worked out until Tuesday afternoon ...   more »

The French anti-doping agency says it won't open a case against Lance Armstrong for leaving a doping control officer outside his house in France while he took a shower back in March.

The agency's decision means Armstrong is free to race for an unprecedented eighth win at the 2009 Tour de France, which begins July 4.

Armstrong is currently recovering from a collarbone break he suffered in a bicycle race in Spain back on March 23rd. He's training for the 2009 Giro d'Italia, a three-week bike race around Italy in which he has never participated...   more »

Lance Armstrong is saying that the French anti-doping agency may ban him from participating in this summer's Tour de France.

In a video posted on Livestrong.com, Armstrong says that the questions surrounding a March 17 drug control test in which he was out-of-sight of the tester for about 20 minutes could result in his being prohibited from racing.

"There's a very high likelihood that they'll prohibit me from riding in the Tour. ...

"It's their event, their country and their rules so we have to play by those." ...   more »

You shouldn't always believe what you read, especially on April Fool's Day.

Three jokes caught my eye this morning, and they all involved Lance Armstrong: losing sunglasses endorsements, a time trial showdown, and announcing for mayor.

VeloNews reported that the UCI has banned non-prescription eyewear in races, a move that would have a multi-million dollar impact on endorsement contracts for cyclists such as Armstrong. The sports sunglasses industry responds with outrage ....   more »

Lance Armstrong posted a 2-minute video at the LiveStrong.com website following his surgery for a broken collarbone.

It looks like Armstrong is sitting in his kitchen with a stack of CDs on a table and a blender containing a mystery concoction in the background.

In the video post, put up Thursday afternoon, he thanks his doctors and supporters and shows an X-ray of his collarbone with the metal strip and 12 screws holding it in place.

Armstrong said he's unsure about his recovery ...   more »

Lance Armstrong underwent surgery to repair his right collarbone on Wednesday morning in Austin, and first reports say "all went well."

Armstrong said Tuesday night through his spokesman that it wasn't a clean fracture and there were "multiple pieces" that his doctor, Austin surgeon Doug Elenz, will attach  to a plate placed on top of the clavicle.

A note posted on Team Astana's Twitter website shortly after 3 p.m. ET said: "Lance is done with surgery. All went well." Armstrong's spokesman said surgeons repaired the break with a 4-5-inch metal plate and 12 screws.

Armstrong broke his right collarbone when he fell in a pileup ...   more »

Lance Armstrong's comeback road took a crushing detour Monday when he crashed near the end of Stage 1 of the Vuelta a Castilla y León bike race.

Team Astana reports that Armstrong suffered a broken collarbone in the crash, which occurred about 12.5 miles from the finish in Baltanás, Spain. He went down in a pileup with other cyclists.

Video at a Spanish website shows Armstrong holding his arm as he enters an ambulance. The pileup happened on a narrow stretch with about a dozen cyclists.

The footage from the helicopter shows support crews checking on riders and replacing bikes on the road, then pans to a solitary figure wearing a yellow helmet sitting about 8 feet off the road with his back to the action.

Astana team director Johan Bruyneel wrote on Twitter that it was a "clean collarbone fracture without complications. Should be fast recovery. ...   more »

Columbia-High Road's Mark Cavendish notched another win this season by outsprinting Germany's Heinrich Haussler in the Milan-San Remo spring classic on Saturday.

The Brit on the US-based cycling team already has five stage wins this year in addition to winning this 100th edition of the 184-mile race through Italy.

It marked the return to Euro cycling by Lance Armstrong, who last competed here in 2002. Armstrong finished in the second big group to cross the finish line, 8:19 behind Cavenish. His official placement was 125th ...   more »

P>The mountain bike race that lured Lance Armstrong back to professional bicycle racing is calling again.

Armstrong has registered for the Leadville 100, scheduled to roll out of the mountain town in Colorado on Aug. 15, about three weeks after the end of the Tour de France.

The Summit Daily News also reports that Floyd Landis may take a shot at the Leadville race this year as well.

The match-up between Armstrong and Landis had been one of the most bally-hooed in cycling in 2007 as both were out of the picture ....   more »

It seems that Lance Armstrong is competing in more races during his comeback year than he ever did during his earlier career.

The 7-time Tour de France winner announced that he's scheduled to ride in the 2009 Tour of Ireland from Aug. 19-23. That would make the eighth pro cycling race for Armstrong this year.

The race precedes the LiveStrong Global Cancer Summit which is scheduled for Aug. 24-26 in Dublin, Ireland ...   more »

A Sacramento resident walked into the Sacramento police headquarters this morning with Lance Armstrong's stolen time trial bicycle, solving a case that police had been working on since Sunday.

Although a police spokesman said he would not go into the details about how the person acquired the bicycle, "he is not a suspect at this time."

The bicycle "appears to be in good condition with the wheels and the frame, however the mechanics for the team will have to review it ... to see if there are any flaws or damage to it." ...   more »

Lance Armstrong and the Amgen Tour of California are reported to be drawing huge crowds along the route, in spite of heavy rain and cold temperatures.

More than 100 people crowded around the Astana trailer in San Jose to see Armstrong preparing for Stage 3 on Tuesday. Thousands gathered along the route.

Ann Killion, sports columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, asked former coach Jim Ochowicz what makes Armstrong ride? ...   more »

Members of the press apparently had a lot of time to get quotes and brush up their stories as they waited an hour for Lance Armstrong to urinate in the anti-doping trailer at the end of the prologue for the Amgen Tour of California.

Here's some of what's out there today about the comeback kid:

"Just to be in his presence. I don’t have to touch him but seeing what I saw today, I think I want to retire and be a groupie. No, not a stalking groupie. An appreciative groupie. For what he’s done for so many people. ...   more »