An old hand at helping Lance Armstrong win championships -- he once even gave up his bike to Armstrong -- has been named to the Team Astana roster to compete at the Tour Down Under in Australia.

Jose Luis Ruberia, 35, of Spain bicycled with Armstrong on the Postal Service and Discovery pro cycling teams, participating in some of Armstrong's Tour de France championships.

Other teammates Assan Bazayev (Kazakhstan), Steve Morabito (Switzerland) and Maxim Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan) all rode in the 2008 Giro d'Italia. ....   more »

Lance Armstrong will be joined by 2006 Tour de France winner Oscar Pereiro at the Town Down Under next month in Australia.

Pereiro, who won after Floyd Landis was stripped of the championship, will lead the Caisse d'Epargne team, while Armstrong will ride for Astana.

It's the first time that two Tour de France winners have appeared in the Australian pro cycling event.

The 2009 Tour Down Under runs from Jan. 18-25.

Cycling enthusiasts -- and Lance-o-philes -- can tune in to the Versus cable network for daily half-hour updates from the Tour Down Under, which rolls out Jan. 18-25, 2009.

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong is making his comeback to pro cycling in the South Australia race, suddenly making the week-long stage race more noteworthy that usual.

The times for the Tour Down Under listed on the Versus TV schedule (all times are Eastern time zone...   more »