Armstrong backs Colorado race

LANCE Armstrong is teaming with Denver-based Quiznos to bring a major international pro-cycling stage race to Colorado next summer.

Armstrong hopes to ride in the week-long race, titled the Quiznos Pro Challenge. The exact route of the 22-28 August 2011 race has not been mapped out yet, but it will include a mix of mountain, sprint and downtown stages.

The seven-time Tour De France champion said it will run through Denver, which will serve as either the start or finish, and probably Boulder plus other front-range cities and also through towns in the Rocky Mountains. It will be the first pro cycling race in Colorado since the Coors Classic was the foremost international pro cycling competition in North America from 1979-88.

"It feels like the birth of a new event, but in many ways it's really the rebirth of an old event," Armstrong said. "This state has a long, long history of supporting a great American stage race, the first of its kind. A lot of American teams and a lot of great American talent were developed out of that."

With the cancellations of the tours of Georgia and Missouri, the Quiznos Pro Challenge and the Tour of California will be the only ones on US soil next year. The August dates of Colorado's race will fit between the Tour de France and the Spanish Vuelta. "The idea is to highlight all the legendary places in Colorado that have a cycling history," Armstrong said.

Armstrong declined to comment about the probe by federal investigators in Los Angeles who are looking at cheating in professional cycling and have shown an interest in him. The investigation was spurred by accusations from Floyd Landis, a former teammates on the US Postal team, in a series of e-mails sent to cycling and doping officials earlier this year.