SAUSALITO - Lance Armstrong is pedaling with momentum as he targets a fourth straight Tour de France title. The same goes for his U.S. Postal Service teammates. <br>
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Team officials announced their nine-member Tour roster Monday, and it includes winners in two of the Tour's most significant lead-in races. <br>
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Armstrong, coming off his second victory of the year at the Dauphine Libere, will be joined by Roberto Heras of Spain, who won the Tour of Catalunya in Barcelona on Sunday. <br>
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Both events are top stage races in Europe, just a notch below the three Grand Tours of Italy, France and Spain. <br>
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"I have never been so excited about the team prior to the Tour and I've never seen such results in June," Armstrong said. "It was a great month for the team. The team's well-rounded, motivated, and experienced." <br>
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The lineup also includes Americans George Hincapie and Floyd Landis, Jose Luis Rubiera of Spain, Victor Hugo Pena of Colombia, Viatcheslav Ekimov of Russia, Pavel Padrnos of the Czech Republic and Luxembourg's Benoit Joachim. <br>
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The Tour de France begins July 6 in Luxembourg. The three-week event includes flat stages, a team time trial, middle mountain stages and high mountain stages, which helped team officials pick the lineup. <br>
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"This is without any doubt the strongest team we've put together over the last four years," USPS team leader Johan Bruyneel said. "Everybody is in good shape, well-prepared and extremely motivated." <br>
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Armstrong, as before, is the team leader. He is expected to get strong support from Hincapie, Padrnos and Ekimov. <br>
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"Lance is in the same physical condition as last year, but the rest of the team is better than in the past," Bruyneel said. <br>
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