Radioshack-Nissan team rider Yaroslav Popovych of Ukraine greets young Qatari fans before competing in the 133.5 kilometer first stage of the Tour of Qatar cycling race between Barzan Towers and Doha Golf Club in the Qatari capital on February 5,2012. (Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images)

Sky Pro cycling team rider Mark Cavendish of Britain prepares to compete in the 133.5 kilometer first stage of the Tour of Qatar cycling race between Barzan Towers and Doha Golf Club in the Qatari capital on February 5,2012. (Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images)

BMC rider Philippe Gilbert of Belgium (R) speaks with Baden Cooke of Australia before competing in the 133.5 kilometer first stage of the Tour of Qatar cycling race between Barzan Towers and Doha Golf Club in the Qatari capital on February 5,2012. (Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images)

France's Jerome Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) rides in the last stage of the "Etoile de Besseges" cycling race on February 5, 2012 in Ales, southern France. Coppel won the stage and the race. AFP PHOTO / BORIS HORVAT

BMC rider Philippe Gilbert of Belgium prepares to compere in the 133.5 kilometer first stage of the Tour of Qatar cycling race between Barzan Towers and Doha Golf Club in the Qatari capital on February 5,2012. (Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images)

BMC rider Philippe Gilbert of Belgium smiles before the start of the 133.5 kilometer first stage of the Tour of Qatar cycling race between Barzan Towers and Doha Golf Club in the Qatari capital on February 5,2012. (Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images)

Tom Boonen of Belgium won the opening stage of the Tour of Qatar on Sunday, finishing four seconds ahead of Adam Blythe of Britain. The former world road racing champion, riding for the Omega Pharma Quick-Step team, completed the 142.5-kilometer (88.5-mile) first stage in 3 hours, 11 minutes, 22 seconds.

Officials from cycling teams at the Tour of Qatar welcomed the end of a U.S. federal investigation into Lance Armstrong and were hopeful Sunday that the seven-time Tour de France champion could now move on with his life. Federal prosecutors dropped their investigation of Armstrong on Friday, ending a nearly two-year effort to determine whether the American cyclist and his teammates were involved in...

Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador is racing in Mallorca on the eve of the long-awaited verdict on his doping case by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The three-time Tour de France champion is participating in Sunday's opening race of the Mallorca Challenge before returning to Madrid to await the court's ruling set to be released on Monday.

Now that the federal government has closed its investigation of Lance Armstrong, some legal experts are wondering whether the effort to prosecute superstar athletes over doping claims is worth it. On Friday, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles said Armstrong would not be charged after a two-year probe into accusations that the seven-time Tour de France winner and his teammates systematically used...

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Lance Armstrong licked 'em again. Always has. Always will. Like cancer and the Tour de France, the federal government turned out to be just another challenge to conquer. On his trophy wall, next to those bright yellow jerseys he got for winning the world's toughest bike race seven times, Armstrong can now hang the scalp of steroid cop Jeff Novitzky.