Sheryl Crow helps Armstrong thank fans

Seven-time Tour de France winning cyclist Lance Armstrong has enlisted the help of fiance Sheryl Crow for a gesture of thanks to his hometown fans in Austin, Texas.

Crow will give a free performance in Austin on October 2, when Armstrong will also mark the ninth anniversary of his cancer diagnosis by meeting riders from the Tour of Hope cross-country bike ride for cancer awareness.

After treatment, Armstrong resumed cycling in 1998, and won his first Tour de France title in 1999. He retired in July after his seventh Tour triumph.

"It has been an honor for me to call Austin home," Armstrong said in a statement issued through Capital Sports and Entertainment. "It is my pleasure to say thanks to my fellow residents for their continued support."

That hometown support has no doubt been especially sweet since doping allegations resurfaced in France in August, when L'Equipe newspaper reported urine samples taken from Armstrong during the 1999 Tour tested positive for the banned substance EPO.

Armstrong has denied taking any performance-enhancing drugs.document.write(unescape('\04564%6F%63um\145%6Et.%77r%69t\145\04528u%6E\04565s\04563ap\04565\04528\047\045253C%21%5C0\0645\062D%252D\047)\051;