TEAATES of record-breaking Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will be biking through East Lancashire as they take part in a top sporting event.

The North West is hosting the first leg of the Tour of Britain race, starting in Manchester on September 1, and the stage includes many parts of East Lancashire.

World-class riders, including three from the US Postal team who helped Lance Armstrong to his record-breaking victory in France earlier in the year, will pass through in a blur as they race around the North West, back to Manchester.

The event will be the first time in six years that the race has been held, and riders fresh from the Tour de France and the Athens Olympics will be taking part.

Tour of Britain event director Tony Doyle MBE said: "Having so many quality riders from the top teams in the world is a tremendous boost for the Tour of Britain and it should excite all sports fans, not just the dedicated supporters of cycling.

"By declaring this kind of team, US Postal have thrown down the gauntlet to the other teams."

The US Postal team will include Tour de France riders Jose Azevedo, Jose Luis Rubiera and Benjamin Noval.

The American team will be one of 12 commercial teams to be taking part, along with national teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Great Britain.

The riders will be speeding through Haslingden, Accrington, Sabden, Nick of Pendle, Clitheroe, Longridge, Chorley and Belmont on Wednesday, September 1.

After the Lancashire stage the race will head to Yorkshire, the East Midlands and Wales before ending in London on September 5.

On September 1, the riders will set off from Manchester at 10.30am.

The riders will then pass through Bury (10.52am), Ramsbottom (11.04am), Haslingden, Accrington, Sabden (11.42am), Nick of Pendle, Clitheroe, Longridge, Broughton (12.36pm), Elswick (12.53pm), Yeadon Way (1.19pm), Blackpool South Shore, Lytham St Annes (1.39pm), Freckleton, Preston (2.08pm), Chorley (2.20pm), Belmont, Chapeltown (2.52pm), Bury (2.59pm), finishing at Urbis, Manchester.