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(AP) - Best-selling bicycle maker Trek Bicycle
Corp. is severing its ties with three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond, saying his outspokenness about doping has weakened the
company's LeMond brand bicycles.

      LeMond has a "troubling pattern of inconsistent business
dealings," Trek president John Burke said Tuesday.

      A message left for LeMond's attorneys in Minnesota was not immediately returned.

      LeMond, of Minnesota, sued Trek in March, accusing the company of breaching its
contract and asking for an injunction to prevent it from ending the deal. 

In response, the company filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal
court in Madison asking for permission to break the contract.

      Burke told employees during a meeting at the company's
headquarters about 60 miles west of Milwaukee that he met with
LeMond in the fall and told him Trek would not renew their contract
when it expired in 2010. He encouraged LeMond to find another
manufacturer, he said.

      He said throughout the company's relationship with LeMond, the cyclist would renege on promises, like saying he would curb his
comments about doping and focus more on the brand. 

Trek then invested money in the brand, Burke said, only to have LeMond speak
out again, which sent sales downward and frustrated dealers and customers.

      "Doping is a very important topic for our industry. We never
discouraged Greg from speaking out about doping in cycling," Burke
said. "We know there is a difference between attacking an issue
and destroying reputations. Greg's public comments damaged the
LeMond brand, and our reputation with retailers and consumers."


      He said the company was disappointed to see the relationship
end.

      Trek's LeMond bikes are mostly produced in Asia. Employees there
and in the U.S. will be shifted to other jobs as bicycle sales
overall remain strong, Burke said.

      Trek is best known among cyclists for making the bikes that
Lance Armstrong rode in his Tour de France victories. With brands
like Trek, Gary Fisher and Klein, the company sells 1.5 million
bikes a year and does $700 million in sales.

      The LeMond brand has about $15 million in sales per year, Burke said.

      LeMond, of Medina, Minn., became the first American to win the
Tour de France in 1986. Trek began licensing his name in 1995 to
make road bikes.

      LeMond created controversy last year when he testified during
Floyd Landis' arbitration hearing, saying he had confided to Landis
about childhood sexual abuse and that Landis' manager threatened to
disclose LeMond's secret if he testified. He went on to say that
Landis had admitted to him that he doped.

      Landis later had his 2006 Tour de France title stripped from
him, but he is appealing that decision.

      LeMond and Armstrong also have feuded over doping since 2001
when LeMond said he was unhappy about Armstrong's association with
an Italian doctor Michele Ferrari, who had been linked to doping
accusations but later was cleared by an appeals court.

      Armstrong cut ties with Ferrari before the 2005 Tour.

      Trek has strong ties with Armstrong, and Burke said Tuesday that the former champ was not informed of the company's decision to drop
LeMond.

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Lance Armstrong at the National Press Club

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Best-selling bicycle maker Trek Bicycle
Corp. is severing its ties with three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond of Minnesota, saying his outspokenness about doping has weakened the company's LeMond brand bicycles.

Trek Bicycles sues to end relationship with Greg LeMond

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