His seven Tour de France titles stripped away and his legacy in tatters, Lance Armstrong is heading back outdoors and into the public eye.

A day after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency punished Armstrong with a lifetime ban from professional cycling and erased 14 years of his career after concluding he used performance-enhancing drugs, Armstrong is scheduled to ride in a mountain bike race in Aspen, Colo., on Saturday and follow it up by running a marathon there Sunday.

Lance Armstrong will be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday after the cycling icon announced he would no longer fight the drug charges that have stained his legacy.

USADA said Armstrong will be barred from cycling for life for using performance-enhancing drugs to win cycling's most prestigious race from 1999-2005, charges that Armstrong has vehemently denied.

Chinese 110m hurdler Liu Xiang has said he felt healthy before his spectacular exit from the London Olympics, after reports that his injury was known to authorities before the race but hushed up.

Liu, in his first major interview since he devastated Chinese fans by crashing out of the Games with a ruptured Achilles tendon, told state broadcaster CCTV that he "felt healthy standing on the starting line".

With the Bundesliga set to celebrate its 50th year when the new season starts Friday, six of Germany's top teams go into the new campaign licking their wounds following first-round German Cup defeats.

The Bundesliga celebrates its half-century on Friday when defending champions Borussia Dortmund host Werder Bremen.

Barcelona came from behind to beat Real Madrid 3-2 on Thursday in the opening leg of the Spanish Super Cup, giving Tito Vilanova a victory in his first meeting as head coach against counterpart Jose Mourinho.

The first meeting of the season between Spain's top clubs provided more of the usual heated rivalry to match the scorching summer night. It lived up to the expectations of the 91,728 fans as Vilanova faced Mourinho a year on from a famous clash that saw the Madrid manager poke his counterpart in the eye.

Chelsea are set to sign Nigeria forward Victor Moses from Wigan after the European champions finally met the Latics' asking price.

The Blues had seen four bids for Moses rejected by Wigan chairman Dave Whelan during the course of a fractious transfer saga that had lasted since the end of last season.

Juventus and its fans are hoping to turn their attention from the courtroom to the pitch when the club starts its title defense against Parma on Saturday.

The drama of coach Antonio Conte being banned for 10 months has seemingly had little effect on the defending Serie A champion as stand-in Massimo Carrera has already steered the team to two trophies.

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero will be out of action for just one month despite suffering a knee injury during the Premier League champions' 3-2 win over Southampton.

Aguero was stretchered off inside the opening 10 minutes at Eastlands on Sunday after twisting his knee in a challenge with Southampton defender Nathaniel Clyne and it was initially feared the 24-year-old Argentine could be sidelined for most of the season.

Fernando Torres's controversial late goal proved decisive as Chelsea staged a second half recovery to secure a 4-2 Premier League victory over promoted Reading at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Torres converted from close range with nine minutes remaining -- but television replays showed the Spaniard was clearly in an offside position when he turned home Ashley Cole's cross.

Spanish side Malaga defeated experienced European campaigners Panathinaikos 2-0 on Wednesday to edge closer to a much-needed, lucrative first appearance in the Champions League group stages.

Malaga, who spent nearly 60 million euros ($74 million) on new players last year, have put the brakes on spending this summer and badly need the financial impetus the tournament provides.