Armstrong entourage probed

French prosecutor Philippe Drouet of the court in Annecy has opened a preliminary hearing examining the entourage of Lance Armstrong and its involvement in doping allegations, according to Thursday's edition of newspapers Aujourd'hui and Le Parisien. The investigation follows a verification of the Paris drug squad, which examined Armstrong's former soigneur Emma O'Reilly amongst other persons.

O'Reilly confirmed her previous statements, which were also published in the book L.A. Confidentiel, alleging that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs. The Paris court transferred the file to Annecy in the French Alps because of "geographical competence criteria", as one witness in the case is reported to live in the Haute-Savoie region.