Lance Armstrong's US Postal team have announced their line-up for this year's Tour de France.

Armstrong, backed by US Postal's strength in depth, is going for a fourth consecutive Tour title.

Coming off his second victory of the year in the Dauphine Libere, he is joined by Spain's Roberto Heras, who won the Tour of Catalunya in Barcelona on Sunday.

Both events are top stage races in Europe, just a notch below the three Grand Tours of Italy, France and Spain.

"I have never been so excited about the team prior to the Tour and I've never seen such results in June," Armstrong said.

"It was a great month for the team. The team is well-rounded, motivated, and experienced."

The other US Postal cyclists are:

George Hincapie (US)

Floyd Landis (US)

Jose Luis Rubiera (Spa)

Victor Hugo Pena (Col)

Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus)

Pavel Padrnos (Cze)

Benoit Joachim (Lux)

USPS team leader Johan Bruyneel said: "This is without any doubt the strongest team we've put together over the last four years.

"Everybody is in good shape, well-prepared and extremely motivated."

Heras wins in Catalunya

Armstrong, as before, is the team leader. He is expected to get strong support from Hincapie, Padrnos and Ekimov.

"Lance is in the same physical condition as last year, but the rest of the team is better than in the past," Bruyneel said.

The Tour de France begins on 6 July in Luxembourg.