Lance Armstrong's writes about the birth his 4th of son on Twitter

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Why wait for France? Lance Armstrong can pop that bottle of champagne now.

He announced the birth of son Max during a break between the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France next month. Max is Armstrong's fourth child.

The 37-year-old cycling great posted a message on his Twitter account Thursday night and included a picture of the newborn, playfully sticking out his tongue at the camera.

"Wassup, world? My name is Max Armstrong and I just arrived. My Mommy is healthy and so am I!" Armstrong wrote, noting Max weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Armstrong and his girlfriend, Anna Hansen, announced in December they were expecting a baby in June. Armstrong also has three children with his ex-wife, Kristin.

On Friday, Armstrong wrote that he was watching the French Open on TV with Anna and maxarmstrong1, having already given the baby his own Twitter address. He also appreciated the outpouring of good wishes.

"Thanks to you all for all the great notes, comments, emails, etc. We're lucky to have you all," he wrote.

Max's timing proved impeccable.

Armstrong finished 12th in the Giro d'Italia, which ended May 31. The seven-time Tour de France champion is eyeing a triumphant return to Paris, where he won the Tour seven straight times from 1999 to 2005. The Tour de France begins July 4.

Three years after retiring following his last Tour de France win, Armstrong said in September his return to competition and cycling's marquee race in 2009. He called his comeback an attempt to raise global awareness in his fight against cancer.

When the pregnancy was announced in December, a spokeswoman for the Lance Armstrong Foundation said that the baby was conceived naturally. Armstrong's other three children were born using in vitro fertilization with sperm he had banked before undergoing chemotherapy.

The arrival of healthy son is good news for the cyclist after a rough spring. A crash in Spain left Armstrong with a broken collarbone and financial troubles for the sponsor of his Astana team threatened to get the team kicked out of competition.

Astana receives most of its financial support from the Kazakh state holding company Samruk-Kazyna, but the Central Asian nation's economy has been badly hit by the global financial crisis

Twitter proposes TV series

NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter, the Web site that asks what everybody's doing, says it wants to be doing a TV series.

The social-networking service said Monday it has teamed with Reveille productions and Brillstein Entertainment Partners to develop an unscripted series based on the site, which invites 140-character postings from members around the world.

The show would harness Twitter to put players on the trail of celebrities in an interactive, competitive format.

The producers call their proposed series the first to bring the immediacy of Twitter to the TV screen.

"Twitter is transforming the way people communicate, especially celebrities and their fans," said Reveille managing director Howard T. Owens, who expects the new project to "unlock Twitter's potential on TV."

No further details were made available on the show's format or when it might hit the air.

Reveille's scripted entertainment includes "The Office" (NBC), "Ugly Betty" (ABC) and "The Tudors" (Showtime), plus reality programming that includes "The Biggest Loser" and "American Gladiators" (both NBC).

Brillstein Entertainment's credits include "Real Time with Bill Maher" (HBO), "The Sopranos" (HBO), "According to Jim" (ABC) and "NewsRadio" (NBC).

The San Francisco-based Twitter, which was founded in 2007, is one of the Internet's fastest-growing sites. A recent Nielsen report found that unique visitors to Twitter skyrocketed from 475,000 during February 2008 to 7 million a year later.



by the associated press