Cyclist Christian Vande Velde Opts Out of Olympic Consideration

native Christian Vande Velde removed his name from consideration for a spot on the U.S. Olympic cycling team prior to its announcement last week, ESPN reports.

USA Cycling announced its nominations for the 2012 Olympic team on June 15. Five days later, ESPN reported that Vande Velde and fellow riders Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie and David Zabriskie asked to be taken out of the running for places on the road cycling team prior to the announcement.

"USA Cycling will not speculate on the reasoning behind their requests and will not have further comment," the statement said.

READ: Four cyclists opt out of consideration (on ESPN.com)

According to the report, all four cyclists are former teammates of Lance Armstrong, who is facing new doping allegations by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

In a letter dated June 12, the USADA announced the charges against Armstrong, and said "numerous riders" will testify that he provided them performance-enhancing drugs or encouraged their use.

It is unknown whether Vande Velde or the three other riders who removed their names from consideration are among those set to testify, ESPN reports.

Armstrong has denied all allegations.

Meanwhile, , which will begin June 30 in Liège, France, and end July 22 in Paris Champs-Élysées.

Vande Velde, 36, is making his 10th tour appearance. He was part of Armstrong's winning U.S. Postal Service team in 1999, and finished fourth in 2008 and eighth in 2009.

Last year, Vande Velde and Team Garmin-Cervelo for finishing with the best overall time.

His teammate, Tom Danielson, finished ninth overall and was the top U.S. rider. Vande Velde finished 17th—the second-best finish for the Americans.

For more on Vande Velde, follow his Twitter account at www.twitter.com/christianvdv.