Wednesday's sports briefs

Tour says Armstrong must pass new tests Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme said Wednesday the door is open for Lance Armstrong to compete in the 2009 Tour, but he was cool to the idea and stressed the American must meet stringent new antidoping standards.

Armstrong, who won the Tour a record seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005, announced Tuesday he is ending a three-year retirement and aiming for another Tour victory in 2009. It is not yet clear for which team he'll ride.

Prudhomme said Armstrong and his team must follow all the drug-testing rules "that are much more strict than they were before. Suspicion has followed Lance Armstrong since 1999, everyone knows that," he said.

• Floyd Landis, a former Armstrong teammate who was stripped of his 2006 Tour crown after testing positive for testosterone, said he, too, will attempt a comeback next year, and Armstrong's close friend and former sporting director Johan Bruyneel, who helped the American win all of his seven Tours, said he would welcome working with Armstrong again. Bruyneel said he already has begun discussions with Armstrong about his return.

• Christian Vande Velde won the time trial and took the overall lead after the third stage of the Tour of Missouri in Branson. Vande Velde, riding for Garmin-Chipotle, completed the hilly 18-mile course in windy conditions in 39 minutes, 51 seconds.

U.S. victory almost clinches regional finals Clint Dempsey scored his fourth goal in four games, Michael Bradley and Brian Ching padded the margin, and the United States beat Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday night in Bridgeview, Ill.

The victory was the fifth in a row by the Americans, and virtually assures them of making next year's six-team regional finals. The United States is atop Group One in the semifinals of the North and Central American and the Caribbean with nine points, five ahead of Trinidad and Tobago.

Security at the resort near New York where the event took place found Arthur and Chalmers in a room with two women, and the scent of marijuana was detected. No drugs or drug paraphernalia were found, but having guests in the room violated NBA policy, and the two rookies were sent home.

• Doc Rivers received a contract extension that gives him three more years as coach of the Boston Celtics after leading them to an NBA title one year following the second-worst season in team history. Rivers' contract was extended through the 2010-11 season at an annual salary of about $5.5 million, according to a person familiar with the deal.

Figure skating: World champion figure skater Jeffrey Buttle announced his retirement Wednesday at age 26. Buttle became the first Canadian to win the men's title since Elvis Stojko in 1997 when he won in March.

Golf: Joan Higgins and Lynn Simmons each won two matches and advanced to the Women's Mid-Amateur title match in Ann Arbor, Mich. ... In the men's Mid-Amateur at River Hills, Wis., Todd Mitchell and Steve Wilson each won two matches and advanced to the 36-hole final.