Christophe Ena / AP

A spectator offers a bottle of water as Lance Armstrong climbs towards Tourmalet pass during the 16th stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday.

updated 1:21 a.m. ET July 22, 2010

NEW YORK - Lance Armstrong has hired a criminal defense attorney to represent him in the federal investigation for possible fraud and doping violations by the seven-time Tour de France winner and his cycling teammates.

Bryan D. Daly is a former federal prosecutor based in Los Angeles and partner at the firm Sheppard Mullin Richter and Hampton.

His hiring by Armstrong was first reported by The Daily Journal, a legal trade publication, and then by the New York Daily News.

Daly confirmed to the AP he had been hired by Armstrong in an e-mail late Wednesday night.

The investigation was spurred by accusations from Floyd Landis, a former teammate of Armstrong's on the U.S. Postal team, in a series of e-mails sent to cycling and doping officials this spring.

Armstrong has denied the allegations and questioned Landis' credibility. Landis was stripped of his 2006 Tour title for doping.