Hometown Tour of Hope rider Duke Browning takes the stage at “Lance Thanks Austin” event

Lance Armstrong introduces Tour of Hope riders Duke Browning, Carolina Casares and Meg Berte at his "Lance Thanks Austin" event on October 2.

AUSTIN, TX – Lance Armstrong shared the stage with three Tour of Hope riders on Sunday, introducing them to the more than 8,000 fans gathered for his “Lance Thanks Austin” event, to show his gratitude to the city. Austin's own Team member Duke Browning was swarmed by fans sporting "Go Duke!" yellow t-shirts, and he was joined on stage by Team members Carolina Casares and Meg Berte.

Fans of Tour of Hope Team member Duke Browning of Austin show support for their hometown rider as Lance Armstrong introduces him at his "Lance Thanks Austin" event on October 2.

Lance emphasized the importance of the fight against cancer and encouraged the crowd to go out and rally around the Tour of Hope Team at the Austin Capitol Grounds when they rode through in the wee hours on Monday, Oct. 3. About 100 people greeted the team at the Capitol, including Duke Browning’s wife and daughter. The Team held the Texas flag and posed for pictures in front of the capital building before departing for the next stage of the journey.

Rocker Sheryl Crow performs at the "Lance Thanks Austin" event, at which Lance introduced Tour of Hope Team members to the crowd, including hometown rider Duke Browning.

Earlier, at Lance’s Austin event, the hometown crowd was treated to the music of Sheryl Crow. Crow played for about 90 minutes and her set was topped with a special appearance by Lance on drums for a cover of the ZZ Top classic, "Gimme All Your Lovin."