BILLINGS -- Former cycling star Greg LeMond has reached a $39.5 million settlement with the owners of the exclusive Yellowstone Club, as control of the mountain retreat for the super rich shifts from founder Tim Blixseth to his estranged wife.

The settlement resolves a two-year legal dispute in which LeMond accused Blixseth of trying to buy out his minority stake in the club for less than its true value.

Meanwhile, the rise of Edra Blixseth to club owner and chief executive -- part of a related settlement in the couple's divorce case -- ends a bitter struggle for control of the enterprise.

Edra Blixseth agreed to pay the three-time Tour de France champion and his co-plaintiffs after Tim Blixseth ended his bid to retain ownership.

Court approval of the divorce is not expected until next week. But the two sides already have traded assets related to the settlement, said Edra Blixseth spokesman Bill Keegan.

''She in fact has a new management team in place and lots of ambitious plans,'' Keegan said Friday. ''It's a new chapter in her life and she's anxious to put her stamp on the club.''

The settlement in the LeMond case was completed Wednesday. A Minneapolis-based attorney for the cycling star said he will maintain his residence at the club.

''None of my clients ever wished anyone ill,'' said the attorney, Bruce Manning. ''They have merely wanted to be paid what they were owed, and for the club to be on the financial footing it is now on.''

The plaintiffs in that case -- among Yellowstone Club's original members -- relinquished their 4 percent stake in the enterprise as part of the settlement.

In a recent e-mail to club members, Tim Blixseth said he had sold his stake in the Montana club to ''stop the distractions'' caused by the couple's high-profile divorce proceedings.

''I went to Edra with a simple plan to settle this for all of us. That was either I buy her out, or she buy me out, and she got to pick. She chose to buy me out,'' he wrote. Tim Blixseth confirmed Friday that he was the author of the message.

Tim and Edra Blixseth opened the millionaires-only club in 1999. Members have access to a private ski hill on its 13,400 acres in southwest Montana's Gallatin Mountains -- property Tim Blixseth acquired through a land-swap with the U.S. Forest Service.

Building lots within the gated community have sold for millions of dollars, with homes selling for as much as $20 million. Bill Gates and former Vice President Dan Quayle are among its 340 members.

However, the tony club ran into financial trouble when Tim Blixseth sought to expand even as the real estate market turned south.

Its problems grew after the Blixseths allegedly diverted money meant for the club to their own use, according to court documents. At roughly the same time, Tim Blixseth went on a property-buying spree in a bid to take the club concept global, with an enterprise called Yellowstone Club World.

After the Montana club secured a $375 million loan from Credit Suisse in 2005, Blixseth persuaded the club to pass $209 million directly to him and his corporate alter-ego, Blixseth Group, Inc.

Among his subsequent purchases were a chateau in France, a golf resort in Scotland, a villa in Mexico and an estate in the Caribbean.

Under the divorce settlement, Edra Blixseth gains control of the Yellowstone Club World entity and also the properties in Scotland and the Caribbean, Keegan said.

She plans to sell the properties. Yellowstone Club World -- which had attracted only a handful of members willing to pay its $1.5 million buy-in fee -- is no longer operational, Keegan said.

Tim Blixseth declined to comment directly on his divorce or the LeMond settlement on Friday.

But he told The Associated Press in a series of e-mail exchanges that he is moving on to a new venture, building on his experience turning forest lands into high-value real estate. He said the newly initiated Blixseth Opportunity Fund is raising $2 billion ''to buy distressed assets in the real estate field as well as in the timber business.''

''The fund was just set up and will be looking for assets all over the U.S.,'' he wrote.

The settlement in the LeMond case came 10 months after the club first agreed to pay $38 million to LeMond, in-laws David and Sacia Morris and associate Jorge Jasson.

Blixseth paid $18 million at the time, but did not follow through on a pledge to pay the balance in January.

The LeMond lawsuit, before state District Court Judge Loren Tucker in Madison County, was further complicated when Edra Blixseth asked Tucker to give her control of the club.

Tucker declined. However, Edra ultimately got her wish through the settlement in the divorce case, which was heard in California.

Tim Blixseth continues to own a home at the club but will no longer have a hand in its management.

''While this would not have been my choice, things needed to be settled,'' Blixseth wrote in the e-mail to club members.