Lance Armstrong today confirmed he will race in this year’s Tour de France and aim for a seventh consecutive win.
There was speculation, fuelled by the Texan, that Armstrong would skip the race which made his name in favour of cycling’s other landmark events. However, the 34-year-old has announced he will compete this year after a strong performance in the 2004 edition when he became the first man to win six Tours.
He said: “I am grateful for the opportunity that Discovery Communications has given the team and look forward to achieving my goal of a seventh Tour de France (victory).”
Discovery have taken over sponsorship of the team from the US Postal Service, who financed the first six Armstrong Tours. And part of the deal was that the most famous cyclist in the world would compete in at least one more Tour.
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However, Armstrong had hinted he might wait until next year before fulfilling his obligation and instead race in one of the other Grand Tours, the Giro d’Italia or the Vuelta a Espana.
But that now seems unlikely as he revealed some of his plans for the coming season.
He will start with seven-day Paris-Nice next month, the first event of the newly formed Pro Tour, and will also tackle the Tour of Flanders, historically one of the most prestigious races on the calendar, and the Tour of Georgia on home soil in April before considering the rest of the year.
“I am excited to get back on the bike and start racing although my condition is far from perfect,” said Armstrong. “Johan (Bruyneel, the team’s sports manager) and I will evaluate my fitness later this spring and possibly add some races to the calendar.”