Lance Armstrong to visit the Tour de France

Lance Armstrong will return to the Tour de France as a spectator and plans to see the final time trial stage in Grenoble before hosting a RadioShack supporter’s party in Paris, according to an Associated Press report.

The seven-time Tour winner retired after last year’s race and has since become embroiled in a major Federal investigation into his time at the US Postal Service team. Former friends and teammates Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton have both accused the Texan of doping, but he has steadfastly denied it and has always claimed he never failed a drugs test during his career.

Armstrong’s spokesman Mark Higgins confirmed to the Associated Press that the Texan will travel to France. RadioShack team manager Johan Bruyneel announced on Thursday that RadioShack and other key sponsors had agreed to extend their backing of the team until the end of 2013.

Just after his visit to the Tour de France, Armstrong is set to ride in the 39th annual RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) event.

The local Des Moines Register newspaper said that Armstrong is expected to ride for two days with a Livestrong team.
 

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Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.