Seven time Tour champion Lance Armstrong headed to South Korea to meet with cancer survivors and appear at the Tour of Korea, which begins Saturday. Armstrong, who supported Tailwind Sports' decision to pull out of the sport, ending its search for a replacement sponsor for the Discovery Channel team, forcing dozens of riders and staff to scramble for jobs at the end of the season, still felt optimistic about the future of the sport, according to Reuters.
"I think cycling will survive and ultimately thrive," Armstrong declared at a press conference in Seoul, South Korea. "It's been around for a while, it's not the first decade of scandals, and it's still here and still strong."
The sport's tumultuous year was unique in many ways - from the multiple doping positives announced during the Tour to Rabobank's Michael Rasmussen being fired while riding the yellow jersey. Armstrong commented on the season, saying, "It was definitely a very interesting year .... a rider in a yellow jersey fired by his team while he's in the yellow jersey. I don't think that's ever happened before."
However, the American reiterated what he's said for years, that cycling has done more to fight doping than any other sport. "I commend cycling for what they do," Armstrong commented. "I don't think any other world sport can compare to what cycling has done."
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