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2009 Tour de France

Route for the 2009 Tour

Can Lance Do It? 

Lance Armstrong is going to try and make history yet again by coming out of retirement and going for his eighth Tour de France title next July.  He's been retired for three years.  After racing the Leadville 100 in Colorado in August, he got the itch to start competitive cycling again.  (I hope he remembers the difference between quiet Leadville and the Tour!)  He's said he wants to prove he's clean and is glad that the new tests are more stringent than ever. He wants to be more open with French journalists and more transparent about his activities leading up to the Tour 2009.  In a long interview with Vanity Fair he explained his reasoning and what he hopes to accomplish.  It remains to be seen if ASO will "invite" him and the Astana team next summer.  But after three pretty dismal years at the Tour, this should be welcome and a good boost to the race.  Lance will be 37 next summer so it will be interesting to see if he can beat someone like Contador, who is still in his twenties and on the same team.  In any case, whether he wins or not, it will be a shot in the arm for professional cycling and all the fans.

 

Lance Armstrong on the Champs Elysee in 2005 after winning 7 Tours in a row