A sore throat and developing fever has sidelined Lance Armstrong from the snowy Paris-Nice bicycle race.
Johan Bruyneel, manager of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, said Armstrong would not report to Thursday's stage of the week-long race in France and would return immediately to his home in Girona, Spain.
Armstrong was listed in 62th place in the general classification at the end of stage 3 on Wednesday, one minute and 35 seconds behind Quick Step's Tom Boonen of Belgium. Armstrong had said earlier that he would use the 765-mile race as a training ride in preparation for his attempt to win the Tour de France for an unprecedented seventh time this summer.
The first of the spring classics of Euro pro cycling, the so-called Race to the Sun this year has been beset with cold and snowy weather. The second and third stages have been shortened and rerouted because of the road conditions (see race pictures at the official Paris-Nice website).
Bruyneel said Armstrong awoke with a sore throat on Wednesday and felt worse after the race. When he began showing signs of a fever, the decision was made to return to Girona.
“I had finally adjusted to the jet lag of the trip but woke up this morning with a sore throat that seemed to get worse all day,” Armstrong told the Discovery team's fan website, The Paceline. “I will return to Spain to rest up and be back on the bike in a couple of days.”
Armstrong had a busy few days in the US before leaving for France. Onstage at Hollywood's Academy Awards presentations on Feb. 27, Armstrong and girlfriend Sheryl Crow were still on the party circuit that Tuesday night (March 2) when he received the 2005 Courage Award at a cancer fund-raiser in Beverly Hills. The Paris-Nice began with a prologue on Sunday.
Cycling News put Armstrong in 62nd place, out of 161 riders, after three stages. He finished 99th on Wednesday, but the pack finished together so everyone received the same time.
Overall, Armstrong's Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team is in 13th place out of 21 teams. Armstrong's teammate Jose Luis Rubiera leads the team in the general classification at 47th place, one minute and 17 seconds behind the leader. Yaroslav Popovych, Ukraine, was the first Discovery team member across the finish line on Wednesday, finishing in 45th place.
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