He's back.
Lance Armstrong on Tuesday confirmed reports that he would return to professional cycling in 2009 and make a run for an 8th Tour de France championship.
While not naming a team, he said it would be managed by Johan Bruyneel, his former director sportif at Postal and Discovery and currently at Team Astana.
According to a statement read by Armstrong on his Livestrong.com website:
“I am happy to announce that after talking with my children, my family and my closest friends, I have decided to return to professional cycling in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden. …
“The reason for this is to launch an international cancer strategy.”
It's also to open a can of whoop-ass on the peloton.
More details will be announced on Sept. 24.
VeloNews first reported rumors that Armstrong would say he's returning to pro cycling in an upcoming Vanity Fair article. A litany of no comments and flat-out denials followed until Tuesday afternoon when Armstrong made the announcement.
Vanity Fair writer Douglas Brinkley (see “Lance Armstrong rides again”) said that Armstrong is not worried about his age — he turns 37 later this month. Also, Armstrong promises to undergo a strict dope testing and will post the results online.
Armstrong said he started seriously considering his return to pro cycling after he finished in 2nd place at the Leadville 100 mountain bike race this summer.
Apparently when Armstrong told Vanity Fair's Brinkley about wanting to be on a team run by Bruyneel, he was reminded that the Tour de France high sheriff's banned Astana from the Tour because of doping transgressions committed before Bruyneel took over. Armstrong had an answer for that.
He had already talked with French President Nicolas Sarkozy about that matter.
That's some clout that Levi Leipheimer didn't have.
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