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Lance Armstrong Will Come Out Of Retirement
By spokesman | September 8, 2008
Rumors have been circulating that Lance Armstrong will come out of retirement to join team Astana for five races next year including the 2009 Tour De France. He has done a few mountain bike races this past year including the Leadville Trail 100 in August. The strongest indication that Armstrong will return to racing is that he re-enrolled himself into the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s out-of-competition testing pool. USADA rules state that any athlete who wishes to come out of retirement must enroll in the USADA out-of-competition testing program for at least six months in advance of regaining eligible status.
Astana was not permitted to race in the Tour De France this year due to past controversies. Johan Bruyneel, who was the managing director of US Postal/Discovery for all of Lance’s Tour De France victories, is now with Astana. There is no guarantee that the team will be invited to participate in the 2009 Tour De France. Adding Armstrong to the team will further politicize the decision about the team’s status for the 2009 Tour. Armstrong may be partially motivated by a desire to clean up his image. While he never failed a doping test, books such as From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France
Vanity Fair magazine is scheduled to have an article on Lance Armstrong in the next issue, due out later this month, that will discuss his plans for the future. Athletes who come out of retirement often fail to live up to past glory. Armstrong may want to give Michael Jordan a call before hoping on his bike.
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Topics: Professional Racing |
September 8th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I would love to see Lance come out of retirement. The only thing I don’t look forward to is Greg Lemond trying to get his name back into the spot light by trying to tarnish Lance’s good name. While I have much respect for Lemond’s past achievements, I have absolutely NO respect for Mr. Lemond when he went on NBC whining about Lance when it was a velied attempt to say “Remember me?!?! I was the FIRST American to win Le Tour!!!!!”
I say to Lance “Go for it!!!!” I think he will win the Tour if he re-enters the world of Pro Cycling.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I think it can only be good for the sport for him to come back if it IS about proving himself to be clean. An athlete who has something to prove generally performs well. Look at Dara Torres.
Many times it’s about a lot more than a simple win, especially if you’re fighting age or disability.
I say go for it, welcome testing, and post everything.