Will Lance Armstrong Race in Tour de France Again?

Monday, September 08, 2008

Nate Whitman Leads Lance Armstrong at the 2008 Leadville 100

Update: Lance has confirmed he plans to win the Tour de France again.

Lance Armstrong may have raced in the Leadville 100 to test himself for something bigger. Today VeloNews published the rumor that Lance Armstrong may come out of retirement and race in the 2009 Tour de France.

My initial reaction when I saw the headline was that it had to be a joke. The article seems serious though. Although I can understand him missing competition, he went out at the top of his sport and I'm not sure what he has to gain by coming back. Doing something like the Leadville 100 allows him to compete but not be compared to when he was at the height of his career.

According to the article, he would race for Astana for no salary or bonuses. Interestingly Astana is sponsored by Trek and Johan Bruyneel is the team manager. He would have the same bike sponsor and team manager as in his 7 Tour wins.

In addition to the Tour de France, he may do