I have the utmost respect for Lance Armstrongs­ achievements, He should be considered clean until­ proved otherwise or not. I have to disagree with a few­ comments here about Lance being the greatest cyclist of­ all time. Eddy Merckx is the greatest cyclists of all­ time that man raced for full seasons winning a lot of­ races year in year out, one year winning all three­ major tours. I wish Lance had tried to race a full­ season just to see what he could achieve and not just­ concentrated on the Tour.

Contador, Armstrong, ANDY Schleck, Levi, Cadel ... the­ next few years could be some of the most competitive­ racing we've seen in a long time.

lance doesnt want to sit and watch,these races he wants­ to race like all good athletes.....AAron

It's like everyones thinks they are some super­ psychoanalyst these days. Maybe he wants to race­ because he enjoys it. OK, I'm sure he misses being­ in the lime light as well, but you have to think­ he'll enjoy being back in his favorite race and­ being around old teammates and competitors. And, if­ the 2009 TDF ends up being a wimp fest like the last­ few years, I'm sure he figures he's got a­ reasonable chance to win.

go fot it Lance..u were absolutely BRILLIANT the last­ time and i think u could give anyone a race that will­ get them thinking.....go kick a r s e

well said djwiners and the rest of u slanderers with no­ proof are just "fish" as we say in poker.­ vive lance vive le tour

Lance is coming back as thats his personality. He cant­ sit at home watching if theres any chance he can be out­ there doing what he loves best. Hes found it a lot­ harder than he thought. I admire this as he can only go­ downhill from where he left off and hes putting it all­ on the line just to do what he loves doing. He reaally­ is a true man no matter what you say.

olawaleduyile... by your statement you are lumping a­ load of people together. I have mentioned Lance only. I­ am giving my opinion that he is clean. By freezing his­ samples and letting anyone anywhere test it, he is­ proving that.
Is it your opinion that he is doping?

ARMSTRONG SHOULD HAVE STAYED RETIRED. HIS DECISION TO­ COME BACK TO COMPETETIVE CYCLING IS ILL-ADVISED­ 'CAUSE HE'S GOT NOTHING MORE TO PROVE. HE HAS­ WON ALL THERE IS TO WIN IN CYCLING!!!

jondennis - post 25. Promising to give all money back­ and declaring that he is drug-free in his book, does­ not mean @#$%. In the past, many sportsmen and women­ have lied and are still lying till they are blue in the­ face until the hour of reckoning comes and they are­ caught cheating.

Lance has been a great cyclist. Let the whingers whinge­ on but I think Lance should finish at the top.

typical sourgrapes from the french press, the man is a­ fantastic athlete and they are just scared of him, the­ tdf will try and put alsorts of tricks to get him to­ withdraw. GO LANCE

it becomes sooooo tiresome of drugs/doping etc etc.­ Even before - during - and after the Tour de France­ Lance still stayed out front. If after nearly 10 yrs­ they cannot still prove Lance was on anything eligle­ then just leave it be and the French will just have to­ accept this guy kicks butt........... i so look forward­ to his return and see if there is life in the old dog.­ He must have been inspired when he saw last years TOUR.­ No competition! ........ im a BRIT but fair play Lance­ for giving it another go.

Can't wait to see him in action again at the TDF.I­ will definately be in Paris for the
finish to cheer­ him on even if he doesn't win.Vive Lance and the­ Tour.

I think it's really sad and pathetic that probably­ the greatest endurance athlete over the last twenty­ years has to have all of his achievements questioned by­ this. I have read both of his books reagrding the tour­ and I have little doubt that he is clean. If he has­ frozen samples to be tested in the future, how­ confident is he that he is clean. He has it written­ into his endorsements that he will give all money back­ if found to be doping.
What does he have to do to­ convince everyone?
Personally I wish the best.

slivatree said: "Just because Lance wasn't­ tested positive doesn't prove a thing, it just­ means there are more advances in undetectable doping in­ his camp."

I so sick of this twisted­ logic.
slivatree, you killed 3 children last night. So­ what if I cannot prove it? It just shows you are good­ at hiding the crime. That being said, I will send you­ to jail for 30 years, anyway. Just in case...
What do­ you think about that? Guilty until proven innocent.

If he agrees to having his frozen sample (taken years­ ago) to be tested using new technology and he is found­ not guilty, then I will respect him till eternity. As­ it is he has a big cloud hanging over his head. I­ suspect that at some point in the past, he has done­ something he should not have done.

I am pretty sure Lance Armstrong has at some point in­ his career taken illegal substances.

Carl Lewis,­ Flo-Jo, Mary Jones and several other American super­ Athletes never tested positive, until several years­ later.

Just think of how squeeky clean Carl Lewis and­ Mary Jones were, and very outspoken protesters against­ doping too, little did we know that the truth would­ catch up with them.

he must have found a new version of EPO undetected by­ the tests

He might as well piss into a test tube each and every­ time he urinates, as the testers are bound to isngle­ him out. Hope he comes back absolutely clean, kicks­ some arse and takes another title. The man is a GOD!