Giro d'Italia - Armstrong to make debut

Eurosport - Mon, 13 Oct 14:51:00 2008

Lance Armstrong will race in the 2009 Giro d'Italia for the first time as part of his cycling comeback.

Lance Armstrong - 0

The 37-year-old, who retired in 2005, will compete in the May 9-31 race before bidding for an eighth Tour de France title in July.

"I will give my utmost, and not only to prepare for the Tour," the seven-times Tour de France winner said.

"Not having taken part in the Giro was one of my biggest regrets as a rider. Finally I will be able to do it."

The American begins his comeback in January's Tour Down Under in Australia after being allowed to compete by the International Cycling Union despite breaching the rules.

Riders making comebacks have to be in the UCI's anti-doping programme for six months prior to racing but the governing body has made an exception for Armstrong, who announced he was returning to the sport only last month.

Armstrong, who fought off cancer and unproven doping allegations during his career, is partly making a comeback with the Astana team to promote a global cancer awareness campaign.

The Giro will be celebrating its centenary next year. The route has yet to be announced.

Reuters

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  1. The Armstrong comeback is a funny old thing. I'm­ not convinced of his reasoning either, I would not be­ suprised if the UCI had privately asked him to make a­ comeback in order to give a positive public image boost­ to the sport. Can i see him being a super-domestique to­ Contador for the Giro or TdF? Not really, as he the­ Boss after all. As for his alleged drug use, i really­ do not beleive that he used. He must have been tested­ at least 50 - 80 times during his TdF years and still­ there is no positive results. Masking agents are not­ that good. I hope he comes back and winns a couple of­ stages but leaves the big prize to the new breed of­ stars. He sould remain a bit of a hero then...

    From chris.prior2, on Tue 14 Oct 12:49PM

  2. not surprising he wants to ride again coz he has run­ out of rides in hollywood

    From Gerry, on Tue 14 Oct 11:58AM

  3. GO DRUGSTRONG,GO....

    From dorin c, on Tue 14 Oct 11:42AM

  4. COMEBACKS ARE AWESOME, HOW CAN ANYONE NOT WANT HIM TO­ RETURN

    From Tim, on Tue 14 Oct 10:28AM

  5. GO LANCE YOUR A LEGEND FOREVER AND MAKE CYCLING­ EXCITING!

    From Tim, on Tue 14 Oct 10:26AM

  6. OK so many things... First off HC (11) - Are you­ challenged? Armstrong will get respect when? Or He will­ only become the greatest cyclist when?. . . Increase­ your medication sunshine Armstrong IS the greatest­ cyclist ever and already DOES get the respect. Are you­ haveing a laugh or are you really just challenged? The­ man is the MOST tested pro athlete in the world! Even­ through retirment he remained the most tested athlete.­ As a result of his fame his team is watched under­ microscope intensively so you can be pretty sure when­ and if someone on his team cheats they will get caught.­ NO bigger fish to fry than a team member of any on his­ teams.. . ALSO to the people who think he is getting­ special treatment again it is because he is tested more­ than any athlete in the world. And that is a fact so go­ look it up and get off the denial wagon. GO Lance. A­ true cyclist!

    From ck2311, on Tue 14 Oct 9:57AM

  7. Bending rules for Armstrong is the only rule, it seems.­ What else is new about Armstrong? Will this guy give­ cycling a break, already. It is simply disgusting.

    From adiolusto, on Tue 14 Oct 4:29AM

  8. Also, Amaury is simply ignorant and jealous. Why deny­ the biggest draw and name in cycling the opportunity to­ race? By having Lance race, can only mean good things­ for the Tour. Vive la resistance. The only thing that­ it will lack, will mean that a frenchman will not win­ the Tour. Maybe, only if Lance changes citizenship­ will the tour gets its illusive French winner. Va­ t'en cule Amaury

    From legaldealer, on Tue 14 Oct 12:06AM

  9. It is all about the Euro, Il Giro and le Tour, are both­ fortunate to have him back, because it means money. I­ do not buy the @#$% that he does not compete in all of­ the races, so he is not legit. Did he not win the Tour­ enough times? It is the biggest stage that cycling­ has. He will bring back fans to cycling, it brings­ competition to both races, and will put cash in the­ pockets of the organizers

    From legaldealer, on Tue 14 Oct 12:02AM

  10. To all the "CLEAN AMATEURS" how do you think­ you would compare, Why not enter some of the top­ continental races with your "DREAM TEAM"­
    Clean amateurs are a rare commodity.
    Most are but a­ lot are not

    From maurice1958, on Mon 13 Oct 10:17PM

  11. Lance had the strongest team at the tour because they­ were all on gear and thats fact! Except Lance he is­ just superhuman (Honest)

    From Stephen, on Mon 13 Oct 8:07PM

  12. I reckon all us amateurs should all get on our bikes­ and show these so called pro's how to ride a good­ clean race.

    From Edward, on Mon 13 Oct 6:15PM

  13. Well, well, well - Lance is doing 2 rides in 1 year (Ha­ Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!)

    If he did what all the other riders do­ all year round and then wins TdF or Giro then he will­ start gaining some respect.

    But you cannot respect­ someone who just plays in the Champions League and does­ nothing else all year round.

    Lance will only be the­ greatest cyclist ever when he competes like everyone­ else does and wins.

    From H C, on Mon 13 Oct 6:04PM

  14. Ride the giro for no salary! just glory cause­ that's all this guy wants...one big ego trip...look­ at where it landed Pantani!

    From Edward, on Mon 13 Oct 5:43PM

  15. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hope he comes back­ with the underlying goal of being a great teammate for­ Contador like Leipheimer is currently. I cannot think­ of a more awesome message for cycling than to come back­ and take no salary and just work for others as a­ superdomestique. That is what people love about Ekimov,­ and others who just love to ride. My fear is that he­ will do more harm than good for his cause and for his­ teammates and further degrade the image of cycling.­ Lets hope for the best for the sake of the sport.

    From , on Mon 13 Oct 5:29PM

  16. At first Lance didn't compete in the Giro because­ he supported the Tour DuPont back in the States. Once­ he started winning Tours there was no reason to tamper­ with what worked. I'm excited to see Lance go for­ the Giro win, and would love to see him skip the French­ races completely because of the Amaury statement about­ him embarrassing the race, and all of the other French­ officials old and new letting it be known that he­ wasn't really welcome but might be tolerated if he­ behaves. The head of the Giro actually flew to Texas to­ invite Lance personally. There's also a rumor at a­ cycling site that Lance will race a one day and a week­ long race in Italy in addition to the Giro. I say move­ all the Lance news to Italy, and let the Tour people­ amuse themselves with talk about doping.

    From John, on Mon 13 Oct 5:09PM

  17. THIS MAN IS RIDING FOR HIMSELF, HE HAS A BOTH A WANT­ AND A NEED TO RIDE AND RACE HIS BICYCLE AND FOR THAT HE­ NEEDS TO BE ADMIRED. THE BIKE GAME IS HARD SO HE MUST­ ENJOY IT TO COME BACK. MAKING HISTORY IS NOT ON THE­ AGENDA, HE RIDES THE RACES HE WANTS TO RIDE, HE HAS THE­ ABILITY TO CHOOSE....EARLY LEGENDS DID NOT HAVE THE­ LUXURY AND THAT IS WHY WE CAN NEVER COMPARE............

    From Edward, on Mon 13 Oct 5:03PM

  18. Lance will go all out for victory in the Giro and then­ support Contandor in Le Tour, simple as that.­ Achievable and likely if you look at this years Giro­ where Contador was probably at 75% of his form and­ stills win the race.
    Astana cannot afford to lose­ Contador as they will turn into a poor team like­ Garmin-Chipotle

    From zulifkar, on Mon 13 Oct 4:44PM

  19. Guys, Lance is by far the greatest ever!! so save ur­ time and enjoy him competing...
    he brings joy and­ competition to the sport, although I can't convince­ myself that he's going to win. At least, he is­ promoting Cancer campaigns.
    Go Lance, you're a true­ sportsman.

    From firasas80, on Mon 13 Oct 4:14PM

  20. Well Stephen, if the subject matter wasn't so­ boring, I'd have something interesting to­ write!

    I'm not one of these 'Lance was a­ doper' people either. I like the guy - it's­ just that, to the educated cycling fan, he will never­ be compared to the true greats. I'm also not too­ happy about him reducing the greatest race as a PR­ stunt for his charity. Talk about an ego massage and a­ disregard for the sport!

    I'll be VERY surprised if­ Lance does anything but use the Giro as a warm up to­ the TDF. At his age and with the number of better­ riders (his team-mate Contador being one) he's­ going to struggle.

    From dmdweb.co.uk, on Mon 13 Oct 3:46PM
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