Lance Armstrong will come out of retirement next year to compete in five road races with the Astana team, according to sources familiar with the developing situation.

Armstrong, who turns 37 this month, will compete in the Amgen Tour of California, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Georgia, the Dauphine-Libere and the Tour de France — and will race for no salary or bonuses, the sources, who asked to remain anonymous, told VeloNews.

Armstrong's manager, Mark Higgins, did not respond to questions.

However sources close to the story have told VeloNews that an exclusive article on the matter will be published in an upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, expected later this month.

Rumors of Armstrong's return swirled at last week’s Eurobike trade show in Germany and this week’s Tour of Missouri.

The rumor speculates that Armstrong will reunite with former team manager Johan Bruyneel at Team Astana — a viable option given Armstrong’s long-lasting relationships not only with the Belgian director but also Trek, Astana’s bike sponsor.

According to sources, the Texan will post all of his internally tested blood work online, in an attempt to establish complete transparency and prove that he is a clean athlete.

The rumor, which has been rampant for nearly a month, gained legs when former Discovery Channel team director Dirk Demol signed with Astana for 2009.

“I am excited to be reunited with Johan Bruyneel," Demol said. "What Johan has been able to do this year with Team Astana is quite special and admirable and I look forward to being a part of his program once again. It will be a new team with some familiar faces, but I know the winning philosophy and structure have remained the same.”
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Other rumors are that Armstrong will continue to pursue mountain bike racing, and may try his hand at cyclocross as well.

Should Armstrong return with Astana, it would bolster a squad that arguably boasts the sport’s best stage-racing team.

In Missouri, Columbia rider George Hincapie, a close friend of Armstrong’s and the only man to ride on all seven of the Texan’s Tour winning teams, simply smiled when asked what he’d knew about the rumor, saying, “I don’t know anything.”

Armstrong re-enrolled himself into the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s out-of-competition testing pool prior to August’s Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race, where he finished second to Dave Wiens, said USA Cycling chief operating officer Sean Petty.

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.

A return to racing would no doubt bring large crowds to American races, and could perhaps save the Tour de Georgia, which is struggling to land a title sponsor.

Petty said that should Armstrong wish to return to racing, “it would be one of most exciting things to happen to American racing since he won his seventh Tour. Depending on his plan, if that is what he wanted to do, it would be tremendously exciting and would generate a tremendous amount of attention on the sport, and on what he’s doing. People would be very interested to see how he would do in a comeback.”

The last big-name rider to return from retirement was Italian Mario Cipollini, who signed with Rock Racing and competed at this year’s Amgen Tour of California after three years away from the sport. Cipollini failed to win a stage, but took third in a field sprint and said, “This finish means as much to me as any victory.” Following the race Cipollini had a contractual dispute with Rock team owner Michael Ball, and left the team.


http://velonews.com/article/82892/sourc ... oming-back

he must have just gotten his HGH shipment.

Yikes.

i'm excited about this. i hope Lance proves all the skeptics wrong, but i think he might be a little long in the tooth to win it again. best of luck to him, though.

Man has ball to come back after all these accusations.

Its fake, right?

Johan Bruyneel is denying it, but he's bound to do that until there's a press conference.

Velonews is supposed to be pretty reliable though..

It's real:

In a VF.com exclusive, indefatigable anti-cancer crusader and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong opens up about doping, dating, politics (including a possible run for the Texas statehouse), George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, the French, the next phase in his war on a global epidemic, and why he’s decided to try for an eighth Tour title—at age 37.


I wasn’t totally buying it. “Are you really 100 percent going to race in the Tour de France?”

“One hundred percent!” he replied. “One hundred percent!”

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/featu ... rong200809

Nice!

It'll be exciting to see how Astana will line up in TdF next year. Armstrong on the team as well as Contador and Leipheimer.

i was wondering the same thing. someone from astana better win as loaded as they are going to be.

Yeah, they really can't afford to lose. But I guess someone will exit the team if their main objective for TdF is for Armstrong to win it.

That's what I thought, why would Contador and leipheimer with chances to win perhaps on thier own just join the rank and file and bow to Armstrong? He is 37 after all too. Does this mean they may go get George Hincapie?

Hincapie will probably help Lance if he gets the offer. Astana also has a rider like Andreas Kløden who has finished top 3 earlier in TdF. It will be very interesting to see what happens to the team. I think at least one of the gc candidates will look for a new team with Armstrong's arrival.

Actually, he doesn't even.

thats a low blow...literally

I think this is like the Brett Favre retirement/unretirement thing. As an elite sportsman who has been in the spotlight and lives on the adrenaline of public adulation and celebrity status, it's bloody hard to go back to (kind of) being a Joe Blow and not performing in front of millions of people and running out in front of massive crowds.

Can't blame the guy for wanting to get back into it.