PARIS // Seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong gave his thumbs up to next year's route and said he was eager to meet the new officials in charge of the race and clear up the uncertainty over his participation.
The American, who is coming out of a three-year retirement, has yet to decide whether he will ride in France next summer because of his difficult relationship with the Tour organisers and the French crowd.
"The route of the 2009 Tour de France strikes me as innovative and very interesting," the 37-year-old Armstrong said in a statement released late last night.
"From its start in Monte Carlo with a 15k time trial, to the reinstatement of the team time trial, to stages in my old hometown of Girona all the way to another visit to my old friend the Ventoux, I could not have hoped for a different Tour."
He added: "While there has been a fair bit of tension and numerous disagreements with the Tour and its organisers, I am well aware that there is new leadership at (tour owners) ASO and I look forward to upcoming conversations and to a mutually beneficial future together."
The former ASO president Patrice Clerc, one of Armstrong's fiercest opponents throughout his career, was last month replaced by Jean-Etienne Amaury, who said Armstrong's return would be "embarrassing".
Armstrong's team Astana manager, Johan Bruyneel, said yesterday that the Texan, who triumphed on the French roads from 1999 to 2005, would ride the Tour if he felt the atmosphere would be serene, rating his chances of taking part as 50-50.
French daily L'Equipe, owned by ASO's parent company EPA (Editions Philippe Amaury), claimed three years ago that samples of Armstrong's urine from 1999 showed traces of the banned blood-boosting substance erythropoietin.
However, Armstrong never tested positive and was cleared by a Dutch investigator appointed by the International Cycling Union.
At that time, then World Anti-Doping Agency President Dick Pound said Armstrong's clearance was "strange".
*Reuters
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At a glance
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Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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