Armstrong says Tour to be his last

The American made the announcement via his Twitter account ahead of Saturday's start of the gruelling event in France.

Lance Armstrong, the seven-time champion, has said this year's Tour de France will be his last. The American made the announcement via his Twitter account ahead of Saturday's start of the gruelling event. "This will be final Tour de France," Armstrong, 38, said in his 'tweet'. "It's been a great ride. Looking forward to three great weeks." "Doh, sorry, meant my final Tour," he added to clarify. Armstrong won seven consecutive titles between 1999 and 2005. He finished third last year on his comeback following three and a half years in retirement.

Meanwhile, after a doping-free Tour in 2009, organisers are desperately hoping for a clean race again next month. Although no rider was caught for doping during last year's race, stage winner Mikel Astarloza was suspended shortly after the Tour for failing a test during the event. At the beginning of the season, the International Cycling Union (UCI) appeared to have made good progress in the fight against doping.

Suspensions were given to riders whose biological passports revealed anomalies and Alejandro Valverde was banned from the sport for his implication in the Operation Puerto blood doping scandal. It should have been good news as well that Floyd Landis, the disgraced 2006 Tour champion, finally admitted to having taken drugs that year. However his confession after four years of denial cast new shadows over the sport when the former teammate of Armstrong accused him and other prominent American cyclists of doping offences.

And last month the sport was faced with another form of alleged cheating. Davide Cassani, an Italian former professional rider, revealed that he had tried a new bicycle equipped with a concealed engine which he said had been used in professional races. * Agencies