2009 Tour of France- Armstrong’s security and participation at risk
By Audrey Nolan
Lance Armstrong hasn’t decided yet if he is going to race in the 2009 Tour of France. He fears for his safety due to the fact that when the race takes place, the spectators are at the sides of the streets. Even though an attack from a spectator is a very rare situation, he is worried because according to him, some leaders of French teams have encouraged the fans to take the streets and the situation is very tense.
Armstrong is making a comeback after a three year retirement, but whether or not he is going to be racing in the 2009 Tour of France has been doubtful since the beginning. Some team organizers have said that Armstrong is a shame for the Tour because there still are allegations that state that he doped himself several times while he was racing the Tour.
Johan Bruyneel, who is Armstrong’s team Director, decided that both of them will have to meet with the Tour organizers to decide if they are finally going to race in the Tour. The Astana team was banned this year for doping issues as well, but they will be allowed by the Tour organizers to race next year. What concerns Bruyneel the most is the tense atmosphere in France towards Lance since he needs motivation to race and not anger from other people.
"I don't want to enter an unsafe situation but you see this stuff coming out of France," said the American rider, who has been very criticized in France. "There're some aggressive, angry emotions. If you believe what you read, my personal safety could be in jeopardy”.
Given the situation that he had in the past with the anti-doping agencies and the Tour organizers, since they had stated Lance was doped by the times he won several of his titles, he replied to them that there are great athletes out there just doing their job with a lot of sacrifices and hard work and that those titles were fairly won by him back then. He also stated that even if the people doesn’t like it, he will only focus on his career completely and any aspect of it, like the bike, the team, the strategy and the trainings too.
Armstrong announced his comeback in September and joined the Astana team because his old boss was the director for them. His first official race is going to be the Giro d’Italia which is going to be held from May 9th through the 31st as a preparation for his possible participation in the 2009 Tour of France which starts on July 4th.
Lance Armstrong has been the only rider that has won the Tour seven consecutive times, from 1999 to 2005. Now, after three years out the roads and at his 37 years of age; he has stated that he feels he is even on a better shape now than in the past. He explained that he feels mentally more motivated and stronger. He actually believes that the motivation that he has right now is just as the same emotion he felt when he returned after beating cancer in 1999.
About the author
Audrey Nolan is a high-ranking writer on cycling news for the sports betting industry. Feel free to reprint this article in its whole on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.