ANOTHER RUN: Lance Armstrong announced on Wednesday that his comeback to competitive cycling will be with Team Astana in January. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)
“While we looked at other teams and talked to other teams, as a friend and as a longtime partner, and as somebody that really trusts Johan on every little decision in the program, I could not ever imagine racing against him or racing without him,” Armstrong told reporters.
The announcement was made at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, where Armstrong spoke on behalf of the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), which he founded in 1997.
Armstrong had said this summer he was considering returning to professional cycling after participating in the Leadville 100, a Colorado mountain bike race. His first professional race with Team Astana is the Tour Down Under in Adelaide, Australia, in January.
Team Astana had been banned from the 2008 Tour due to doping violations, but is back on the 2009 roster according to Tour organizers. Armstrong said the team will employ anti-doping expert Don Catlin to test him at any point and post the results publicly in an effort to dispel doping suspicions.
“I think this will be the most advanced anti-doping program in the world,” Armstrong said. “In my opinion, Don Catlin is beyond reproach.”
A Two-Fold Initiative
Armstrong’s return to professional cycling has two key purposes: cancer awareness first and winning second.
“While my intention is to train and compete as fiercely as I always have, this time I will gauge victory by how much progress we make against cancer, a disease that will claim 8 million lives this year alone.”
On Wednesday, Armstrong announced the creation of the Livestrong Global Cancer Awareness Campaign, which will focus on dispelling misconceptions about the disease, urging world leaders to make cancer treatment and prevention a high priority, and supporting people with cancer worldwide.
“With this campaign we feel that by racing the bicycle all over the world, beginning in Australia, ending in France at the global summit, it is the best way to promote this initiative, it’s the best way to get the word out,” said Armstrong.
Armstrong faces tough competition on Team Astana from 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador. Recent reports say the Spaniard is thinking of moving to another team to prevent a conflict of interest over himself and Armstrong.
“I think I’ve earned the right to be the leader of a team without having to fight for my place…and with Armstrong some difficult situations could arise in which the team would put him first and that would hurt me,” Contador said in a statement.
Armstrong hopes Contador will stay on the team. “I think there’s room for all of us on that team,” Armstrong said, adding that Contador is “the best rider on the planet right now…having him on Team Astana will only motivate me further.”
The 37-year-old Texan holds the record for the most Tour de France wins, which he accomplished in consecutive years 1999–2005. After his seventh win in 2005, he retired to devote more time to the LAF, an organization that has raised more than $260 million for the fight against cancer and distributed more than 60 million Livestrong wristbands in a global cancer awareness effort.
