Friday, January 14, 2005

Armstrong will wait until April to decide on Tour

Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong said Monday that he will make up his mind whether he competes in this year's renewal at the end of April.

Speaking at the unveiling of the new Discovery Channel cycling team in Silver Spring, Maryland, the 33-year-old Armstrong added that under the terms of hiscontract with his new sponsor he would have to take part in either this year's race or the one in 2006.

"The deal was I was going to do the Tour in 2005 or 2006," said the Texan.

Armstrong will race in the one-day Spring Classics in April before making up his mind.

"That would be a good time to adjust," he commented. "At the moment I cannot say if I will be able to take part. We are not ruling anything out, but we will see at the time."

Armstrong, though, said that his decision would not be based on his sometimes-fractious relations with the French public, in fact he claimed the majority of them like him.

"I think this perception between myself and the entire French public is absolutely incorrect," he said. "The majority of people are supporting me on the side of the road, a few say nasty things ... I am fine with that."

Armstrong added that he would like to compete in the Tour of Flanders from March 4-6, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege on April 24, The Fleche-Wallon and perhaps the Amstel Gold Cup on April 17.

Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team - 2005

  • Lance Armstrong (USA)
  • Jose Azevedo (POR)
  • Michael Barry (CAN)
  • Manuel Beltran (ESP)
  • Fumiyuki Beppu (JPN)
  • Volodymyr Bileka (UKR)
  • Janez Brajkovic (SLO)
  • Michael Creed (USA)
  • Antonio Cruz (USA)
  • Tom Danielson (USA)
  • Stijn Devolder (BEL)
  • Viatcheslav Ekimov (RUS)
  • Roger Hammond (GBR)
  • Ryder Hesjedal (CAN)
  • George Hincapie (USA)
  • Leif Hoste (BEL)
  • Benoit Joachim (LUX)
  • Jason McCartney (USA)
  • Patrick McCarty (USA)
  • Gennady Mikhaylov (RUS)
  • Benjamin Noval (ESP)
  • Pavel Padrnos (CZE)
  • Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)
  • Hayden Roulston (NZL)
  • Jose Luis Rubiera (ESP)
  • Paolo Savoldelli (ITA)
  • Jurgen Van den Broeck (BEL)
  • Max Van Heeswijk (NED)
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