The seven-time Tour champion, who is making a comeback after three years in retirement, said in an interview in The Guardian on Tuesday that he is concerned about his safety.
"I don't want to enter an unsafe situation but you see this stuff coming out of France," said the American rider, who has many critics in France. "There're some aggressive, angry emotions. If you believe what you read, my personal safety could be in jeopardy.
Looks to me like he is backpedaling (pun intended) now that he realizes how sophistaced doping controls have become (and he is not getting any younger).
Wait for his next step: cancellation of comeback because of security concerns.
Posted by: Eric_W. | November 20, 2008 at 04:12 PM
Armstrong has certainly made a career out of appealing to Americans' anti-French bias - this is really no different then how it's always been.
It would be interesting to see what he does this season. After all, he's never done more then one of the major stage races in Europe in a season. Lots of pros do maybe two out of the three, but he's always exclusively focused on le Tour. Since he's announced he's doing the Giro, if he does to the Tour de France, it would be interesting to see whether that has an influence on his performance.
Posted by: Chris | November 20, 2008 at 04:21 PM
He should try commuting by bike on Rt. 29 in Maryland if thinks racing is dangerous!
Posted by: Jack | November 21, 2008 at 05:35 PM