Lance Armstrong will continue his preparations for the Tour de France by racing in the Nevada City Classic on Sunday, the seven-time Tour de France champion said on Twitter.
Armstrong returned to the United States after finishing 12th in the Giro d’Italia in May, and on June 5 welcomed the birth of baby son, Max – his fourth child.
The 37-year-old cyclist said he and Astana teammates Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner will compete in the 49th edition of the Nevada City Classic, which is run on a a 1.7km circuit in the historic mining town nestled in the northern California mountains.
“A great American race!!!” Armstrong called the event in a posting Tuesday on the social networking site Twitter. “I’m excited to see Nevada City again, it’s been 11 years since I’ve done it, in the beautiful Sierra Mountains.”
The race will be another step in Armstrong’s return to competition, launched in January after an absence of three and a half years.
While he has been stateside between the Giro and the Tour de France, which starts on July 4, Armstrong said international cycling’s anti-doping authorities hadn’t lost track of him.
“Surprise anti-doping control,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “Think it’s the 31st time (since his return) but not sure any more. Part of the job.”
On Wednesday he said he’d been tested again, joking that the testers must be enjoying their holiday in Colorado, where he has been training.
“Unreal. Now USADA (the US Anti-Doping Agency) shows up,” he wrote later Wednesday. “So we have the UCI (International Cycling Union here and USADA. That’s efficiency, eh??”