RadioShack manager Johan Bruyneel has confirmed that seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will take part in this year’s Tour of the Gila in New Mexico. Last year, while riding for the Astana team, Armstrong along with teammates Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner made a surprise appearance in the event. He will again use the five-day stage race as part of his preparation for the Tour de France in July.
“Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Jason McCartney will ride the SRAM Tour of Gila. I will be there too,” confirmed Bruyneel on his Twitter account.
Armstrong has had a rough season thus far due to illness. He was forced to pull out of the Circuit de la Sarthe early, and before that stomach problems kept him out of Milan-Sanremo and affected his performance in the Critérium International.
Last year the three then-Astana riders were required to compete in the Tour of the Gila on an individual basis because of International Cycling Union (UCI) regulations that prevent ProTour teams from taking the start in national-level races.
A UCI spokesman told the Telegraph at the time: “It was actually the UCI who told USA Cycling about the existence of a rule within their own regulations, which allows three riders from the same professional team to compete wearing neutral jerseys. USA Cycling was unaware of this.”
Armstrong’s next big target will be the Tour of California in May. He has yet to decide whether he will ride the Tour de Suisse or the Dauphiné Libéré as his final tune-up for the big show in July. If he rides the Dauphiné, he will ride against defending Tour de France champion Alberto Contador (Astana) once more before the Tour, which would give an early indication of whether he can successfully challenge the Spaniard.