Armstrong joins Astana team to cycle against cancer

NEW YORK: Cycling legend Lance Armstrong said on Wednesday he would join Kazakhstan's Astana team for his competitive comeback - but he didn't promise an eighth Tour de France victory.

"I will race in 2009 with Astana," he told journalists in New York.

Armstrong, 37, said he would start with January's Tour Down Under in Australia and close the season with the Tour de France in July, which he won seven times before retiring in 2005.

The cycling great, who successfully battled testicular cancer in 1996, dedicated the comeback to his Livestrong cancer prevention campaign.

"I cannot guarantee an eighth tour victory," he said, "but I can guarantee that the Livestrong message will ... touch all the different aspects of cancer."

Attending a New York conference of celebrity activists hosted by former US president Bill Clinton, Armstrong described cancer as "a global health concern".

"By racing the bicycle all over the world, beginning in Australia, ending in France, it's the best way, the best way to get the word out," he said.

"This is the campaign to spread the word, spread awareness and hopefully save lives."

He announced a Livestrong global summit in Paris after the Tour de France to promote cancer issues.

But he downplayed the idea he might actually win the tour, the sport's greatest challenge.

"I don't know, honestly. I've been off the bike three years," he said. "I'll be nearly 38 years old ... So I honestly don't know."

"I will try to be as prepared as possible. I don't know that that equals victory.... I have a fair bit of confidence, but not that kind of confidence."

Nikolai Proskurin, the deputy president of oil-rich, ex-Soviet Kazakhstan's cycling federation, said Armstrong would share Astana's leadership with current leader, Spaniard Alberto Contador.

However, Proskurin acknowledged that the return of the cycling hero was causing tensions with Contador, winner of the 2007 Tour de France.

"Currently there's certain tension in the team but I hope we are capable of keeping the situation under control," Proskurin said. "Armstrong will not be the only star, he will be one of the team's leaders."

Armstrong sought to calm matters, praising Contador and saying: "I look forward to racing with him."

"Alberto is the best rider on the planet right now. We have to understand that, have to respect that. I'm not sure I can ride that fast right now," he said. "I hope it works out."

Off the bike, Armstrong has become a passionate and high-profile campaigner for greater attention to cancer, which he said would kill 8 million people this year, but could be dramatically curbed.

His main reason for returning to the saddle, he said, was to add to the weight of his Lance Armstrong Foundation.

"I think it's undeniable that an athlete in his prime or near his prime ... can have more impact than a retired athlete," he said.

"Me being on the bike and me competing professionally increases the likelihood we will be able to make progress in these different countries."

Asked where he got his legendary mental strength in defeating an often fatal disease and repeatedly winning in a grueling sport, Armstrong said: "The person who could answer that question is not on the stage and that's my mother ... She has a certain mentality which is 'never quit.' It stuck with me."

Reports from Australia said, however, that the South Australian state government's position on cancer treatment was crucial to getting the Texan to commit to the Australian race.

South Australian Premier Mike Rann said he spoke to Armstrong's management regarding the state's cancer research and treatment credentials and promised to support Armstrong in his mission.

"We are happy to join with him in supporting those causes," Rann told reporters.

The Sydney Morning Herald said while Armstrong will visit Australia as part of Kazakhstan's Astana team, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste International and not as an individual, he has been offered a package that includes a number of initiatives aimed at supporting his global cancer campaign.

"His management was impressed by the government's position on cancer research, especially the construction of the Marjorie Jackson Nelson Hospital and the link with the (Australian) Olympic athlete's husband Peter Nelson, a former Olympic cyclist who she met at the 1952 Games and died from leukaemia in 1977," the newspaper said.

AFP

(China Daily 09/26/2008 page24)