Dane Michael Rasmussen dreams of winning the Tour de France, the race his team forced him to abandon in 2007 while wearing the yellow jersey.
"If Lance Armstrong can return, and maybe win the Tour de France this summer, then I see no reason why I should not hope to do so," Rasmussen said in an interview with Danish television.
Team Rabobank forced Rasmussen out of the 2007 Tour de France while he led the race. He faced only four days to race with a 3'10" lead over Alberto Contador, however, there were problems with his whereabouts declarations to anti-doping authorities.
Contador went on to win the Tour de France ahead of Cadel Evans and Levi Leipheimer.
Rasmussen served a subsequent two-year suspension, which ended on July 25, 2009. In October, he won the prologue and finished sixth overall at the Vuelta a Chihuahua in Mexico racing for team Tecos-Trek, but it was a far off from his glory days.
He won the Giro dell'Emilia in 2003 for Team CSC and joined Rabobank the following year. In both 2005 and 2006, he won a stage and the polka dot jersey for best climber at the Tour de France.
This season, the 35-year-old races for Miche-Silver Cross, an Italian third division team, but it lacks invitations to the Grand Tours.
"I'm not working on my farewell," he continued. "I still have a huge passion for what I do and I still believe I was one of the best riders in the world. As long as I have not tried everything, I will keep fighting."
Rasmussen estimates he has three more years of racing ahead of him and hopes to join a higher division team to race a Grand Tour in 2011.
Miche failed to receive an invite to its home race, the Giro d'Italia, this year. Its only win came from Poland's Przemyslaw Niemiec at the third stage of Settimana Coppi & Bartali.
Rasmussen finished eighth overall at the Tour de San Luis in January.