Although he previously indicated that he had no plans to go to this year’s Tour de France, multiple winner Lance Armstrong now intends to attend the race towards the end of the month.
According to his spokesman Mark Higgins, the Texan will be present at the penultimate day time trial in Grenoble on July 23rd, and will then be in Paris on the final day. There will be party held there for Team RadioShack supporters, according to AP.
Higgins also told the Des Moines Register that the rider will take part in this year’s RAGBRAI event. It takes place between July 24-30, and so the overlap with the Tour would see him miss part of it. “The plan is to ride at least for a couple days,” stated Higgins.
According to the Des Moines Register, he is expected to join the Livestrong team for a Tuesday-Wednesday or Wednesday-Thursday segment. The ride goes through central Iowa, and is termed the oldest, largest and longest bicycle touring event in the world.
Armstrong retired from professional cycling earlier this year, calling it quits after the Santos Tour Down Under. He had previously said that he would do some US events, including a likely participation in the Amgen Tour of California, but then decided otherwise.
He and the US Postal Service team are currently the subject of a federal investigation, which began over a year ago. They deny suggestions of wrongdoing.