Friends, foes emerge as Armstrong comeback gathers pace
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Lance Armstrong is hoping to kick-start his comeback at the Tour Down Under in January. (Getty Images: Alex Wong, file photo)
A comeback by one of sport's biggest legends is usually the stuff dreams are made of.
But less than two weeks after announcing his return to professional cycling after a three-year hiatus, Tour de France icon Lance Armstrong continues to attract a mix of plaudits and criticism.
Armstrong, who battled cancer from 1996-1998 before claiming the first of seven consecutive yellow jerseys in 1999, claims his return is geared towards spreading global awareness of the threat cancer poses.
But a certain degree of mystery still surrounds the real driving force behind the man who built his legendary status, and made millions, dominating the world's biggest bike race.
Some simply can't wait to see whether the formidable Armstrong of old can cut it in 2009.
"Lance Armstrong is a superstar in the same category as Tiger Woods," purred Mike Turtur, the boss of Australia's Tour Down Under where Armstrong is hoping to make his competitive return on January 20-25.
Others believe his return will simply revive the old doping controversies which the American trailed in his wake throughout his impressive career.
"His return is not good news," former three-time yellow jersey winner Greg Lemond said last week in Las Vegas.
"It's like a nightmare, that we have lived through all these years, returning."
Team waves
Even within the team Armstrong has joined, Astana, his return is making waves.
Astana's Alberto Contador barely had time to savour his own history-making feat two weeks ago when he added the Tour of Spain to his 2008 Giro d'Italia title and Tour de France victory from 2007.
Until then, Contador was Astana's undisputed team leader. But now, Contador's future at the Kazakh-backed outfit seems clouded.
One leading French magazine, Velo, even questioned whether Contador was "being made a fool of".
Contador has already expressed doubts about who will support who when it comes to racing alongside Armstrong next July.
But it appears that Astana team chief Johan Bruyneel, despite his respect for the Spanish ace, is standing firmly behind Armstrong.
"He (Armstrong) has a charisma that makes people want to go to war with him; sacrifice themselves for the benefit of the team," Bruyneel said.
"It's not a common characteristic and I think a lot of riders, especially the young ones, can learn from him."
Bruyneel, who helped steer Armstrong to all of his Tour triumphs, claims his hands are tied.
"Alberto has had a magnificent year and is currently the best professional cyclist in the world," the Belgian said.
"But people need to remember that I'm employed by our Kazakh sponsors, not Alberto Contador, not Lance Armstrong, not any one rider."
New dimension
The possibility of an Armstrong v Contador duel for the yellow jersey - whether they are in the same team or not - would lend a new dimension to next year's race.
But whoever steers Astana to possible victory in 2009 might not matter come next July.
It is the fact that Armstrong has decided to return - following in the footsteps of sports giants like Muhammed Ali and Michael Jordan - which is of most interest.
But there may be one challenge, the one that could see him put many doping allegations definitively to rest, that the 37-year-old Texan cycling star is struggling against.
Despite never having tested positive for banned substances, Armstrong has had no shortage of detractors.
Books have been written, circumstantial evidence presented but - while vehemently denying ever using banned substances - Armstrong has never been sanctioned for drugs use.
Astana have recently revealed that the results of future anti-doping tests on Armstrong will be "made public" with the aim of total transparency.
But it is results from the past, not the future, that Armstrong is having trouble with.
Days after his seventh Tour victory in 2005, French sports daily L'Equipe alleged that several of Armstrong's samples, kept since 1999 and tested retroactively, tested positive for EPO (erythropoietin).
Armstrong swiped the claims aside, but the experts claim the tests stand up.
France's national anti-doping agency (AFLD), whose recent 'victims' include Italian Riccardo Ricco - who has been suspended two years for EPO use at the 2008 Tour - this week offered to re-test Armstrong's samples from 1999 to "prove his good faith".
"The way these samples are preserved and the volume of them mean that you can do an analysis for the possible presence of EPO on at least five stages of the 1999 Tour de France," an AFLD statement said.
Armstrong spurned the offer, claiming "mishandling" issues with the laboratory and claiming the same lab, at Chatenay-Malabry near Paris, also botched his 1998 samples.
"The 1998 and 1999 Tour de France samples have not been maintained properly," Armstrong said.
"They have been compromised in many ways and even three years ago they could not be tested to provide any meaningful results."
-AFP
