Lance Armstrong's final Tour de France

Today Lance Armstrong sent out a Tweet that had a lot of meaning in it.

lancearmstrong: And yes, this will be final Tour de France. It’s been a great ride. Looking forward to three great weeks.

Noticing a spelling error, he then added: Doh, sorry, meant “my” final Tour.

The seven-time Tour de France winner, who is 38, will lead his RadioShack teammates in the Tour which starts on Saturday.

Monday’s announcement comes just one month after the Texan found himself embroiled in new doping allegations, dismissing accusations leveled by his former teammate Floyd Landis.

Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after a positive drug test, pointed the finger at numerous cyclists, including Armstrong. Armstrong was quick to attack Landis’ credibility.

Armstrong beat cancer in 1998, then went on to win seven consecutive yellow jerseys from 1999-2005. He then retired, but then returned to the sport last year. Armstrong placed third at the 2009 Tour.

This year he finished second in the Tour of Switzerland and third in the Tour of Luxembourg. He crashed out of the Tour of California on home soil in May.

Armstrong will line up at this year’s Tour with a team that includes former Tour runner-up Andreas Klöden of Germany, Americans Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner, plus several other experienced stage race campaigners.

We'll keep you updated on the Tour as it gets going this weekend.

Armstrong responds to Landis

I wrote early today about how Floyd Landis finally came clean about doping in the past.

Well, Lance Armstrong had this to say on his twitter page:

Just spoke to the press here in Visalia. The transcription of my comments will be on www.teamradioshack.com soon. Thanks.

Here's video from before the Tour of California started today:



Look for more about this story to break as the weeks go by.

UPDATE May 20, 2010 2:36 PM: Here is the link to the Lance Armstrong press conference.

Landis finally admits to doping

The once praised American cyclist Floyd Landis finally admitted to ESPN's Bonnie Ford that he did in fact use performance enhancing drugs.

Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France victory, has been adamant about his innocence since the accusations occurred. His site, floydlandis.com used to even say "how they convicted an innocent man." (it has since been taken down)

I rooted for Landis in the 2006 Tour de France. And I watched as he overcame that huge deficit to take the lead after falling WAY behind the previous day. I watched as he "won" the Tour and was happy that America was still on top of the world's biggest cycling race. Oh, and I felt sad when it came out that he had cheated to win.

Therefore, when Landis comes out and says that other athletes he was working with, such as Lance Armstrong and Dave Zabriskie, were also doping I find that I must take his words with a grain of salt.

Landis has repeatedly lied. Even going so far as to write a book in 2007 titled, "Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France." (I see that book falling into bargin bins everywhere now)

The fact is the man has lied. Lied again. And lied one more time. In print and in interviews for almost four years now. Now do I know if Armstrong and Zabriskie doped? Of course not.

But I do know that Landis claimed his innocence for a very long time, only to come clean years later. His word vs. theirs. (Because Landis has no proof) You pick who you'd listen to. But for me, I'm listening to Armstrong and Zabriskie.

Check out the reaction from ESPN: