The Hindu : Sport / Cycling : No. 7 beckons Armstrong

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 17, 2005

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Sport - Cycling

No. 7 beckons Armstrong

PARIS, FEB. 16. Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong says he will aim for a seventh victory this summer.

Armstrong's current 2005 racing schedule, `will include this summer's Tour de France where he will go for a seventh straight victory,' his Discovery Channel team said on Wednesday on its website.

"I am grateful for the opportunity that Discovery Communications has given the team and look forward to achieving my goal of a seventh Tour de France (victory)," it quoted the Texan as saying.

The announcement ended speculation about whether Armstrong would skip this year's Tour, the biggest in cycling, to focus on other events. Last year he became the first cyclist to win the Tour de France six times.

"I am excited to get back on the bike and start racing, although my condition is far from perfect," said Armstrong in the statement.

Armstrong will start his season with the Paris-Nice stage race in March. He will then compete in the Tour of Flanders on April 3, before defending his title at the Tour de Georgia in the United States later that month, the statement said.

Armstrong added that he, and his friend and team manager Johan Bruyneel "will evaluate my fitness later this spring and possibly add some races to the calendar." — AP

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