photo by: cobber_cpd
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has officially cleared Lance to ride in the 2009 Tour Down Under. Lance had pinpointed the Tour Down Under as the first race in his comeback season. It’s the first official event of the 2009 Pro Tour.
There had been some questions whether he would be able to ride since the UCI policy had been that an athlete had to enroll with their national anti doping agency six months prior to racing in a Pro Tour event. Lance did enroll in the US Anti Doping program some months ago, but the strict sixth month period would have put his earliest date to race at Feb 1, 2009.
The UCI decided to allow an exception for Armstrong mainly because the six month rule was devised four years ago, and the their drug testing standards are much higher than they were when the rule was written.
“Riders are now subject to a much-reinforced system of monitoring compared to that of the past,” the governing body said in a statement. “Lance Armstrong has and will be the subject of very strict monitoring throughout the period running up to his return to the peloton.1”
Lance has taken extra measures in terms of drug testing for his comeback. He’s hired a film crew to document his comeback and his training and also hired a personal doping expert Don Catlin. Catlin, who started the orginal US anti doping effort in 1982, will make Lance samples available to the public online as hs blood to be analyzed later to be tested later if new doping tests are developed.
So It’s official, Lance will ride in the 2009 Tour Down Under in Australia on Jan. 20-25 in his first pro tour event since he retired three years ago.
Viva Lance!
- Sports Illustrated: Armstrong cleared to race [↩]
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