US legend Armstrong to return to pro cycling in 2009
10/9/2008 17:40
US cycling great Lance Armstrong said yesterday he will return to
professional cycling in 2009.
"I am happy to announce that after talking with
my children, my family and my closest friends, I have decided to return to
professional cycling in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden,"
Armstrong said in a statement.
Armstrong, who will turn 37 on September 18,
cited 41-year-old US swimmer Dara Torres's Olympic comeback in Beijing as proof
that age was not a barrier to his return.
"Look at the Olympics. You have a
swimmer like Dara Torres. Even in the 50m the 41-year-old mother proved you can
do it," he said in an interview posted on vanityfair.com.
"The woman who won
the marathon (Romanian Constantina Tomescu) was 38. Older athletes are
performing very well. Ask serious sports physiologists and they'll tell you age
is a wives' tale."
Armstrong, a cancer survivor, won seven consecutive Tour
de France titles from 1999 to 2005.
Xinhua
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