It’s official: Armstrong to race Tour de France, Tour de Georgia
February 16th, 2005 | Published in Le Tour
It’s official: Armstrong to race Tour de France, Tour de Georgia:
ThePaceline.com | Armstrong announces initial 2005 race calendar
Lance Armstrong announced today that he will ride the 2005 Tour de France, aiming for an unprecedented 7th consecutive Tour victory.
Armstrong had suggested he might skip this year’s Tour to concentrate on the spring classics and perhaps the Giro d’Italia.
Another surprise was that Armstrong will defend his title at the Tour de Georgia, April 19th-25th, although the final stage of that race conflicts with Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
As announced Monday, Armstrong will kick off his season at Paris-Nice March 6th-13th. He’ll also race the Tour of Flanders on April 3rd.
“Johan (Bruyneel, the team’s sports manager) and I will evaluate my fitness later this spring and possibly add some races to the calendar,” said Armstrong.
The release doesn’t mention any plans for a run at the world hour record, which Armstrong’s team is exploring. Many past champions have gone for the record in late summer or early fall.
Whoo hoo go lance go!
(Via Tour de France 2004.)
