Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has been recruited by former England footballer Geoff Thomas to take part in a charity cycle ride, along this year’s Tour de France route, according to the Daily Mail.
READ MORE:
Lance Armstrong releases statement thanking CIRC for “seeking the truth”
Lance Armstrong loses $10 million court case with promotions company
Rooney KO video: Man United star gets knocked out cold after stupidly boxing former teammate in kitchen!
Thomas, who like Armstrong has overcome an aggressive form of cancer, is riding the entire route of this year’s Tour a day ahead of the peloton, to raise money for his leukaemia charity, and enlisted the help of the seven time champion to join him on a couple of stages. That is despite the Texan being seemingly banished from the world of professional cycling, and even the Livestrong Foundation, a charity that Armstrong founded.
Armstrong was stripped of all his titles in 2012, after the US Anti-Doping Agency revealed that he had used performance enhancer EPO throughout his seemingly fairytale career. His subsequent admission of guilt to chat-show host Oprah Winfrey did little to appease those infuriated by his lies. But Thomas have offered him an olive branch after a couple of years in the wilderness.
After travelling to the 43-year-old’s home state, Thomas revealed that he had to do some persuading to get Armstrong to agree, but when he actually asked the former US Postal rider, he responded, “Of course I will, I have to say I’m humbled you’ve made the effort to come all this way.”
The ex-Crystal Palace midfielder is expecting some criticism for his efforts to bring back Armstrong back into the public light, but he was quick to justify the decision.
“As a sportsman I was angry that it was all a lie. Doping is wrong. But in the context of the illness, and the connection I had as someone who had also survived cancer, the sport was kind of irrelevant,” he explained.
COMMENTS