After winning his seventh Tour de France title, Lance Armstrong stepped off the winner's podium in Paris and into retirement, declaring, "I'm finished."
Six weeks later, he's already talking about a comeback.
Recently engaged to rocker girlfriend Sheryl Crow, Armstrong issued a statement Tuesday confirming that he's contemplating a return to competitive cycling in part because he knows how much it would rankle French media who believe his record of seven straight Tour wins is tainted by drug use.
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But he's been dogged in recent weeks with allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. On Aug. 23, the French newspaper L'Equipe reported it had evidence that six of Armstrong's urine samples from the '99 Tour tested positive last year for the blood booster EPO. The substance was banned in 1999, but there was no reliable test at the time.
Armstrong has angrily denied the charge, saying he was a victim of a "setup."
He first hinted of a comeback in an interview Monday with the Austin American-Statesman. An Armstrong spokesman on Tuesday said the comments were a joke, but within hours, the cyclist confirmed it was possible.
"I'm thinking it's the best way," to anger the French, he told the newspaper. "I'm exercising every day."
Dan Osipow, manager of Armstrong's Discovery Channel team, seemed to be caught off-guard by Armstrong's comments, but said the cyclist appears determined to protect his legacy.
"That to me sounds very Lance-like. It leaves things open and the motivation seems pretty clear. He is immensely proud of his reputation," Osipow said.
His win was pretty decisive this year, so there's no reason to think he couldn't do it again. Given the extra motivation of spitting in the face of the French media, he just might set a Tour record.
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