Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will return to competition at this week’s Tour of the Gila in New Mexico after recovering from collarbone surgery, race organizers said on Tuesday.
After initially being barred from riding in the five-day event because of an International Cycling Union rule, Armstrong was subsequently cleared to compete as an individual.
The 37-year-old American, who broke his collarbone in four places during the first stage of Spain’s Vuelta Castilla y Leon last month, will compete with Astana team mates Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner.
PHOTO: AP
“They’re on their way here and they should be in Silver City, New Mexico at around seven o’clock our time,” race director Jack Brennan said.
In a statement released by Astana, Armstrong said: “I’m excited to get back to competitive racing. The recovery training has been going well but nothing compares to getting back into the bunch and racing.”
Armstrong, who had a stainless steel plate and 12 screws inserted to stabilize his fractured right collarbone a month ago, was given the go-ahead to compete this week after USA Cycling reached an agreement with the UCI.
On Monday, the UCI had cited a rule that prevents top professional teams such as Astana from sending organized squads to national-level races.
The Tour of the Gila started yesterday and finishes on Sunday.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
RSS