Oct 4, 2008 1:35 pm US/Central
Tour Organizer Says Armstrong Has Embarrassed Race
PARIS (AP) ―
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Lance Armstrong, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, announces he will return to competitive cycling, including entering the Tour de France, at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) on Sept. 24, 2008 in New York.
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Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has "embarrassed" cycling's premier race, the Tour organizer's new president said in an interview Saturday.
"We can't say that he has not embarrassed the Tour de France, as he has had a quite a complicated history with it," Jean-Etienne Amaury said in French sports newspaper L'Equipe.
The 32-year-old Amaury was named president of the Amaury Sport Organization earlier this week, replacing Patrice Clerc, who was known for his hard line against doping. Some observers interpreted the change as a sign that the ASO intended to soften its position.
Amaury, however, insisted the fight against doping remains a top priority.
"The Tour de France's position has always been very strict and that will not change in the years to come," he said. "(ASO) is quite conscious of the fact that doping undermines cycling's credibility."
Asked whether a comeback by the 37-year-old Armstrong, who retired in 2005 after winning his seventh consecutive title, would throw suspicion on the race, Amaury said that "today's tools in the fight against doping are different."
Armstrong announced last month he was coming out of retirement.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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