6 septembre 2005

Cyclist Lance Armstrong and Rocker Sheryl Crow are now engaged.
photo : Lionel Hahn

Armstrong is engaged
and contemplating a comeback

Seven-time Tour de France champ says he might ride again.

Suzanne Halliburton

Cycling champion Lance Armstrong is engaged to rock star Sheryl Crow and is considering coming out of retirement to try for an eighth consecutive Tour de France victory, he told the Austin American-Statesman on Monday.

Since Armstrong and Crow have been living together for 18 months, their engagement may have been expected, though the couple has been dispelling breakup rumors since May.

But a spring wedding followed by a summer Tour ?

"I'm thinking about it," Armstrong said. "I'm thinking it's the best way to piss (the French) off."

Armstrong said he has entertained the idea for only the past two weeks. He said he began thinking about it when a French newspaper reported Aug. 23 that he had tested positive six times for a banned blood booster as he was winning his first Tour in 1999.

When asked how serious he was about another Tour, Armstrong said, "I'm exercising every day."

Armstrong has made a career of proving people wrong, winning a record seven Tours after surviving advanced testicular cancer in 1996. And he often is at his best when he's got a motivational chip on his shoulder.

Since the articles appeared in L'Equipe, an all-sports daily newspaper based in Paris, Armstrong has vehemently denied ever using erythropoietin, a blood booster that has been illegally used by cyclists for years.

A French laboratory outside Paris, trying to perfect relatively new testing procedures for EPO, used urine samples provided by Tour cyclists in 1999 in its research. All samples were anonymous and assigned a number, and all were B — or backup — specimens, the A samples having been tested and discarded in 1999.

Armstrong provided 17 urine samples in 1999, representing every day he wore the leader's yellow jersey in the three-week Tour.

Researchers have concluded that EPO can stay in the body and be detected by a urine test for up to one week. According to L'Equipe, which claimed it was able to match up the numbers with the names of the cyclists, Armstrong tested positive six times. It did not mention the other 11 samples.

The International Cycling Union began investigating the matter Aug. 29. The nonprofit regulatory organization, based in Switzerland, is expected to announce its results this week. USA Cycling already has issued a statement supporting Armstrong.

Last April, Armstrong announced that this year's Tour would be his final race. He stayed conservative throughout the Tour, winning only one stage, but still coasted to a 4-minute, 40-second margin of victory over Italy's Ivan Basso.

As for the engagement, Armstrong said he popped the question to Crow on Wednesday while they were vacationing in Sun Valley, Idaho.

"We've told family and friends, stuff like that," he said. Armstrong added that he discussed the engagement with his three children before he asked Crow.

It will be Armstrong's second marriage and Crow's first.

Although still officially retired, Armstrong hasn't been able to spend much time in Austin. He said he will maintain a busy schedule at least through mid-September. Armstrong is set to tape an interview with Oprah Winfrey on Wednesday, and he'll return to Idaho next week to meet with the Dalai Lama.

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