Armstrong Fears Violent Attack on Tour Return

Lance Armstrong, a seven-times winner of the Tour de France, fears that he could be attacked by spectators when he returns to the race next year.

Armstrong, who recently announced his comeback from a three-year retirement, said: "There're some aggressive, angry emotions [in France]. If you believe what you read my personal safety could be in jeopardy. Cycling is a sport of the open road and spectators are lining that road. I try to believe that people, even if they don't like me, will let the race unfold."

Asked whether he feared he might be violently attacked on the 2009 Tour, Armstrong said: "There're directors of French teams that have encouraged people to take to the streets ... elbow to elbow. It's very emotional and tense."

Armstrong said that he had discussed his concerns, with the great Belgian cyclist Eddie Merckx. "Eddie Merckx would have won six Tours if he hadn't been punched. It happens to the best of us. Eddie broke a rib, fell over and was out of the race. I try not to think about that stuff."

The American also confronted the doping controversies which have clouded his legacy. "I understand people in France and in cycling might have that perception but the reality is that there's nothing there. The level of scrutiny I've had throughout my career from the press and the anti-doping authorities is unmatched. I'm not afraid of anything. I've got nothing to hide. I won seven Tours through hard work."

Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich, who finished second and third behind Armstrong on his last victorious Tour in 2005, have since been exposed as drug cheats. Armstrong's own integrity was undermined later that same year when L'Equipe reported that a sample of his urine from the 1999 Tour had been retested and found to contain traces of EPO. "There was hysteria and they got this big independent commission to investigate," Armstrong said, pointing out that he was exonerated.