CYCLING: Lance Armstrong insists "age is a wives' tale" and feels as fit as ever after confirming he will come out of retirement and bid to become the oldest winner in the history of the Tour de France.
The 36-year-old won the last of his titles back in 2005 before quitting the sport, but has told Vanity Fair magazine he will go for number eight in the 2009 Tour.
"I'm going back to professional cycling," Armstrong said. "I'm going to try and win an eighth Tour de France."
Armstrong won his first Tour de France in 1999, less than three years after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. It was the first of his incredible seven consecutive victories in professional cycling's premier event.
Armstrong stated that he decided to end his retirement after finishing second last month in the Leadville 100. The 100-mile mountain bike race is run through the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
"This kind of obscure bike race totally kick-started my engine," he added. "For me it's always been about the process. The process of getting there is the best part.
Armstrong, who turns 37 on September 18, conceded that his age is starting to catch up with him but the Texas native pointed to other older athletes, including 41-year-old Olympic medalist swimmer Dara Torres, who have succeeded in their respective sports.
"I get up out of bed a little slow," he said. "I mean, I'm not going to lie. My back gets tired quicker than it used to and I get out of bed a little slower than I used to.
"But when I'm going, when I'm on the bike, I feel just as good as I did before.
"Older athletes are performing very well. Ask serious sports physiologists and they'll tell you age is a wives' tale.
"Athletes at 30, 35 mentally get tired. They've done their sport for 20, 25 years and they're like, 'I've had enough.' But there's no evidence to support that when you're 38 you're any slower than when you were 32."
The oldest cyclist to ever win the Tour de France was 36-year-old Firmin Lambot, who achieved the feat in 1922. The Belgian is the only cyclist over the age of 34 to win the event.
Reports of Armstrong's return began circulating on Monday when cycling website VeloNews reported that Armstrong would compete with the Astana team in five races in 2009, including the Tour de France.
Armstrong's return has been broadly welcomed by his peers.
"It's great news for cycling," Astana rider Jose Luis Rubiera of Spain, who was part of Armstrong's line-up on five of the American's seven Tour victories, said today.
"Armstrong has got the character to do it and he would draw in millions of supporters again.
"At a sponsorship level, I can't see it doing anything but good.
"On one level, you have to ask if it's possible to come back at 37 to win the Tour. On the other hand, knowing Lance, anything is possible. He won't be coming back to finish second."
Fellow Astana rider and former Tour de France winner Alberto Contador said he would be pleased if Armstrong signed for his team.
"I'm focused on winning the Tour of Spain but of course I would welcome him to the team," Contador told reporters at the start of the Tour of Spain's stage 11. The 25-year-old Spaniard added, however, that he would not sacrifice his own chances of a second Tour victory.
"Assuming I race the Tour de France next year, it will be to try and win it," said Contador, who won the Giro d'Italia in June.
The reports of Armstrong's return were fuelled when he registered with the United States Anti-Doping Agency's out-of-competition testing program, which was a condition of his entry to the Leadville 100.
Should Armstrong appear in Astana colours, it will increase pressure on Tour de France organisers Amaury Sport Organisation to accept the team for the 2009 race.
Astana, sponsored by the Kazakhstan government, was not invited to compete in this year's Tour following a series of doping incidents in 2007.