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Armstrong's comeback spawns security concerns

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-09 16:57

ADELAIDE -- The first of the European teams have arrived in Australia for this month's Tour Down Under, but the travel details of cycling superstar Lance Armstrong were still under wraps on Thursday.

Cycling superstar Lance Armstrong is seen in this file photo. [Agencies]

Race organizers, mindful of the extraordinary interest that the seven-time Tour de France champion's comeback has generated, have not released his arrival plans for fears of an unwieldy media scrum at Adelaide Airport.

Armstrong's Astana team is scheduled to arrive early on Sunday, but reports said the American great is not expected until next week, just ahead of the Jan 18 start of the tour.

Armstrong, 37, is in Hawaii, where he is reportedly taking a brief holiday break with his children before heading to Australia.

Race director Mike Turtur said he expected pandemonium to break out every morning at the cyclists' village and at the finish lines of the stage race with the appearance of Armstrong.

"We're expecting that Lance Armstrong will have more trouble getting to and from the start and finish line than the actual race itself," Turtur told the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper on Thursday.

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"Once he's on that bike, he'll be protected, but off the bike, who knows?

"He's created a groundswell of interest."

Turtur said Armstrong's appearance in the Jan 18-25 Australian event has attracted widespread interest from major European sports publications.

"The heavies are coming," Turtur said. "It just shows the amount of interest Armstrong has created for Australia."

Former Australian Olympic cyclist Patrick Jonker said the length of the tour was well suited to the Texan.

"His (Astana) team has raced here before and they know the roads," Jonker told the newspaper.

"It's important for Lance that it's a safe race and the safety record here is very good.

"He'll be nervous. He's won the Tour de France seven times but he'll be nervous on the start line."

AFP