Trouble for the Tour?

He announced his comeback to the Tour de France last year. Pulled out of a marathon to go into all-out training mode. Started the riding circuit earlier this year. Had his bike stolen then recovered. Broke his collarbone and endured surgery to repair it. What's next for Lance Armstrong?

While he's chilling in Aspen rehabilitating and still training for the Tour, he's suspecting that all this preparation might be for naught. On a video on the Livestrong website, Lance says that he thinks he may be banned from the Tour. He goes into detail about the latest round of random drug tests and explains that a dispute with the French anti-doping agency, AFLD, might keep him from the competition. It's their call as to allowing him to race or not in July, but right now they're not happy with the last testing situation. According to the Bloomberg Report they said that Lance “didn’t respect the obligation to remain under observation of the person in charge of the doping control." Was that because he showered and had "his people" check the credentials of the man who randomly showed up on his doorstep to take blood, hair and urine samples?

Talk about an unfortunate situation for someone who just wants to get back and ride, and who's test results have been showing up negative. But in a sport that's always touted as tainted, maybe it's a rule of the road. I just keep thinking about the cyclists who were booted out last year, caught for doping, and how it put a dark cloud over the rest of the competition.

Oh well, at least today's report says Lance will (or should, depending on which headline you read) be riding the Giro d'Italia, the May race that was in question after he broke his collarbone. Man and machine will be ready. Photo of Lance post-surgery grabbed from Livestrong.com. Posted by Kate