Seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will race in next year's Giro d'Italia for the first time as part of his cycling comeback, organisers said on Monday.
The 37-year-old, who retired in 2005, will compete in the May 9-31 race before bidding for an eighth Tour title in July.
‘I will give my utmost, and not only to prepare for the Tour,’ Armstrong said in a statement from race organisers RCS Sport.
‘Not having taken part in the Giro was one of my biggest regrets as a rider. Finally I will be able to do it.’
'It will be the Centenary Giro and I know how much that means for Italians.'
The American begins his comeback in January's Tour Down Under in Australia after being allowed to compete by the International Cycling Union (UCI) despite breaching the rules.
Riders making comebacks have to be in the UCI's anti-doping programme for six months prior to racing but the governing body has made an exception for Armstrong, who announced he was returning to the sport only last month.
Armstrong, who fought off cancer and unproven doping allegations during his career, is partly making a comeback with the Astana team to promote a global cancer awareness campaign.
Armstrong has made his reputation in the Tour de France so his decision to race in the Giro for the first time will come as a surprise to some.
However, Angelo Zomegnan, the cycling director of RCS Sport, the Giro d'Italia organiser, was not surprised.
He said: ‘No cycling champion had ever considered not taking part in the Giro d'Italia and Lance is the only one that, having won the Tour de France in its centenary, could achieve the same mark in the Giro d'Italia centenary.
‘Lance knows how much affection the Italians have for him dating back to the years when he lived in Lake Como.
‘We should also mention the project of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Livestrong, in which Italy and the Giro will represent the ideal territory to highlight the problems regarding the fight against cancer.’
When announcing he would compete again and target an eighth Tour de France, Armstrong said last month he wanted to use his profile to raise awareness of cancer.
He will raise money to fund research.
