Lance Armstrong set for XTERRA

Tour de France legend finally announces his return to tri after 20 years

Published: September 16, 2011 at 12:24 pm

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will race at the XTERRA USA Championship triathlon on Saturday 24 September at Snowbasin Resort near Ogden, Utah - his first tri in more than 20 years.

Armstrong tweeted his intentions this morning and an Associated Press article confirmed the wide-spread speculation shortly after, setting off a flurry of action on social media sites around the world. “I'm going out 2 have a good time, enjoy the course, & support the event,” said Armstrong.

While the buzz hit frenetic levels with today’s news, the rumours of a possible Armstrong appearance started slowly in the jungles of Japan when XTERRA World Champ Conrad “the Caveman” Stoltz was in Marunuma for XTERRA in late August.

The hype intensified when Armstrong posted a profile to his twitter account last Wednesday of a pre-ride he did on the XTERRA USA Championship course at Snowbasin, a brand new route that had just been approved for use by the US Forest Service. “We had literally just got clearance and made the decision to use the Sardine Peak trail for the USA course the day before Armstrong,” said Steve Andrus, the Snowbasin Resort sport event operations director who was tasked with showing Armstrong around.

Now the big question is, “How will he do?” “Lance coming to XTERRA is huge,” said XTERRA Managing Director Dave Nicholas. “In our kinds of sports he is an icon. We're flattered he chose us, but if he thinks it will be easy pickin's, he is in for a surprise. Our guys will not go silently into the night.”