Thaindian News

Apr 07 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Seven time Tour de France champion, Lance Armstrong competed for the first time on Tuesday in mainland France. He was called in for a random drug test after the first stage of the 4 day Cicuit de la Sarthe. He was one of the two riders who were randomly picked for the drug test. He had placed 24th in the pack behind Luis Leon Sanchez of Spain, who was the stage winner. Armstrong was riding for Team Radio Shack. The results of those drug tests will not be known for several days, but this is nothing new to Armstrong. He has often been accused of using drugs by France, although he has been tested a great deal.

Now Armstrong has had to withdraw from the race due to an illness. He was looking forward to Wednesday’s time trial, but had to forgo the event due to diarrhea, vomiting and fever. According to Team Radio Shack spokesman, Phillippe Maertens, “It’s really bad, believe me.” A statement was released by the team on Wednesday which said that Armstrong had “came down with a viral intestinal infection” “He will return to the US as soon as his condition allows,” it read. Armstrong had Tweeted earlier that several of his eight team mates had caught “a stomach bug.” During the night he Tweeted, “Sicker than a dog now. This sucks.”