Armstrong confirmed for Tour

Astana have confirmed Lance Armstrong will be part of their nine-man team that will enter year’s Tour de France.

The seven-time winner of cycling’s most prestigious race will join Tour favourite Alberto Contador, Andreas Kloden, Levi Leipheimer, Yaroslav Popovych and Haimar Zubeldia on the start line in Monaco on July 4 with seven more riders vying for the final three spots.

“The complete 2009 Tour roster will be chosen based on the strongest team from both a sportive and team-spirit criteria,” Astana general manager Johan Bruyneel told the team’s website.

Armstrong finished 12th in May’s Giro d’Italia as the 37-year-old continued his comeback from a broken collarbone suffered in a crash at the Vuelta Castilla y Leon in Spain in March.

Astana have been beset by financial problems of late and missed a payment to the International Cycling Union, reported to be for £5m (€5.87m), for their racing licence.

However, following talks between Bruyneel, the Kazakh Cycling Federation (KCF), government and managing company Olympus SARL, a mutual agreement was reached which allayed fears the team could go out of existence and will compete in this year’s Tour.