Armstrong controversy overshadows Tour start

Tour de France organisers were last night trying to draw a line under a fresh row over doping sparked by Lance Armstrong as they prepared to start the great race for the 100th time in history.

The build-up to today's stage one from Porto-Vecchio to Bastia was dominated by fresh controversy surrounding Armstrong, who told French daily newspaper Le Monde it was impossible to win the Tour de France without doping during the period when he claimed seven straight victories from 1999 to 2005 - all of them now voided since he admitted using performance-enhancing drugs.