Armstrong Says He’s on Road to Recovery

Cycling star Lance Armstrong had a cancerous testicle removed last week and has begun chemotherapy to combat the disease that already has spread to his stomach.

“I’m entering this battle in the best shape of my life,” he said Tuesday. “I want to stay in shape. As soon as the wounds heal, I want to be back on the bike.”

Armstrong, 25, is the country’s top road cyclist. He is the 1993 world road race cycling champion, a two-time Tour de France stage winner and two-time Tour DuPont titlist.

Armstrong said he expects to return to training as early as next week. Physicians have given him a 65 percent to 85 percent chance for full recovery.

“I won’t be riding six hours, like usual, for now,” said Armstrong, speaking by conference call from Austin. “But I have been given approval to ride up to 50 miles a day to stay in some sort of shape. I’m going to race again.”

He was diagnosed last Wednesday, underwent surgery last Thursday and began a 12-week chemotherapy program Monday.

“This is a very aggressive program of chemotherapy,” he said. “I was sitting there for four hours with chemo going through my veins. But if I didn’t know the news of this, I would feel completely normal.”

This year he was forced out of the Tour de France in the sixth stage with bronchitis and could finish only 12th at the Atlanta Olympics.

“There may come a point in time when I won’t race at a top level,” he said. “But it is my intention to be in the [pro field] in 1997,” Armstrong said.

A five-year professional, Armstrong recently left the defunct U.S.-based Motorola team and signed a two-year contract with Cofidis, a new French squad.

“I just want to be back on my bike, outside and with my friends,” said Armstrong, who believes he could have been racing with cancer throughout much of his amateur and professional career. “I’m just hoping that my physical fitness is going to be a big part of this battle.”

Armstrong said he will soon begin working with the American Cancer Society to promote cancer awareness. Among other athletes to have been stricken with testicular cancer are John Kruk and Mike Gallego (baseball), Butch Walts (tennis) and Steve Scott (track).