Tour de France final stage delayed in row over Armstrong’s jersey

The start of the Tour de France final stage was delayed by 15 minutes on Sunday in a row over Lance Armstrong’s jersey.

On the last day of his final Tour, the American had hoped he and his RadioShack team mates would be able to wear special black jerseys marked with number 28.

That is a reference to the 28 million people Armstrong’s Livestrong foundation estimates are living with cancer.

A cancer survivor himself, Armstrong has been promoting the Livestrong foundation on the Tour but his final attempt was denied by the International Cycling Union (UCI) stewards.

Armstrong and his team mates were seen on the side of the road changing from black back to the traditional red and grey RadioShack jerseys as the rest of the peloton waited for the operation to be completed.

Race jury president Franceso Cenere told French TV: “It is forbidden to change jersey in a stage race without an authorisation from the UCI.

“The riders signed the start sheet with their traditional jerseys and came to the starting line at the last minute with their new (black) jerseys.

“They had to change jersey otherwise they would have been kicked out of the race.”

Sunday’s Tour de France final stage is a 102.5-km parade from Longjumeau to the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Alberto Contador of Spain all but won his third Tour when he retained the yellow jersey on Saturday.