Seven-times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong will make his final professional appearance on foreign soil at the Tour Down Under next year, with organisers dismissing concerns of a public relations headache.
Tour Down Under boss Mike Turtur says as long as Lance Armstrong has a valid race licence, it is "common sense" to bring him to Adelaide despite the 39-year-old Texan being understood to be the focus of an American government investigation into doping allegations.
Turtur admits the Tour organisation has addressed the issue of the ongoing investigation and its potential repercussions.
But Turtur said any rider with a valid licence from cycling's world governing body, the UCI, should be allowed to race.
Armstrong said during this year's Tour de France that he would not compete at the professional level away from the United States anymore, after finishing 23rd overall in his final Tour - a race he won from 1999-2005.
Armstrong says he's excited to be competing for the third time at the event, which runs from January 16th to the 23rd.
