RadioShack's Lance Armstrong is back on his bike following a crash that forced him to abandon the Tour of California early in stage five. The race was on its way out of the stage's starting town of Visalia, when a narrowing road caused a crash involving Armstrong, his RadioShack teammates Levi Leipheimer and Chechu Rubiera, as well as Stuart O'Grady (Saxo Bank) and Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo TestTeam).
"First ride after the face plant," Armstrong said on his Twitter account. "1.5 hrs easy on my city bike. Got passed by a lot of people."
Haussler, O'Grady and Armstrong were all unable to continue in the race, with the latter heading to the hospital for x-rays. The seven-time Tour de France champion ended up avoiding any broken bones, but required stitches for a wound under his eye.
Earlier that day the American awoke to accusations of systematic doping by former United States Postal Service teammate Floyd Landis. In an email to US cycling officials, Landis claimed the team's doping activities were led by Armstrong and his long-time manager Johan Bruyneel.
"We have nothing to hide. We have nothing to run from. It's our word against his word," Armstrong said of Landis' claims. "I like our word. We like our credibility."
Armstrong's build-up for the Tour de France hasn't been as smooth as he would have liked. He didn't start Milan-Sanremo citing stomach problems, and also had to abandon the Circuit de la Sarthe following stage two due to illness. He will soon be heading to France to continue his preparations, but it's not clear which races he will include in his schedule.