American rider Lance Armstrong’s planned participation in a New Zealand triathlon next month has been cancelled after the multiple Tour de France winner began experiencing knee problems.
The injury raises questions about the 39 year old’s plans to compete in the Hawaii Ironman in 2011, as the joint is not faring well with the increase in running training he has been doing of late.
“Unfortunately can't make the tri in Rotorua. Dealing (again) with some knee issues and unable to run for now,” he said under his Juan Pelota alias on Twitter.
He was contacted by AP and confirmed via a phone interview that he would miss the sprint triathlon at the Blue Lakes multisports festival on January 29th. He told the agency that he had stopped running for now, and that the cartilage damage in his left knee will eventually require surgery. No timescale was given for that to take place.
However Armstrong is continuing to train on his bike and is currently clocking up the miles in Hawaii prior to the start of his final season of road racing. He doesn’t envisage problems with the joint in terms of his participation in the Santos Tour Down Under, which starts on January 16th and runs for eight days.
That race will be the last international event of his career. It is considered possible that he could contest US events such as the Tour of California and the Quiznos Pro Challenge, although that will depend on the outcome of the current US federal investigation into the US Postal Service team.
Armstrong, general manager Johan Bruyneel and others have been implicated in doping matters by another former team rider, Floyd Landis. The squad existed until the end of 2004, then continued under the Discovery Channel backing.
Armstrong competed in triathlons as a teenager, then later switched his emphasis to cycling. He won the world road race championship in 1993 and the Tour de France between 1999 and 2005.