In 2005, Armstrong was beaten by American David Zabriskie in the stage 1 time trial by two seconds, despite having passed Ullrich on the road. His Discovery Channel team won the team time trial, while Armstrong won the final individual time trial. In the mountain stages, Armstrong's lead was attacked multiple times mostly by Ivan Basso, but also by T-mobile leaders Jan Ullrich, Andreas Kloden and Alexandre Vinokourov and former teammate Levi Leipheimer. But still, the American champion handled them well, maintained his lead and, on some occasions, increased it. To complete his record-breaking feat, he crossed the line on the Champs-Élysées on July 24 to win his seventh consecutive Tour, finishing 4 m 40s ahead of Basso, with Ullrich third. Another record achieved that year was that Armstrong completed the tour at the highest pace in the race's history: his average speed over the whole tour was 41.7 km/h (26 mph).[49] In 2005, Armstrong announced he would retire after the 2005 Tour de France,[50] citing his desire to spend more time with his family and his foundation.[51] During his retirement, he diverted his attention away from the happenings in professional cycling; however whilst at a conference, in 2008, he saw Carlos Sastre's win on Alpe d'Huez and "felt a pang".[51]
Armstrong announced on September 9, 2008, that he would return to pro cycling with the express goal of participating in the 2009 Tour de France.[52][53] VeloNews reported that Armstrong would race for no salary or bonuses and would post his internally tested blood results online.[53]
Pro Cycling Manager 2008 tournament cheats
Armstrong continued to deny the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs for four more years, describing himself as the most tested athlete in the world.[81] From his return to cycling in the fall of 2008 through March 2009, Armstrong claimed to have submitted to 24 unannounced drug tests by various anti-doping authorities.[82][83] 2ff7e9595c
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