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RENO, Nev. -- Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong said cycling has suffered a "black eye" from doping scandals and he's not sure how it will affect interest in this year's race.
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"Doping is a global problem. It's a sports problem, and it's never a good thing, either through positive tests or admissions," Armstrong said during a teleconference.
"It is a black eye, but I suspect that there are a lot of sports out there with black eyes, and it's just something that we as a community or global community, sports community, have to work through," he said.
Armstrong, who has repeatedly denied allegations he used banned substances, acknowledged television ratings were down last year for the Tour de France but didn't know if it was related to the scandal.
"You saw a drop-off in interest for some reason, really around the world. So even television numbers in France, Germany, Spain and Italy and then here in the U.S. (were down) for whatever reason," he said.
"So I don't know what will necessarily happen this year, although I saw that the viewership and the interest in the Tour of Italy was up significantly amid all this stuff. So it's tough to say."
Armstrong made his comments late Monday during a teleconference promoting his cancer-fighting foundation, which will be the sole beneficiary of charitable contributions at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe from July 13-15. He will play in the pro-am tourney on July 12, but not the three-day competition. The Lance Armstrong Foundation has raised more than $180 million in its 10 years of existence, he said.
Armstrong said he plans to be in London for the start of the race, return to the U.S. for the golf tourney and other matters, then will consider returning to France depending on how the American contingent is faring.
"We'll see how the race plays out, and whether or not we go back to Paris, I don't know," he said.
Levi Leipheimer is among those with a shot at winning the race, Armstrong said. He said he was convinced at the beginning of the season Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan would win the race, but now he's not so sure after Vinokourov failed to live up to expectations with his showing in the mountains last week at the Dauphine Libere.
"I think as far as the race goes that it's wide open. It's really anybody's guess," Armstrong said.
"Before last week the odds were that Vinokourov would be the winner. I think he had the best chances, but he didn't perform well in the high mountains, in the Dauphine," he said.
"I don't think our guys were particularly that great there, either, but I think they're on a good path to be in top form for the race."
