Armstrong ruffles feathers at Tour de France
Lance Armstrong isn't letting a lifetime ban stop him from returning to the Tour de France route, but the president of the International Cycling Union called the one-time champion's decision to return "completely inappropriate and disrespectful to the Tour," reports CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano.
It's been 10 years since Armstrong won the Tour de France for a record-breaking seventh consecutive time -- and almost three years since all of those wins were officially stripped from his record over doping.
But this week the 43-year-old returned to the Tour route to complete two of the mountain stages; riding to raise money for leukemia.
His critics don't care why he's there, however, they just want him gone.
Quitting has never been one of Armstrong defining characteristics -- a point he proved once again when he made his controversial return to the fringes of the race.
"I maintain it would be one thing if I said I want to go to the race and I want to stand around at the start. I'm not asking that. I understand that there's sensitivity around that, but here helping a group of people and a great cause, I'm going to do that forever," Armstrong said.
It was the disgraced cyclist's first appearance at the Tour since he was banned from it for life for using performance-enhancing drugs.
Unlike his racing days, this climb took place a day ahead of the actual Tour and included a sit-down lunch and photo-ops.
Bill Strickland is the editor-in-chief of Bicycling Magazine, and the author of "Tour de Lance, an in depth look at Lance's last tour."
"I think Lance is doing this for multiple reasons. He probably does want to, by riding the Tour de France, say, 'You can't stop me, I can do this anyway,' he probably also genuinely want to raise money to help fight leukemia, he wants the attention. It's very complex, a lot of motivations," Strickland said.
Fans of the sport have a complex relationship with the cyclist.
He not only beat cancer, but also went on to win what many people believe is the hardest sporting event in the world -- seven times.
And through it all, he denied constant accusations of doping, until admitting it to Oprah in 2013.
This fall, a feature film based on his complicated career is set to be released -- just one more chapter in Armstrong's on-going story.
Friday is Armstrong's second and final ride at the Tour with the One Day Ahead charity. He'll ride Stage 14, which consists of 110 miles through the mountains. It's the kind of stage he made his name on, back in the day.