PLATEAU DE BEILLE, France — It was only the Tour de France by association, and it was not even a race. But Lance Armstrong was indeed back riding his bike on French roads Thursday.
The return of Armstrong, the disgraced American rider whose seven Tour wins were stripped for doping, was not received with universal enthusiasm from the French, the cycling establishment or many of the cyclists in the actual Tour.
Reuters reported that there were no fans but dozens of journalists when Armstrong stepped off a bus in Muret for a charity ride that more or less followed the route planned for Friday’s Tour de France stage.