He's Baaccckkk! - Vanity Fair's Web Exclusive

From Douglas Brinkley:

“Look,” he insists, “I plan on holding a press conference [saying] I never cheated. I won seven Tour de Frances, fair and square. I’m going back...

Another obstacle Armstrong faces is having his Tour attempt written off as another Brett Favre–ean resurrection. Second—or third or fourth—acts aren’t all that interesting anymore in America. But he insists this is different, since he will get no salary for the 2009 season (although his speaking fees and endorsement deals clearly won’t suffer). “Everybody in cycling has a team and takes a team salary,” he says. “I am essentially racing for free. No salary. No bonus. Nothing on the line.… This one’s on the house. And you know what? At the end of the day, I don’t need money.… Not only will I be fine, my kids will be fine, my grandkids will be fine...”

While it all sounds rather lofty, it’s really the small stuff that Armstrong’s starting to sweat. He has begun a regimen of “epic workouts.” Because he needs curvy mountain roads to train on (Austin only has hills), he’ll be spending a lot of time in the Rockies and Solvang, California, in the coming months. “I’m doing a bunch of core stuff, power stuff in the gym,” he says. “Just constantly changing shit up.” While Armstrong’s exact strategy remains sketchy, he might race in the Amgen Tour of California in February, and the Giro d’Italia in May.

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Photo: Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair (1999)

More: Shane Stokes (Cyclingnews.com) - Armstrong Confirms Return