Armstrong to ride through pain barrier

Lance Armstrong makes his intentions clear to the press

America's Tour de France hero Lance Armstrong has declared himself fit to ride in the Olympics after recovering from a broken neck vertebra.

Armstrong, twice winner of the world's most prestigious cycling event, sustained the injury in a training crash last month but says he will be ready for the road race on 27 September and the time trial three days later.

His goal is to win Olympic gold and he is ready to shrug off some discomfort to achieve it.

The star, who broke the bone when he collided with a car while training on a remote road in southern France, conceded: "The neck is still a slight problem, it's probably about 90 percent right now.

Armstrong is keen to banish memories of previous Olympics

"I can still train and I will be able to race. Sitting on a time trial bike is no problem.

"There has only been one reason to come here and that's to win. I've never been to Australia and while it looks like it would be a nice place for a vacation, that's not the reason I came."

Memories

Victory in last weekend's Grand Prix des Nations in France convinced Armstrong of his fitness as he prepares to compete in his third Olympics.

The rider's previous Olympic experiences have not given him fond memories.

He came 14th in the road race at Barcelona in 1992, while in Atlanta he was 12th in the same event and sixth in the time trial, unaware that he had contracted cancer.

To come back a third time is very special to me, mainly because of the illness in Atlanta that I didn't know about

  Lance Armstrong

The Texan, who rides tall in the saddle, said: "Barcelona feels like a really long time ago and in Atlanta I was very sick but I still expected to ride well.

"To come back a third time is very special to me, mainly because of the illness in Atlanta that I didn't know about."

Armstrong took a training ride on Tuesday to inspect the course, with his only fears being the mass start in the road race.

"Physically I feel great, my conditioning is close to 100 percent. The only scary part is trying to avoid another crash on the injury."