14/10/08
PRESENTATION BY RCS SPORT & RAI TRADE
Tuesday 21 October – from 04:15pm to 04:45pm

1909 – 2009: GIRO 100+
GIRO D’ITALIA CYCLING EVENT

LANCE ARMSTRONG WILL RACE IN
THE CENTENNIAL GIRO D’ITALIA!!

The announcement is now official: Lance Armstrong accepted Rcs Sport’s invitation and he will take part to the coming Giro d’Italia with more than ever the intention to play a leading role in the race. Last September he made publicly known his coming back to competition in 2009 as member of the Astana Team. He now said “yes” to the 2009 Centennial edition of the Giro.

Rcs Sport Cycling race Manager, Angelo Zomegnan, recalls delighted the different stages of the happy decision:
“From the time of his farewell to professional cycling in 2005, the friendly relationship between Lance Armstrong
and myself never ended. This year, in the course of one of our frequent conversations, I sensed the possibility that
Lance could come back into competition in a leading part. Such perception became an actual likelihood
immediately after his extraordinary performance on August 9, 2008, during the Leadville, Colorado, 100 miles
race, when riding a mountain bike in the Rocky Mountains, he came second, but in everybody’s opinion: he was
flying! Our contacts became more frequent between mid-August and mid-September, and on September 29,
during a trip to Austin, Texas, where Armstrong lives, I officially invited Lance to the 2009 Giro d’Italia”.

Hereafter, in Angelo Zomegnan’s words, the reasons that induced Lance Armstrong to decide in favor of the Giro: “First of all, once he decided to come back to professional cycling, Armstrong had to face the need to fill a gap: no cycling “campionissimo” ever allowed himself not to take part to the Giro d’Italia. Moreover, Lance is clearly the only one who could be able, after his victory in the Tour de France of the Centennial, to hit the legendary double with the Giro d’Italia Centennial edition due to take place in 2009, from May 9th to May 31st. Last but not least, Lance knows pretty well how much Italians love him, and this from the time he was a resident of the Como Lake, and such fondness is not to be found in any other European Country. To conclude, we would like to mention the Lance Armstrong Foundation project, or simply Livestrong, in which context Italy and the Giro could feature a particularly suitable and vivacious environment, apt to awaken public opinion in the fight against cancer.”

On his side Lance Armstrong would like to mention and make the following clear: “I am taking part to the Giro
for several reasons. I never participated to a race in this country and I want to fill this gap. This is the
Centennial Giro and I know how meaningful this is to Italian people. Moreover, Italy is the Country which
hosted me when I was a young guy and I know that I have a lot of fans there. Everybody says that the Giro
will be the kick-off to the Tour while I know I could come to Italy to be a winner and that the Giro will be
my true three-week stage race of the year.

Speakers:
Angelo Zomegnan, Cycling Director, RCS Sport
Carlo Nardello, CEO, RAI Trade
Matteo Pastore, Media Rights Director, RCS Sport

Press Information: Virginie Zeghdar – Press Coordinator – press@sportelmonaco.com