The Tour de France's director says he will let Lance Armstrong's team race in 2009 as long as it doesn't have doping scandals in the run-up to the July 4 start. Christian Prudhomme told The Associated Press that the Astana team “should be there if there are no ethical problems.” The Tour barred Astana in 2008 after recurrent doping problems. That raised questions about whether Astana and Armstrong would be invited in 2009. Prudhomme said Thursday that “if nothing happens in the coming months, they should be at our races in 2009.” Armstrong, who retired in 2005, has announced a comeback with Astana aiming for an eighth Tour crown. The seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong's return to competitive cycling will still not erase doping allegations that have dogged his career, the former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Wednesday. Dick Pound, who had a long-running feud with Armstrong during his time as WADA chief, was not among those impressed by the 37-year-old's comeback and said the Texan was returning to the peloton with the same doping clouds hanging over him. “If he thinks coming back now will erase all the questions marks that are out there and been identified by the former French sports minister and Tour organizers ... he's still got all those questions out there and they remain unanswered,” Pound told Reuters. “The comeback raises at least as many questions as it answers. He has yet to answer how six of his samples tested positive for EPO. The UCI (International Cycling Union) refuses to deal with it.” While announcing his comeback, Armstrong acknowledged the doping allegations that have continued to dog him and unveiled a rigorous, independent testing program developed and headed up by US anti-doping expert Don Catlin that he will undergo during his return to competition. Tour, UCI friends at last The International Cycling Union (UCI) and the Tour de France organizers have reached an agreement that puts an end to their long-running feud over the sport's calendar, UCI President Pat McQuaid said on Thursday. Talks had been underway since the Beijing Olympics in August when Marie-Odile Amaury, head of the Amaury media and sports promotion group ASO, which owns the Tour de France, approached the UCI to settle their dispute. Asked by Reuters whether a deal had been struck, McQuaid said “Yes”, without elaborating. ASO sources also confirmed an agreement had been obtained, without giving any details. News of the agreement came after former UCI president and IOC member Hein Verbruggen, often described by ASO as the main obstacle to a deal, announced he was giving up his position as UCI vice president.
