Disgraced drugs cheat Lance Armstrong to ride for charity on Tour de France route

Armstrong has no regrets about his comments regarding Chris Froome. Credit: PA

Disgraced former cyclist Lance Armstrong will return to the roads of the Tour de France on Thursday for a charity ride.

The drugs cheat will ride alongside former England footballer Geoff Thomas for Cure Leukaemia this week, a move which has courted criticism along with Armstrong's decision to comment on Twitter about Chris Froome's dominant performance at this year's Tour.

Armstrong, who arrived in France on Wednesday for this week's charity ride, wrote on Twitter: "Too strong to be clean? Don't ask me, I have no clue," after Froome's impressive Stage 10 victory on Tuesday.

Armstrong told Sky Sports News: "Anything regarding a bike race is going to be closely scrutinised and questioned. I get those questions all the time, and the question is: Can this be believed? Are these guys clean? Is everybody like you Lance?"

"I put it out there as, 'Don't ask me that question because I don't know that answer'. I tried to clarify it even later by saying I don't have any credibility on that issue, I know that.

"I know what it's like for a guy like Chris to be in the middle of a Tour to deal with the constant questions which of course he is, and to be fair and to be honest to him a lot of that is my fault.

"Whoever is winning the Tour de France in 2015 should not be answering questions about somebody that won it 10 or 15 years ago. That's just not legitimate, that's not true."

Brian Cookson, the president of the sport's governing body, the UCI, said Armstrong was not welcome, but race leader Froome understood the charity element, as his mother died due to a blood cancer-related illness.

Brian Cookson did not want Armstrong anywhere near the event. Credit: PA

Armstrong, meanwhile, makes no apology for his comments about Froome on Twitter.

"I have no regrets," he said.

"I was totally transparent and honest about it, I said don't ask me the question because I don't know the answer. I regret other tweets in my life but not those.

"I don't really care, that's not my role to opine about that. I've got other comments and thoughts about the stage that I said, but by simply throwing it out there that I don't know and don't ask me, that has somehow translated into 'these guys are dirty', which is the last thing I want to say because I don't know that."

Former footballer Geoff Thomas is also taking part in the event. Credit: PA

Former footballer Thomas is also riding Le Tour-One Day Ahead - taking on the entire 3,360-kilometres route of the 2015 Tour one day ahead of the professional peloton - to celebrate the 10th anniversary of entering remission and riding the 2005 Tour route.

Armstrong was an inspiration to Thomas, who is aiming to raise £1million for Cure Leukaemia, the blood cancer charity he owes his life to and is patron of.

The 12-rider group, including Armstrong, will take on stage 13 from Muret to Rodez on Thursday and stage 14 from Rodez to Mende on Friday.

Watch Stage 12 of the Tour de France live on ITV4 from midday today, and catch up with all the latest highlights on ITV's Tour de France website