Lance Armstrong is coming out of retirement in an attempt to win an eighth Tour de France. The American, who overcame testicular cancer, quit the sport after winning the 2005 Tour. “I am happy to announce that, after talking with my children, my family and my closest friends, I have decided to return to professional cycling to raise awareness of the global cancer burden,” the 36-year-old said. “This year alone, nearly eight million people will die of cancer worldwide. It’s time to address cancer on a global level.”

Armstrong’s recovery from cancer to win the Tour a record seven consecutive times made him a hero to cancer patients worldwide and elevated the sport to an unprecedented level in the United States.

Mark Higgins, Armstrong’s spokesman, said that the Tour “is the intention”, but admitted that they still had “homework to do”. They have not decided with which team Armstrong will ride, or in what other events.

On Monday, Velonews, the cycling journal, reported on its website that Armstrong would compete with the Astana team, led by John Bruyneel, a close friend, in the Tour and four other road races — the Tour of California, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Georgia and the Dauphiné-Libéré. However, there are no guarantees that Astana will be allowed to race in the 2009 Tour. Race officials kept the team out in 2008 because of doping violations.

With his riveting victories over cancer and opponents on the bike, to his work for cancer awareness and gossip-page romances, Armstrong has become a modern-day icon. He was an established sprint champion in 1996 when testicular cancer was diagnosed and, after the disease spread to his lungs and brain, doctors gave him less than a 50 per cent chance of survival.

Surgery — he has a half-moon scar on his head from the brain operation — and brutal series of chemotherapy saved his life. From there, simple determination and powerful self-discipline led him back to the bike.

His stunning win at the 1999 Tour de France was just the start. Under the guidance of Bruyneel, the US Postal Service team director, Armstrong morphed from a sprinter into a technical expert who could climb mountains at speeds that punished other riders. His goal every year was to win the Tour, the sport’s biggest race, and he dominated the Pyrenees and Alps like no other rider in history.

The victories also forced him to defend himself against sceptics who questioned whether he was using performance-enhancing drugs. He was involved in several public spats with officials of the World AntiDoping Agency, but, while many riders were caught, Armstrong never tested positive and has always maintained that he was a clean rider.

Armstrong, who said that he was “100 per cent” committed to the plan, also admitted a motivation for his comeback was finally to lay that doping stigma to rest. He concedes that there may still be people who believe his 1999 Tour title was not won cleanly, something he hopes to put right.

“There’s this perception in cycling that this generation is now the cleanest we’ve had in decades, if not for ever, and the generation that I raced with was the dirty generation,” he said. “And, granted, I’ll be totally honest with you, the year that I won the Tour, many of the guys . . . a lot of them are gone. Out. Caught. Positive tests. Suspended. Whatever.

“And so I can understand why people look at that and go, ‘Well, \ were caught — and you weren’t?’ So there is a nice element here where I can come with a completely comprehensive programme and there will be no way to cheat.”

Heady life of Lance

Born September 18, 1971, in Dallas

Family Luke, his son, and Grace and Isabelle, his twin daughters. Kristin, their mother, and Armstrong, below, divorced in 2003

Tour de France wins Seven, 1999-2005

Stage victories 22 — 11 coming in time-trials

Team time-trial wins Three, with US Postal Service and Discovery Channel squads, 2003-05

Biggest winning margin: 7min 37sec over Alex Zülle, 1999

Smallest winning margin 1min 1sec over Jan Ullrich, 2003

Yellow jerseys worn 83

After retiring from cycling Has worked as a motivational speaker

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Emilien-Benoît Bergès, the Frenchman riding for the Agritubel team, won the third stage of the Tour of Britain in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, yesterday to take the overall lead in the week-long race.

The 25-year-old was followed across the finish line by Geoffroy Lequatre, his team-mate and compatriot, who moved to second place in the overall standings. Meanwhile, Tyler Hamilton crashed out of contention after a tumble brought down the American. Roger Hammond, the Team Columbia rider, leads the points contest, while Kristian House, his fellow Briton, heads the mountains classification.