Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, angered by recent doping allegations, is considering coming out of retirement in a bid to win an eighth consecutive edition of cycling's greatest race.

Armstrong, a father of three who on Monday announced his engagement to rock star Sheryl Crow, confirmed on Tuesday in a statement released through agent Mark Higgins that accusations from the French sports newspaper L'Equipe have him pondering a comeback.

"While I'm absolutely enjoying my time as a retired athlete with Sheryl and the kids, the recent smear campaign out of France has awoken my competitive side," Armstrong said.

"I'm not willing to put a percentage on the chances but I will no longer rule it out."

Armstrong made it clear that L'Equipe's claims are what might push him to stay on the pedals competitively a bit longer.

The Texan told his hometown newspaper, the Austin American-Statesman, that he has been thinking about a comeback since L'Equipe reported on August 23 that urine samples taken from Armstrong in 1999 during his first Tour triumph tested positive for the banned substance EPO.

"I'm thinking it's the best way to piss (the French) off," Armstrong told the newspaper.

Asked how serious he was about another Tour, Armstrong replied: "I'm exercising every day."

Armstrong retired in July after winning his seventh straight Tour de France but expectations of relaxing holidays have been tempered by doping allegations.

The cycling legend plans to tape an interview with Oprah Winfrey on Wednesday before returning to Idaho, where he and Crow were engaged, to meet with the Dalai Lama, Armstrong told the American-Statesman.

Armstrong vehemently denied taking any performance-enhancing drugs although a number of experts and former employees have come out of the woodwork to denounce him.

Johan Bruyneel, the 33-year-old Armstrong's team manager at Discovery Channel, admitted that nothing concrete had been decided but the door was still open for a return.

"We could decide during our (US) training camp in December, which will be decisive (for the Tour)," Bruyneel told the Belgian news agency Belga.

"But don't make me say that Lance has already decided what he will do with the rest of his career. That said, we speak for 15 minutes on the phone every day, and for 13 of those we talk about cycling."

Bruyneel, who has orchestrated Armstrong's career since the American returned to cycling after his successful recovery from cancer in 1998, suggested Armstrong simply missed racing.

"He got back on the bike to train three weeks after the end of the Tour de France. He follows the team's progress closely and it's sure that he's still hungry for success.

"He's missing racing, and everything that goes with it. That's normal. Maybe he's thinking about taking some kind of sporting revenge for the allegations of doping that he's had to hear day after day.

"He could be feeling the need to prove to everyone that he is the strongest, and that it's not down to illegal substances.

"There will always be a place on the team for him, if he decides to come back. Anyway, he's still under contract with us till the end of 2006."

Source: China Daily