New York - Lance Armstrong took notice of Chris Froome's big day at the Tour de France and provoked some quick reaction on Twitter when he raised a hypothetical question about cheating.
Froome and Sky team-mate Richie Porte dominated the Pyrenees mountain stage, prompting Armstrong to post a series of tweets: "Getting lots of questions regarding today's first mountain stage..." and "Clearly Froome/Porte/Sky are very strong. Too strong to be clean? Don't ask me, I have no clue."
It was a provocative question from a rider whose domination of the Tour de France from 1999-2005 was wiped from the record books for using performance-enhancing drugs in each victory. Critics swiftly noted his past cheating.
"I'm not accusing anyone," Armstrong quickly responded. "In fact, quite the opposite. I'm not interested (nor do I have the credibility) to opine there."
Froome, the 2013 Tour champion, holds the yellow jersey as race leader. Like Armstrong in his heyday, Froome left several top rivals behind in the key mountain stage.
Getting lots of questions regarding today's first mountain stage @letour. Some thoughts to follow.
— Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) July 14, 2015
1. Clearly Froome/Porte/Sky are very strong. Too strong to be clean? Don't ask me, I have no clue.
— Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) July 14, 2015
2. The first mtn stage is always unpredictable. The day after a rest day is also unpredictable. Combine the two and its 10x.
— Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) July 14, 2015
3. Nibali's tour looks to be over.
— Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) July 14, 2015
Finally, this @letour is NOT over. Those initial hard efforts that Sky put out today tend to add up and there is a ton of racing left.
— Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) July 14, 2015
. @danieljcastille I'm not accusing anyone In fact, quite the opposite. I'm not interested (nor do I have the credibility) to opine there.
— Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) July 14, 2015