Armstrong improvesFormer world road race cycling champion Lance Armstrong of the United States was said on Monday to be steadily improving two months after he finished chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer.Doctors at Indiana University, where Armstrong went for a recent check-up, said that the cancer was dying out -- but that he would have to return next month for a further appointment. The 25-year-old Texan, due to ride for new French team Cofidis this season, has restarted training and although nowhere near his fitness levels before the treatment he is steadily increasing the distance he cycles each day. A spokesman from Cofidis, who signed veteran Swiss rider Tony Rominger when they learned of Armstrong's problems, said that the American should be able to race before the end of the season. "While it is impossible to see Lance competing early in the season we hope he can race before the end of the year," the spokesman said. Armstrong, who has won two stages in the Tour de France, was diagnosed with cancer after retiring prematurely from the 1996 Tour. The former world class tri-athlete complained of having severe bronchitis and feeling lethargic but doctors later discovered he had testicular cancer. |