Lance is back racing in the US.

Lance Armstrong is currently on the road again for his only race on American soil, February 14–22 in the Amgen Tour of California. A 750-mile, nine-day stage race, the Tour of California is presented by AEG with 17 of the world’s top professional cycling teams riding from Sacramento to San Diego County.

Lance had this to say about this tour; "I am proud that my one and only U.S. road race is an event that has a history of supporting cancer awareness and research through Amgen's Breakaway from Cancer initiative. As the largest cycling event in America, the Amgen Tour of California offers me an invaluable opportunity to encourage the thousands of people here to join our movement to address the global cancer burden that claims 8 million lives a year and needs immediate attention.”

Only there is one problem, his time-trial bike has been stolen from the Team Astana truck. It was taken during the night before Stage 1 of the Tour of California. Armstrong rode that bike to a 10th-place finish Saturday in Sacramento during the Tour prologue, his first competitive appearance in his native country since beginning his cycling comeback last month. The thieves also stole race bikes belonging to Astana teammates Steve Morabito, Yaroslav Popovych and Janez Brajkovic.

The Tour of California has big time riders in the peloton this year, including Floyd Landis. Landis won the Tour of California back in 2006 and then went on to win the Tour de France, but was later stripped due to failing a drug test. This is Landis’s first race back from serving a two-year ban. He and his team started out strong but Floyd got a flat on a huge decent on the first day. That put him 4 plus minutes behind the leaders, but he has been making up the time in the recent stages. He might have a shot for a podium spot when it is all over!