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Riders welcome Lance Armstrong back to RAGBRAI

A return to RAGBRAI for disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, he’s announced plans to ride a few days of the trip this year, as he has in the past. He’s making his...

A return to RAGBRAI for disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, he’s announced plans to ride a few days of the trip this year, as he has in the past. He’s making his return after being stripped of his Tour De France titles. Some riders are ready to welcome him back.

Trek Bicycle Shop sales manager, Nelson Bates remembers riding with Lance Armstrong the last time he did the RAGBRAI ride across Iowa, "We all were all excited to see him and all that fun stuff. It was fun to ride with him."

This time around, he might not have as many fans, Armstrong admitted to doping his way to several Tour De France wins

"I think there will be some people that enjoy it, think it's a cool idea, obviously there's going to be people who don’t like it,” says Bates.

However, for some in the Quad Cities, they say his return will be good, “I think it's a good thing for I mean RAGBRAI, if anyone can take anything good out of it, publicity for that, get more people doing it,” says Bates.

Bike rider Al Jackson agrees, "It will be pretty interesting, people will really enjoy seeing him there."

They say it’s better to remember him for all the good he has done," His foundation has done a lot for a lot of people, the doping scandal is not good obviously, I don’t think its right, but there was good that came out of his federation for cancer,” says Jackson.

Bates hopes people will be able to move forward, "It's almost to a point where we hope people will just learn to appreciate that and let everything else go."

This year’s RAGBRAI will go from July 21-27. The 406 mile ride will start from Council Bluff, IA to Fort Madison, IA.

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