Italia v. France

[cheers]

<p>Lance Armstrong gives his non-culinary opinion of the French team…

The Texan — who claims to be the victim of a smear campaign in France after being accused by the newspaper L’Équipe of using performance-enhancing drugs — had been speaking during a sporting awards ceremony for the ESPN television channel in Los Angeles last week. “All their players have tested positive for being a** holes,” he said. </p>

<p>The comment has provoked indignation in France, adding to the strain on Franco-American relations. Armstrong, 34 — who seems to enshrine everything that the French dislike about the US — joined his former team-mates in the French Alps on Monday and said he would follow today’s leg of the Tour in a car. French commentators said that the atmosphere was likely to be electric. </p>

<p>The state-owned radio station France Info described h(Armstrong’s) presence as a provocation, and the newspaper France Soir greeted his arrival with the front-page headline “Welcome in France, Trouduc” — short for trou du cul (a**hole). </p>

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