Armstrong to reunite with Bruyneel Down Under

Lance Armstrong has been confirmed as part of Radio Shack's Tour Down Under team in January and will race again for the first time since the 2009 Tour of Ireland.

"We haven't decided completely who will be racing," explained Radio Shack's directeur sportif Johan Bruyneel on his website, but "I can tell you Lance is going to be racing."

It will be the Radio Shack team's first race of the 2010 season, after Bruyneel and Armstrong left the Astana outfit, taking with them many of the staff, riders and equipment, to create the new squad.

Armstrong rode the race in 2009 as part of his build-up to the Tour de France.

The Belgian rider, Gert Steegmans, joins the team and, "will be our sprinter and there are lots of possibilities for him in the bunch sprints in this race," Bruyneel added.

"Yaroslav Popovych will also be riding but the others are to be determined. It's definitely going to be a pretty strong team and we want to be competitive from the first race with the new uniform of Radio Shack."

The team held a meeting for its directeurs sportif yesterday at its service course in Brakel, Belgium, ahead of its first training camp in December.

Meanwhile, Alberto Contador, who won the 2009 Tour de France with Astana, has yet to confirm which team he will ride for in 2010.

On Monday, the Spaniard signed an individual contract with Specialized, leading to speculation that he may a move to Quick Step - which uses Specialized bikes - may be imminent. Alternatively, it could also mean Astana will ride the American bikes in 2010.

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