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Disgraced Tour de France cheat Lance Armstrong is in New Zealand.
The most notorious drug cheat in sporting history touched down in Auckland early this morning, flying in from Houston, near his home in Austin, Texas.
It is understood Armstrong, 45, has returned to New Zealand film a commercial and may also be planning some road rides around the country, having recently said he's "rediscovered" cycling.
At the airport, Armstrong said he was in New Zealand for a few days for business and a holiday. He wouldn't elaborate on what the business was but indicated he had a tight itinerary.
Lance Armstrong was in good spirits despite the long flight from Houston. Photo / Jason Oxenham
"I've never been to Auckland [and I'm] doing some business. Brought my bike, my golf clubs and we're going to have some fun."
He was "pretty sure" he would be in Auckland the whole time.
Armstrong, who was stripped of seven Tour de France titles and issued a lifetime ban from the United States Anti-Doping Agency in 2012, holidayed in Hawke's Bay before his reputation was shredded.
Lance Armstrong will be spending a few days in Auckland. Photo / Jason Oxenham
At the airport this morning, he said he had been doing some long rides recently but that he wasn't training for anything, rather he was just "trying to stay fit".
"I'm happy just to train for fun, train with friends, train for fitness, train for wellness."
Asked if he would be getting into any sports again, he said he wasn't eyeing anything up.
He joked if anything, he might take up tiddlywinks.
Wearing a plaid shirt, blue cap and black aviators, Armstrong posed for photos with a few young fans before leaving in a vehicle parked near the airport entry.
Armstrong currently operates a podcast - with the most recent episode on December 12 hinting he was on his way after falling back in love with cycling.
"For years I was, I didn't... You guys who know the story probably can realise, the bike wasn't my obvious choice when I woke up every day and looked at a form of exercise," Armstrong said.
"But, I've rediscovered it and I've got some travel coming up.
"In the old days, we called them Twitter rides, now there's so many forms of social media whether it's Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, Snapchat et cetera, I probably should just call them social media rides.
"And if so, and if you're there, please come out and say 'hey'."
Armstrong won the Tour de France every year between 1999 and 2005 - when he retired, before making comebacks to the sport in 2009 and 2012.
He was dogged by doping allegations for much of his career, but always denied he cheated - until January 2013, Armstrong finally admitted he was a serial drugs cheat.
The confession came in an interview with US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, admitting he doped his way to all seven Tour de France titles and declaring it would have been impossible to win the event without using performance-enhancing drugs.
New Zealand cyclist Stephen Swart was one of the first people to blow the whistle on Armstrong, revleaing the dope he took with Lance Armstrong to stay at the head of the pack.
