A day after his dreams of an eighth Tour de France victory were all but ended, Lance Armstrong was back on the bike for a training ride as the peloton enjoyed a rest day.
The 38-year-old American, who dropped to 39th in the standings after finishing the eighth stage 11 minutes 45 seconds behind Luxembourg's Andy Schleck, climbed up to the Col de Joux-Plane, where he cracked in the 2000 Tour.
Armstrong, who rarely crashed when he was dominating the field from 1999-2005, hit the tarmac in Monday's first Alps stage of the Tour, sustaining a knock on his left hip in the process.
The Texan, however, is expected to start the ninth stage to St Jean de Maurienne, with the intimidating 25-kilometre climb to the Col de la Madeleine on the menu.
Armstrong's Radioshack team-mate Levi Leipheimer is still in the hunt for the title and lies eighth in the overall standings, 2 minutes 14 seconds behind yellow jersey holder Cadel Evans of Australia.
