Lance Armstrong is known for winning seven consecutive Tour de France titles, only to have them all stripped away years later after admitting to illegally doping. While he has been banned from the sport and has faced a lot of criticism recently, the cyclist is returning to the famous race.

"More on @GeoffThomasGTF and why I'm honored to join him and friends @TdF1DayAhead next week," he wrote on Twitter on July 10.

Lance is returning to the Tour de France this year to help raise money for a charity Photo: Getty Images

The 43-year-old is joining the charity ride called Le Tour One Day Ahead, where a group of riders take on the same strenuous course as the pros just one day ahead of the race to raise money for the Cure Leukemia charity.

Though the group recognizes Lance as a controversial personality when it comes to the famous race, it's the athlete's public battle with cancer that led them to have him join stages 13 and 14 this year. "He might overshadow the Tour, goes the argument," reads a release. "But if there is a genuine fear that a charity ride will upstage cycling’s biggest event of the year, the sport has more problems than can ever be solved by trying to prevent Armstrong from riding the streets for a good cause."

The cyclist has been banned from the sport Photo: Getty Images

Lance started the Livestrong charity during his time as a professional cyclist raising more than $500 million, but he later had to step down after his public controversy, something he opened up about in his interview with Oprah Winfrey. "This is too late. It's too late for probably most people, and that's my fault," he said of not confessing earlier. "I will spend the rest of my life trying to earn back trust and apologize to people."

The appearance at the Tour will be a rare one for the retired cyclist as he has maintained a low profile since the doping revelations. Lance spends much of his time in Austin, Texas with his girlfriend and five children.

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