Armstrong 'hated racing' in last few years

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) Retired seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong says he does not miss competitive cycling and hated the sport during the final few years of his storied career.

''I don't miss it at all,'' Armstrong said in a wide-ranging interview in the latest issue of Men's Journal. ''I miss the training. I miss the team atmosphere. I miss my guys.

''But the last couple of years I would even say I hated racing.

The only peaceful times were when I was at training camps, alone or with a few team mates, or at the races, in the hotel room, at the dinner table with my guys.

''That's the stuff I really love. I won't miss the Tour.'' Armstrong, 34, quit cycling last year after winning the Tour a record seventh consecutive time.

He back-pedaled a bit on his claim he will not miss the world's most famous cycling race, which begins on July 1.

''The Tour is all I did,'' he said in the interview with former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw. ''It's all I lived for. It's probably not fair to answer that question until we get to July.

''I mean, in July I may start pulling my hair out, 'cause it's the one race that I lived for. But I suspect not. I know that I can never go back.'' Armstrong said he ''completely let myself go'' during a six-month period following his retirement but has now started working out again.

''The objective is to limit the slide,'' he said. ''I'm 15 pounds heavier than when I finished the Tour. And just to feel good. When I exercise every day I feel a lot better.'' Armstrong went cycling with President Bush last year and concedes he ''took him easy.'' ''I have to say he tried,'' said Armstrong ''He's very competitive, as you know. I actually like him, personally. He's a likable guy. I don't necessarily agree with his politics all the time.'' Armstrong, a cancer survivor, thinks ''all time time'' about entering Texas politics but he is not sure he wants to expose himself and his family.

''I've seen a level of cynicism and dirty play in sport that I don't ever want to see again, and I think politics is maybe 100 times worse,'' said the Texan who was cleared earlier this week of doping during the 1999 Tour.

For now, Armstrong is still content to take it easy.

''For 20 years I lived like a monk, but now if you open a bottle of red, I'll be the first one at the table,'' he said.'' REUTERS AY PM0937