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Lance Armstrong enters Hamas tunnel during Israel trip

Disgraced US Tour de France winner spends week traveling around country, gets IDF briefing on Gaza border

By ToI Staff 29 October 2016, 3:47 pm Edit
Lance Armstrong walks through a Hamas tunnel during a visit to Israel's Gaza border, October 2016 (Or Movement)
Lance Armstrong walks through a Hamas tunnel during a visit to Israel's Gaza border, October 2016 (Or Movement)

Disgraced former seven-time Tour de France winning cyclist Lance Armstrong visited southern Israel this week as part of a tour of the Gaza border organized by the Or Movement, which advocates development of the Negev and Galilee.

Armstrong, who was found to have used illegal substances during his cycling career and was stripped of his titles in 2012, spent the week traveling around Israel, including trips to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Galilee and Negev.

During his visit to communities bordering the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, Armstrong and his travel companions received a security briefing from the IDF and entered a Hamas attack tunnel uncovered by the Israeli army during the last war with Hamas in 2014.

Armstrong arrived in Israel in a group organized by American-Jewish businessman and philanthropist Martin Franklin. The group visited the Ramon Crater in the Negev, where the former professional cyclist took a 36-kilometer (22-mile) bike ride, the Ynet news website reported.

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