Who were you out with on your Sunday spin? Probably just a couple of mates, or your local cycling club. One imagines that you were not joined by a disgraced former seven-time Tour de France winner, but that's just my best guess.
Valtteri Bottas is no ordinary cyclist. The Finn has won 10 Formula 1 races, and has finished second in the overall championship twice. On Sunday, he popped out for a 105km ride in Colorado with none other than Lance Armstrong.
Ten years on from the USADA Reasoned Decision which exposed the extent of Armstrong's doping, the Texan was joined by the Alfa Romeo driver on the roads around Aspen on Sunday.
As shown in his Strava public post, Bottas rode with Armstrong for almost four hours, also sharing pictures on Twitter with the caption "out with the locals."
The pair were also joined by other riders; current Canyon-SRAM rider Tiffany Cromwell appears in the 'other athletes' tab on both Bottas and Armstrong's rides.
Armstrong is still considered a bit of a persona non grata within the world of cycling, with his ban from cycling preventing him from attending some races in an official capacity.
His seven Tour titles were stripped from his palmarés, along with his multiple stage wins at the same race, as a result of the revelations of 2012.
The American still opines on the world of cycling through his podcast THEMOVE, which includes guests such as his former DS Johan Bruyneel, who is also banned from the sport due to his role in doping scandals.
Bottas is known to be a big fan of cycling, regularly riding with Cromwell, his partner.
“Adding in different sorts of training is important to me, and something that I need because the F1 circus is so hectic and it's nonstop. It’s the driving part and the testing and the visits to the factory and all the sponsor days and that kind of thing that people don't see,” he told Cycling Weekly earlier this month.
Some people on social media warned Bottas off associating with Armstrong. One person tweeted: "I would be careful about taking training advice from him."
One comedian pointed out that the Finnish racing driver has as many Tour wins as the infamous American cyclist these days.
Bottas was in the USA post the Miami Grand Prix, where he finished seventh. His partner Cromwell recently came third in April's North Carolina edition of the Belgium Waffle Ride, where Bottas helped hand out bottles and also took a podium in the shorter men's race.
