Lance Armstrong announces birth of son on social-networking site Twitter

Armstrong announces birth of son on Twitter

AUSTIN, Texas — Why wait for France? Lance Armstrong can pop that bottle of champagne now.

He announced the birth of son Max during a break between the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France next month. Max is Armstrong’s fourth child.

The 37-year-old cycling great posted a message on his Twitter account Thursday night and included a picture of the newborn, playfully sticking out his tongue at the camera.

“Wassup, world? My name is Max Armstrong and I just arrived. My Mommy is healthy and so am I!” Armstrong wrote, noting Max weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Armstrong and his girlfriend, Anna Hansen, announced in December they were expecting a baby in June. Armstrong also has three children with his ex-wife, Kristin.

On Friday, Armstrong wrote that he was watching the French Open on TV with Anna and maxarmstrong1, having already given the baby his own Twitter address. He also appreciated the outpouring of good wishes.

“Thanks to you all for all the great notes, comments, emails, etc. We’re lucky to have you all,” he wrote.

Max’s timing proved impeccable.

Armstrong finished 12th in the Giro d’Italia, which ended May 31. The seven-time Tour de France champion is eyeing a triumphant return to Paris, where he won the Tour seven straight times from 1999 to 2005. The Tour de France begins July 4.

Three years after retiring following his last Tour de France win, Armstrong said in September his return to competition and cycling’s marquee race in 2009. He called his comeback an attempt to raise global awareness in his fight against cancer.

When the pregnancy was announced in December, a spokeswoman for the Lance Armstrong Foundation said that the baby was conceived naturally. Armstrong’s other three children were born using in vitro fertilization with sperm he had banked before undergoing chemotherapy.

The arrival of healthy son is good news for the cyclist after a rough spring. A crash in Spain left Armstrong with a broken collarbone and financial troubles for the sponsor of his Astana team threatened to get the team kicked out of competition.

Astana receives most of its financial support from the Kazakh state holding company Samruk-Kazyna, but the Central Asian nation’s economy has been badly hit by the global financial crisis.

On the Net:

twitter.com/LanceArmstrong