Lance Armstrong, preparing for a comeback in 2009, hasn't decided whether to go for a record- extending eighth Tour de France title because of "tension" with fans and organizers in the host nation.

The 37-year-old Armstrong, in an interview with cyclingnews.com, said the animosity had left him "not in a hurry to decide." He had told Vanity Fair in September he was "100 percent" going to race in the Tour.

"I am realistic about a lot of things when it comes to the Tour and I know there is tension between the French fans, French media and certainly with the organizers," Armstrong told the Web site. "I don't want to deal with it now or perhaps even in July. I don't think we are all going to sit around and sing 'Kumbayah."'

Armstrong, who said in September he was ending his three- year retirement from professional cycling, attributed the French attitude to his lack of emotion rather than suspicions about doping that he said were "played up" in the media.

"It is just a personal animosity," Armstrong said. "I think the way that I raced the Tour, the methodical robotic approach to racing, not showing emotion, not showing pain, suffering or ease. It's not a popular style of racing in France."

The Texan, who won the Tour from 1999 to 2005, said he is mapping out a full season outside France.

"I am going to Italy (Giro d'Italia), Tour of Flanders, all the classics of cycling (except Paris-Roubaix), Tour of California, Criterium International, Circuit de la Sarthe," cyclingnews.com quoted him as saying.

Armstrong is coming out of retirement to raise awareness about cancer. He will make his return on Jan. 20 at Australia's Tour Down Under. Regarding the 2009 Tour de France, he said he wasn't "playing games" with organizers.

"So, I have to find this balance of 'do I want to try to go for an eighth Tour or help the team win a Tour' or 'do I want to help further the international cancer campaign' and all this over the animosity that exists," he said.

France's antidoping agency has challenged Armstrong to prove he didn't use performance-enhancing drugs in 1999, proposing he has his urine samples tested retroactively.

Armstrong said the urine samples had been "compromised" and didn't provide meaningful results when tested three years ago, the newspaper said, citing an e-mailed message from him.

He was cleared of taking banned drugs at the 1999 Tour by independent investigators in 2006.

Armstrong's Astana team may not be invited to the Tour after being barred from this year's race after rider Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for blood doping in 2007.