A BARNT Green resident and former England footballer has been defending his decision to invite controversial cyclist Lance Armstrong on his fundraising ride.

Geoff Thomas was diagnosed with leukaemia and given less than three months to live in 2003. After receiving treatment he has been in remission since 2005.

Since then the former Wolves midfielder - patron of the Cure Leukaemia charity - has worked tirelessly to raise money for treatment, research and awareness for blood cancer.

In December the Advertiser reported on Geoff's latest challenge, Le Tour - One Day Ahead, where he will be cycling the entire Tour de France route a day ahead of the official race, in an attempt to raise £1 million for the charity.

Geoff first organised the challenge in 2005, and wanted to mark 10 years since that challenge.

However Geoff has come under fire for inviting disgraced former racer Lance Armstrong to join him for a couple of stages of the fundraising tour.

Lance Armstrong has been banned for life from the sport and stripped of his seven Tour de France victories for serious doping violations.

Among those to criticise the move has been Brian Cookson, head of the Union Cycliste Internationale - sports cycling's world governing body - who said it was "completely inappropriate" of Lance Armstrong to take part.

But he admitted there was nothing he could do to block the move as it had "nothing to do with UCI".

Responding to the criticism Geoff said Lance Armstrong "genuinely wants to help improve the situation of those with blood cancer".

He said: "When I was being treated for blood cancer I was inspired by Lance Armstrong's book.

"It gave me strength to deal with my predicament and a purpose which crystallised into the 2005 charity ride along the route of the Tour De France.

"I have gone on record condemning his use of performance enhancing drugs - this doesn't remove the importance that he played at that critical period of my life.

"We have stayed in touch intermittently - he presented me with the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2005 - and have had occasional chats over the last year about how he might support my charity endeavours.

"I understand that some people will find it hard to accept Armstrong's support but my take is a simple one: If Armstrong's involvement can help save one more life than surely that can only be a good thing."

For more details on Geoff's charity run visit http://cureleukaemia.co.uk.