Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong took a cycle with hundreds of fans around Phoenix Park in Dublin this evening after posting an impromtu invitation on the Twitter website earlier in the day.

Armstrong followed by an estimated 1,200 cyclists - many in work suits - brought the capital's rush hour traffic to a halt as they gently rode and chatted through the park.