Astana has announced the following changes to Lance Armstrong's pre-Giro racing schedule:

- Armstrong will race the Tour de Castille et Leon (Vuelta a Castilla y León, Spain, March 23-27) alongside teammate Alberto Contador.  This race will allow Armstrong to test himself in a time trial and mountaintop finishes.  Contador had previously expressed a desire to race with Armstrong prior to July's Tour de France.

- Armstrong will NOT race the 2009 Critérium International (France, March 28-29).

- Armstrong will NOT race the 2009 Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen, Belgium, April 5).  (Ed. - This is not a surprise as Armstrong told French sports daily L'Equipe a month ago that he would likely skip Flanders in order to return to the U.S. earlier.)