London - Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong says he is afraid of being attacked by spectators if he competes in the 2009 edition of the race.

"I don't want to enter an unsafe situation but you see this stuff coming out of France. There are some aggressive, angry emotions. If you believe what you read my personal safety could be in jeopardy," Armstrong told Tuesday's Guardian newspaper.

"Cycling is a sport of the open road and spectators are lining that road. I try to believe that people, even if they don't like me, will let the race unfold."