Ekimov, who has helped Armstrong win five Tours, injured his back in a training crash in April.
BBC: SPORT | Other Sport... | Cycling | Armstrong shrugs off Ekimov blow
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Ekimov, from St Petersburg, first won Olympic gold in the team pursuit for the Soviet Union at the 1988 Games.
BBC: SPORT | Other Sport... | Cycling | Armstrong shrugs off Ekimov blow
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For Sunday' finish, Russia's Viatceslav Ekimov, 40, led the peloton, the main rider pack, as it arrived for the first of eight laps on the famed Paris avenue to honor him as the Tour's oldest rider.