Lance Armstrong forgets the power of Twitter as he drops out of 2010 Leadville Trail 100 cycling race

If you check out his Twitter feed, Lance Armstrong is all about new music from Arcade Fire. It's "for real," he tweets. He's got the same news on Facebook, too. That's nice to know, but the legendary American cyclist is missing an opportunity to tweet on the big headline surrounding him today -- that he's pulled out of the high-altitude Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race in Colorado. That means he won't defend the title he won there last year, according to numerous press reports, which cite Armstrong's public relations team explaining that he's got ongoing problems stemming from the hip injury he sustained in a crash during an early stage of the Tour de France this summer.

It seems Armstrong has forgotten the power of the tweet.

Less than a week ago, Armstrong appeared on the steps of the state Capitol in Denver before a throng of cyclists to tout the Quizno's Pro Challenge, a multi-state elite race that will take place in the Colorado Rockies in 2011. Observing the massive crowd dressed in tight cycling garb and click-y shoes, Armstrong quipped that he now understood the powers of Twitter. He seemed a bit awestruck that he was able to bring so many cyclists to one place, before hopping on his bike himself and leading them on a brief Tour de Denver.

Today Armstrong is silent on Twitter about how he feels about dropping out of Saturday's race arduous race, which starts at an elevation of 10,500 feet, climbing another 2,000. But at least he's listening to some good tunes.

Image: Armstrong's Facebook pic