Lance Armstrong calls France hotels ‘horrible’

Seems the Tour de France cycling championship has another bone to pick with France, this time with its hospitality.

Lance Armstrong has always had a love-hate relationship with France, but in a recent keynote speech at this week’s National Business Travel Association conference in Houston, Armstrong added another bone to his picking list: France hotels.

When asked about his experiences as a frequent business traveler, Armstrong took shots at the French calling the country’s hotels “horrible”. Here’s the direct quote, straight from the keynote’s podium:

“Most of my travel-at least in Europe-was in France, staying in these … You’re competing in the biggest race in the world and you’re stuck staying in these horrible hotels. There are no French hotel owners in here, are there?”

According to a reporter for CultureMap Houston, who was at the conference, the moderator is employed by a company that runs hotels in France and unsurprisingly disagreed with Armstrong’s general statement of France’s hotel industry, going so far as to offering to put him up next time he is in the country.

Let’s hope his next stay in France goes better than his next ride.