Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said no special security measures will be put in place for Lance Armstrong's return to the race that made the seven-times winnner world famous.

American Armstrong, who announced in September he was coming out of a three-year retirement, confirmed this week he would take part in the world's greatest stage race next year despite having expressed concerns over his personal safety on the French roads.

"There are 3,500 kms of roads, 10 million people watching along the road. There will be no particular security measures, Prudhomme told reporters at his office just outside Paris.

Prudhomme said he was not surprised Armstrong was returning to the Tour.

"We were more surprised when he announced he was returning to cycling in September," he said.

"It ends a media game but it is, after all, all but logical that he comes back to the Tour.

"He built his whole career on the Tour de France," added Prudhomme, who briefly met Armstrong at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport last week along with the tour organisers ASO.