As an elite cyclist and one who has seven Tour de France victories -- and is currently striving for an eighth -- Lance Armstrong has followed behind and sucked the polluted air from more gasoline vehicle tailpipes than he cares to remember.

Which makes him an ideal spokesman for Nissan's zero-emissions Leaf, a 100% electric car that has no tailpipe and does not pollute.



"In 20 years of cycling, even when I was ahead, I was always behind," he says at the beginning of the new Leaf commercial (see the video), in which he stars. "Behind cars, behind trucks and behind those guys [motorcycles]... tailpipe, after tailpipe, after tailpipe."

Armstrong was recently given the keys to the first Leaf, which he claims is "the next level" of automotive ingenuity, in terms of performance and environmental friendliness.

"I'm excited to be one of the first people to have one; to see people's reactions when you go down the road," he said in a separate Nissan promotion. "I think this is really a tipping point."

Nissan North America has been working in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University to address and solve issues related to electric vehicles that are expected to arrive in the market over the next five years.

Meanwhile, Armstrong is experiencing troublesome issues of his own in France. After Tuesday's rollicking Stage 3, he had dropped from fifth to eighth in the overall standings, and was 2 minutes, 30 seconds behind new race leader Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland.