Armstrong, too, has had his name removed from the race's honour roll after admitting to have doped throughout his career, including the seven Tour wins between 1999 and 2005.
O'Grady, five weeks shy of his 40th birthday, only learned of the change from reading the race manual following the official team presentation in Porto Vecchio.
It means O'Grady, who made his debut for the Gan team in 1997, is now officially credited with one more start than Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk.
"I'm a little stunned and surprised," O'Grady told The Weekend Australian. The South Australian has little to prove at the Tour. He was just the third Australian to win a stage and the second, after Phil Anderson, to wear the yellow jersey.
O'Grady, named as captain of the Orica-Greenedge squad, was looking to breaking Hincapie's record next year before retiring to take up a coaching and team director's role with the Gerry Ryan-backed team.Tour organisers have amended the records in the race manual handed out to riders, team officials and the 2500 accredited media.
The move by race organisers came as a fresh French doping investigation revealed allegations that former top racer Laurent Jalabert tested positive to the banned substance EPO 15 years ago. The new probe has cost Jalabert his job as a commentator for French television at the race.
News of the Jalabert affair prompted Bernard Hinault, a five-time winner of the race along with Miguel Indurain and Eddy Merckx, to hit back at the French authorities.
"It's always cycling that gets it in the neck. We are maybe not cleaner than other sports, but we're not dirtier either, at least I don't think so," Hinault told Europe 1 radio.
But the allegations take nothing from O'Grady's achievements.
"I reckon I've raced about 60,000km in my time around France, and probably ridden three times more in training to be race-fit for the Tour," he said.
"They are the sort of numbers which won't really sink in until I'm long retired and probably forgotten."
For now O'Grady, as the designated captain of the Orica-Greenedge team, is itching to get on with the racing.
"I've come off a pretty good Tour du Suisse," he declared.
"Realistically the team's goal is to win a couple of stages with either Matt Goss in a bunch sprint or with Simon Gerrans on the days when the course gets lumpy.
"I couldn't be happier with the team Shayne Bannan and Matt White put together with the likes of Cam Meyer, Brett Lancaster and Simon Clarke all in good form."
The race starts today with the first of three days in Corsica, which includes one flat and two hilly stages and a departure from the Tour's traditional opening prologue.
Winding roads and categorised climbs promise to deliver unusually early action in the race with O'Grady tipping a frantic opening three days before the time trial in Nice on Tuesday.
"Corsica is going to be tough," added the the winner of Olympic Gold at the Athens Games.
"Typically at a Tour de France, those first few days are really stressful in the peloton anyway."
This will be the first time cycling's most prestigious road race has visited the island.
Credits: theaustralian.com.au
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