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Lance calls Tour 'tough'
Associated Press Writer
Photo by CHRISTOPHE ENA/AP
Lance Armstrong, left, and Andy Schleck of Luxembourg attend the 2010 Tour de France presentation Wednesday in Paris. The dates of the Tour, the route and the nature of the route were unveiled Wednesday.
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PARIS – Lance Armstrong considers the 2010 Tour de France course “tough” because of the cobblestones sections and three punishing summit finishes in the Pyrenees.
The seven-time Tour champion attended the unveiling of the route and had lunch with French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday.
He also said more cyclists will have a chance to win thanks to the elimination of the team time trial.
“I think it will be much more open than last year because the TTT really eliminated some people last year, and you won’t have that again,” Armstrong said. “Whereas this year you had three or four guys who could win the Tour; this year you’ll go into the tough sections with 10 guys.”
Armstrong finished third at this year’s Tour after an intense rivalry with Astana teammate Alberto Contador, the eventual Tour champion.
The 38-year-old Texan said the inclusion of some of the famous cobblestone sections that make up the Paris-Roubaix classic will be especially destabilizing in the early stages.
“I think the first week is potentially complicating for guys, with the wind and the mix of the Ardennes and also the cobblestones,” Armstrong said. “It’s a very untraditional start to a Tour. It’s going to be a hard Tour.”
Armstrong, who came back to competition this year after a 3½-year retirement, said Contador, Luxembourg brothers Andy and Frank Schleck and British rider Bradley Wiggins will be his toughest rivals next year.
Armstrong said he still is considering whether to compete in the Tour of California or the Giro d’Italia, races that conflict on the May calendar.
“I still don’t know. There’re more things that factor in there, too – RadioShack being an American company, and California obviously being an American race,” Armstrong said, referring to his new team.
One race that likely won’t figure in Armstrong’s Tour preparations is the Milan-San Remo. He used the spring classic to stage his comeback to European racing this year, finishing 125th.
“I think I have another appointment that day – doctor’s appointment or something, a dentist appointment,” Armstrong said, joking.
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