Lance for the Tour
June 21st, 2009 |Just won Nevada City tonight in a solo effort.
Winning Nevada City alone does not mean that Armstrong can win the Tour. However, I believe that Armstrong is on track to be right on the knifes edge of form at the start of the Tour.
Sure, he did not win any stages at the Giro and even seemed to wilt on a couple of days. Who cares? The guy was coming back from a broken clavicle and he spent almost the entire race riding with the lead group.
Armstrong never did the Giro before racing the Tour previously. The closest he came to a major effort like this was the 8 stage Dauphiné Libéré and he only won this event in 2002 and 2003.
I think Lance is going to be more than ready to challenge for victory in France this year. Ivan Basso thinks so too.
I may not be a fan, but Armstrong is going to make the race exciting this year.
7 Responses to “Lance for the Tour”
i hear he is using nevada and the TdF as training for cyclocross.
@(dis): Considering how he races cyclocross it’s not a bad idea.
You mean the GC will be interesting. Points won’t be a complete competition without Boonen.
Lance is the 2nd best stage racer on his team. What I find interesting is that Contador has not left for a team that actually pays their riders. I bet there is a lot going on behind the scenes.
@Champs: Yeah, well – if you want to go further down that road, the KOM competition isn’t complete without Marco Pantani or Chaba Jimenez, either. Does a lack of Boonen in the race tarnish Freire’s ‘08 jersey any? Nope. Boonen didn’t/doesn’t exactly have a track record of being able to finish the Tour, he’s dropped out just as many times as he’s finished.
You can’t win if you don’t show up. You can’t show up if you’re passed out or dead on a hotel room floor from blow.
The competition will be ‘complete’ no matter who shows up.
@a. kruse: as a Cavendish fanboy, I’d like to see the full arsenal of the pro peloton thrown at him. He’s won a million races, but hardly ever matched up against Boonen. Everyone guns for July — winning in California is old news.
Armstrong says he’s using the tour as preparation for Leadville 100 (see velonews video). He obviously doesnt want to lose to that 41 yr old guy that spanked him at Leadville last yr.