Tour de France - Armstrong relishing Alps
Eurosport - Mon, 13 Jul 13:39:00 2009
Seven-times champion Lance Armstrong is looking forward to the Alpine stages after losing 21 seconds to Astana team mate Alberto Contador in the first mountain finish of the Tour de France.
"We'll have more moments there when we'll see who's truly the strongest," Armstrong said.
The 37-year-old was surprised by Contador's brutal attack in the ascent to Arcalis on Friday which put the Spaniard two seconds ahead of him in the overall standing as the race leaves the Pyrenees.
"I wouldn't say that I could have easily followed because it was an impressive attack," said the American, on his comeback Tour after almost four years in retirement.
"I probably could have gone, but I didn't see it coming, and it wouldn't be correct for me to go across.
"So I waited for the other guys - I expected them to be able to pull it back, and they didn't, but that's life, that's cycling, and I had to do the right thing.
Italian Rinaldo Nocentini wears the yellow jersey after nine stages of the three-week race. Contador is six seconds behind him with Armstrong third.
The rivalry between Armstrong and 2007 Tour winner Contador is likely to culminate next Sunday with a summit finish in Verbier, Switzerland.
Contador, a natural climber, has shown with victories in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta, that he has almost no rivals in the mountains.
But Armstrong, Tour champion from 1999 to 2005, has a plan.
"I think that's where the race is going to be decided. The combination of those days from Colmar all the way to the top of Ventoux is a very difficult six days," the Texan said.
Armstrong, who has never won at the top of the Mont Ventoux, will have the perfect opportunity to sign off his comeback Tour in style as the finish at the moonscape mountain is scheduled for the day before the peloton reaches the Champs-Elysees.
"We will wait. The hardest mountain in France is on the last day basically. You can't forget that," he said.
With most of the difficulties grouped in the final week - Verbier, Ventoux, an individual time trial and a tough Alpine stage to Le Grand Bornand - Armstrong hopes his preparation will pay off.
"That's my plan (to raise his level in week three). I hope so. We'll see. There's no guarantees - I hope so," he said.
Stage 10 LIVE at 12.30am on Tuesday 14th July on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe
This site is Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! and Eurosport. All rights reserved.
- Terms of Service
- Updated Privacy Policy
- Copyright/IP Policy
- Remarks and Suggestions
- Corporate info
- Jobs at Eurosport
Notice: We collect personal information on this site. To learn more about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy.
Comment 50 - 69 of 109
Lance is a drug cheating waynker who doesn't care who he hurts - He is an idiot!!!
Go CONTADOR!!! Wipe the floor with the SCUM Bag
Lance is a drug cheating waynker who doesn't care who he hurts - He is an idiot!!!
Go CONTADOR!!! Wipe the floor with the SCUM Bag
I agree with Reyros. The tour so far has been a JOKE! Anyone who thinks this is exciting racing is delusional, or does not know bike racing. In fact, most grand tour bike races really have gotten worse in the past few years, especially during the Armstrong era (not that it's his fault). The riders only attack with 4 or 5 K to the top of a mountain, and then ride as hard as they can for TT's. But other than that, selections are never made. These long mountain stages with endless downhill and flat sections at the end are just plain stupid. Who, of the main rivals, would attack on the Tourmalet, an absolutely splendid mountain? With 70K to the finish, it was ridiculous. Of course a break would go, and the only drama would be if someone/the peloton would catch the break. Sunday's stage was one of the most boring stages I've seen in the TdF in quite a while. And the riders treated it as nothing more than a Sunday group ride.
The organizers are once again trying to force competetiveness by limiting the number of mountaintop finishes, and taking away the first long ITT. The race is close, but not one selection has been made. Who knows if Armstrong is really a 3rd place rider? He could be several minutes down by now if there was a longer ITT or another mountaintop finish. Or, he could shock the world and be leading by several minutes as well. We just don't know because the route this year is terrible, and the modern bike racer does not race the way Eddy Mercx did.
YAWN...wake me when the Ventoux gets here.
I think the real thing we should be watching for in the final week is how the alliances develop. Don't be surprised if a "Spanish coalition" arises, regardless of team.
I dont believe what im riding here, "Contador is going to destroy Astana", this team is build for Contador, Lance is a guy who's going to destroy Astana, after TDF he and Johan will be fired from Astana, that's for sure. Contador is missing this year Vuelta and Giro, and come to TDF for win as a first rider, he is training all year for this race. Menagment of Astana in December told him that he is the leader, he could go in any pro cycling team to be a leader
If it weren't for LA, I wouldn't be paying nearly the attention to this years TDF. That alone is a great thing for the sport!
Anyone else find it funny to watch the fat european spectators cheering the riders on? I keep waiting for them to get run over because they cant get their fat @sses out of the way. At least there is no stadium for them to burn down when this is over!
Militant action has severely cut Nigeria's oil output
Nigeria's most prominent militant group says it carried out an "unprecedented attack" on an oil tanker facility close to the main commercial city of Lagos.
"The depot and loading tankers moored at the facility are currently on fire," said the Movement for the Emancipation of the @#$% Delta (Mend).
Some officials have confirmed there was an attack but another said it was a fire not caused by the militants.
The attack marks a major escalation in Mend's activities.
Its previous attacks have mostly been much further to the south-east, in Rivers and Delta States.
Such attacks have severely cut Nigeria's oil output. Production has been cut by a fifth in the last three years partly as a result of violence.
Militant message
In a statement, Mend said that "heavily armed" men had "carried out an unprecedented attack on the Atlas Cove Jetty in Lagos" at 2230 (2130 GMT) on Sunday.
The jetty is the main entry point for ships entering Nigerian waters from the West and for oil tanker loading.
A reporter for the Reuters news agency has confirmed damage to the pipeline and terminal, which has shut for repairs.
Staff from the state-run oil firm NNPC told the BBC there was a huge explosion, followed by gunfire which lasted for around 30 minutes.
But they say there was no loss of life.
The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos says the timing of the attacks is significant, coming at a time when the government has offered an amnesty to the militants.
She says they are sending a message to the government - that they will continue to use violence at the same time as negotiation.
They hope to put greater pressure on the government to extract greater concessions as part of the amnesty.
They want to show they have the capability to strike anywhere - even Lagos, the country's economic heart, our correspondent says.
The alleged attack follows c
You wish to speak of character, chem452002? What strength of character does a man have who comes back from retirement to demand a leadership position with a team who already has a leader -- and a leader that has won a greater DIVERSITY of races than the returning retiree?
Contador is the caged wolverine gnashing at his bars. Your comparisons between Lance and Indurain and Contador (2A) are completely off-base, mashing together disparate situations to try to force your point across in a convoluted manner. These things have nothing to do with the other. You just seem to be an avowed Lance chamois-sniffer...
Contador, in the 2007 Tour, could be said to be the only person who was able to hang alongside Rasmussen, a man who lost his yellow jersey when his Rabobank team unilaterally pulled him from the race. Why? Because he missed a doping control prior to the Tour. Was he doping? It's highly likely given those circumstances...
So Contador was a rightful champion, just as he was in the 2008 Giro and 2008 Vuelta (races Lance never won, paying the sport a measure of disrespect by eschewing other great races to focus on just one). You want to talk about disrespect and the heart of a real champion? It extends throughout an entire racing season, not for just three weeks in July...
1- It is just mind blowing to see a guy with broken collarbone at the age of 38, coming back 4 yrs after retirement to shake the world of cycling like that, ride with the best. Who thought that would be the case in this tour? BJARNE RIIS said " Lance Armstrong will struggle as soon as they hit the mountains". He is struggling alright :-) MR BJARNE RIIS should learn to SHUT UP. I wonder what he is saying now? I bet the SCHLECK BROTHERS are asking him " but you said he is gonna struggle" and Bjarne RIIS sitting there like an idiot :-).
2- THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHAMPIONS AND CONTADOR
A- EDDY MERCKX refused to wear yellow jersey cuz his main rival had an accident. LANCE ARMSTRONG waited when rivals like Urlich had an accident. BUT CONTADOR ATTACKS HIS 3 TEAM MATES 2 Kiloms to finish. Pathetic, it wasnt team plan, he just attacked his team mates to gain 22 seconds.
B. EDDY MERCKX, LANCE ARMSTRONG, BIG MIG INDRAIN won their tours by destroying their rivals. CONTADOR WON THE TOUR CUZ RASMUSSEN GOT KICKED OUT. ( RASMUSSEN IS OK RIDER BUT HE HAS NO PLACE WITH CYCLING GIANTS .CONTADOR COULDNT DO ANY THING TO HIM). It is written in history books, CONTADOR WON THE TOUR CUZ RASMUSSEN GOT KICKED OUT. You can scream, jump up and down if you want, but that is the truth. And now, he is stealing 22 seconds from his team mates. JOHAN B said the plan was that they should talk to eachother, but CONTADOR attacked his 3 team mates to steal just 22 seconds, WHAT A JOKE, CONTADOR HAS NO CHARACTER.
1- It is just mind blowing to see a guy with broken collarbone at the age of 38, coming back 4 yrs after retirement to shake the world of cycling like that, ride with the best. Who thought that would be the case in this tour? BJARNE RIIS said " Lance Armstrong will struggle as soon as they hit the mountains". He is struggling alright :-) MR BJARNE RIIS should learn to SHUT UP. I wonder what he is saying now? I bet the SCHLECK BROTHERS are asking him " but you said he is gonna struggle" and Bjarne RIIS sitting there like an idiot :-).
2- THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHAMPIONS AND CONTADOR
A- EDDY MERCKX refused to wear yellow jersey cuz his main rival had an accident. LANCE ARMSTRONG waited when rivals like Urlich had an accident. BUT CONTADOR ATTACKS HIS 3 TEAM MATES 2 Kiloms to finish. Pathetic, it wasnt team plan, he just attacked his team mates to gain 22 seconds.
B. EDDY MERCKX, LANCE ARMSTRONG, BIG MIG INDRAIN won their tours by destroying their rivals. CONTADOR WON THE TOUR CUZ RASMUSSEN GOT KICKED OUT. ( RASMUSSEN IS OK RIDER BUT HE HAS NO PLACE WITH CYCLING GIANTS .CONTADOR COULDNT DO ANY THING TO HIM). It is written in history books, CONTADOR WON THE TOUR CUZ RASMUSSEN GOT KICKED OUT. You can scream, jump up and down if you want, but that is the truth. And now, he is stealing 22 seconds from his team mates. JOHAN B said the plan was that they should talk to eachother, but CONTADOR attacked his 3 team mates to steal just 22 seconds, WHAT A JOKE, CONTADOR HAS NO CHARACTER.
LA force remain on the team to control adversaries, Contador he's is own team. Unlike Armstrong he can destroy a team in the Alps. I believe Contador will destroy Astana team and they want be helpfull to save LA, LA will have to fight for him self and nobody in the peloton will help him. He have no friends there.
as i said now is the time for racing and only racing and not the time to do everything u would like him to do.
"do u think he would achieve more for his foundation sitting at home or by coming back to the hardest sport in the world after nearly 4 yrs retirement and still prove he is one of the very best."
It would achieve more if after the stages he were to say that hard work and perseverance have paid off and how he's happy to be at the Tour, how it's an opportunity to promote livestrong, how a lot of work needs to be achieved to fight cancer etc. Instead, he comes across as an egotistical whiner who needs to have his own way and who has used the livestrong cancer charity to gain some positive press but now, when the world's media is on him, he wants to focus on carping about Contador. Shame.
fotodelicto surely all the media coverage he gets coming back to the tdf and the fact the riders are wearing the livestrong bands on their sleeves and lances different bikes/helmets is promoting at the moment his cause very well, now its time to race and talk about racing and be focused because thats what it takes to win the tdf. what do u expect him to do 2 hour long interviews every day about his foundation. the time will come for that after the race and should he win the race or make a podium i think he will have then got a really receptive audience to his cause. he will get the audiences attention through his feats on the road not by talking and giving interviews and that is why he is back on a bike because people have short memories and forget quickly when is not present in the media. do u think he would achieve more for his foundation sitting at home or by coming back to the hardest sport in the world after nearly 4 yrs retirement and still prove he is one of the very best.
bobcha i dont know who is really the better rider thats my point, theoretically u are right contador must be the better rider judging on past performances and the fact that lance is well and truly retired, the crazy thing is that on his return he trails the best by a couple of secs, u might well be right in the end but u might just be wrong, thats what makes this tour so exciting as mikkojokinen put it very well "Wouldnt it be a story if a man on his peak, the best in the world loses to old fart with broken collar bone?" i agree and lets talk about this at the end of the tour in the meantime lets enjoy one of the most exciting tours in a while and not knock the old man so much.
Up to him whether LA decides to attack. Now if Astana team members only want to help LAmstrong, HELL with them. A Contador surely will be in another team (hopefully loyal) next year if Astana proves to be a pack of wolves. Besides Contador does not need assistance like LAmstrong does to win. A Contador wins on own merits and he is here at TdF to WIN not to help an old Texan geezer. Enough said. May the best rider win.
Seriously the past few days have been easy (for the racer, I would be dead). I cannot wait until the real racing begins after this past softening up period.
bobcha78 - you're right. Wouldnt it be a story if a man on his peak, the best in the world loses to old fart with broken collar bone? If LA wins that wuold be a great statement to the level of cycling at the moment.
Hope thge race livens up in the Apls. those stages at the weekend were little more thna glorofied Cyclo Sportives!!
ralph Just one thing, Lance WAS the best rider 1999-2005, now he is a not the same rider, that is sure.
No body can't espect to win with old time glory, what he had in those years, time is come, it is come young riders, stronger. He is a difrent rider in 20years , in 25years, in 30 years and expecialy now in 38 years
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account