Tour de France - Armstrong looks forward to Contador battle

Eurosport - Thu, 15 Oct 11:41:00 2009

Lance Armstrong tried to conceal it, but a wry smile gave away just how high his rivalry with yellow jersey rival Alberto Contador may soar on their anticipated duel at the Tour de France in 2010.

CYCLING 2009 Tour de France - Contador et Armstrong - 0

Spanish climbing ace Contador overcame huge pressures off the bike to claim his second overall win, and fourth in a major Tour, in this year's epic.

Armstrong, returning after a four-year absence, did well to finish third at nearly six minutes off the pace.

But the backdrop to their rivalry was even juicier.

Normally teams at the Tour de France serve to have one designated leader fighting for the race's coveted yellow jersey.

But as both Armstrong and Contador were riding for the same outfit, Astana, the camp was split, leading to tensions, accusations and back-biting that really only let fly once the race was done.

Now with Armstrong racing for Radio Shack, the pair are now planning respective campaigns ahead of a hugely-anticipated duel in July 2010 when the race begins in Rotterdam.

While Armstrong - who battled cancer to return to cycling and win the race a record seven years in a row - said Britain's Bradley Wiggins and Andy Schleck of Luxembourg will be tough rivals, he admitted Contador is his biggest hurdle.

"The Schleck brothers (Andy and Frank) will be there, Wiggins will come back and be strong," said Armstrong, smiling before acknowledging that Contador will be his biggest threat.

"It's good for cycling," added the American. "I think he and I can do without it (media hype). But I think it's good for the event and good for our sport."

While Armstrong has provided the sport with its biggest story in decades, Contador is stage racing's man of the moment after winning both the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

He also showed huge strength of character throughout a tough cohabitation with Armstrong prior to July's race, during which the Madrid-born rider had to shoulder the extra pressure of seeing Armstrong try to fight him for the right to battle for the yellow jersey.

When it came to the high mountains, the spindly yet powerful climbing legs of Contador left most of his rivals in the shade, and Armstrong in third, on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Contador said in L'Equipe that knowing he would not be racing with Armstrong in 2010 "has allowed me to feel settled and calm".

"It has taken a huge load off my back. Honestly, I couldn't see myself spending another year like that," he added.

And although doubts remain over his future with Astana - he has been trying, unsuccessfully, to get out of his remaining one-year contract - the Spaniard's talent should speak for itself once the race gets going.

Although aware of the threat of Armstrong, Contador has given the ageing American the ultimate motivation to show he can still cut it with the under-30s.

"My authentic rival is Andy Schleck," said Contador.

On the summit finishes where Contador usually has the luxury of attacking from afar, only Schleck, a potential future champion, was able to follow.

The third week of racing in the Pyrenees next year, where the legendary Col du Tourmalet will be crested once on stage 16 and host a summit finish the next day - could be decisive ahead of the race's only time trial on stage 19.

"If I have good legs, I can take out a lot of time in the mountains going into the final time trial," said Contador, who rubber-stamped his victory in July by winning the race's second and final time trial.

"Looking at the time trial, it's better for me than last year. This Tour is better for me than last year, especially with a stage finish atop a climb as difficult as the Tourmalet."

AFP

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  1. The Tour needs a new competition. A Black Jersey, as­ the opposite of the White Jersey - best OAP.

    I'd­ giggle like a school girl when Christophe Moreau or­ Jens Voigt won it on account of their being no TTT next­ year...

    From Thomas, on Thu 26 Nov 4:49AM

  2. and another one bites the dust! Under age 40! Very,­ very commonplace.

    Lance Pharmstrong has MANY drug­ busted teammates­­ too!

    Frankie Andreu
    Stephen­ Swartz
    Floy Landis
    Tyler­­ Hamilton
    Roberto­ Heras
    Benoit Joachim
    Manuel­­ Beltran
    Pavel­ Padrnos
    Ivan Basso
    Alberto­­ Contadoper
    Greg­ Strock
    Erich Kaiter
    Gerrik Latta
    David­­ Francis
    Chad­ Gerlach
    Alexandre Vinokeurov
    Michele­­ Ferrari

    Dead­ alums too:
    Stive Vermaut
    Michel­­ Zanoli
    Stephen Larsen­

    LIVE WRONG = Nike sneaker­­ sales!

    From bikedad_99, on Tue 10 Nov 10:01PM

  3. Armstrong can win the 2010 tour,yes he can.He will be­ much fitter and with a year of racing he will be­ Contadors main threat.Schleck is not ready to win the­ tour may be he never will.His TT is no where good­ enough he does fade in some stages enough for AC and LA­ to take advantage.LA is in a win win situation no one­ expects him to win,Contador has all the pressure on­ him.He must have a very strong team to win though

    From bartmarsha, on Sat 31 Oct 12:17AM

  4. Until all the truth came out of this supposed pressure­ on AC in TdF 2009, cycling fans must keep the­ competition on a bike. On a first analyse, are we­ blaming LA for speed his bike when the peloton splet in­ that stage? Insane. Media need news and then AC, a­ great rider and also good PR could very well capitilize­ on this.

    From Sttress, on Tue 20 Oct 3:29AM

  5. Pedro, good analysis. Love him or hate him, you­ can't deny Armstrong is right about one­ thing...this will all be fantastic theater for TV! The­ hype leading up to the TdF next year will be­ extraordinary, to say the least! Most cycling fans­ either love or hate LA or AC. I don't­ "love" either one, but I'm already­ excited for next July, and it's only October!!! AC­ will likely destroy Armstrong in the mountains, though­ I think Armstrong's TT'ing will be better next­ year. Don't understimate the wily vet during the­ early stages, especially on the cobbles...AC­ doesn't strike me as a particularly stout rider,­ not well suited for the rough and dirty pave.

    AC is­ right about one thing, it will likely be a battle with­ him and Andy Schleck in the end, though I think AC is­ just a bit better in the mountains and TT.

    From cthenn, on Mon 19 Oct 5:32PM

  6. Post 25 - technically you are wrong... however Contador­ has the potential to win more as Lance did not even win­ his first tour unril he was 29. On the other hand­ Contador is only 26 and already has 2 wins to his­ credit

    From lambton.robert, on Mon 19 Oct 4:41PM

  7. I'm not going to give my expert opinion on this­ subject because I know bugger all about cycling. I­ can, however, recognise a nasty person when I see him,­ and Lance Armstrong is one of the worst I've ever­ seen. I don't care who it is that kicks his­ backside next year, but I'll love seeing it.

    From Joaquin, on Sun 18 Oct 9:37PM

  8. Sickly sweet Lance AKA Julie Andrews.

    From tuggo, on Sun 18 Oct 12:07AM

  9. Its late October and Contador does not even have a Team­ yet advantage Armstrong and Schleck.

    From sylvia, on Sat 17 Oct 10:51PM

  10. Post 23, I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm­ wrong. Lance's first victory was at his third­ attempt. Contador I believe is two from two. Not a bad­ start.

    From terrytrudgian, on Fri 16 Oct 10:21PM

  11. LA first victorie was with 27 YO, Contador wins his­ first TDF with 24, now he have is second with 26 (born­ december 6 1982) , he have plenty of time to overcame­ LA 7TDF (great fear of LA, that's why he­ cameback).5 more to go, and Armstrong dont even have a­ giro or vuelta win, Contador win 2TDF, 1giro and 1­ vuelta in just 2 years. all need is more 5 TDF to make­ 7 TDF or more 6 TDF to make 7 in a row. If there's­ a man who can wipe out LA record that man is Contador

    From black_portugal, on Fri 16 Oct 7:51PM

  12. Lance has won 7 times, Contador seems petty with his­ comments now showing lack of maturity and respect for­ someone in his first year back. He is unlikely to ever­ achieve what Lance has.

    From FeetonGround, on Fri 16 Oct 5:15PM

  13. Contador a climber? Contador overcame the World best TT­ Fabian Cancellara, with his thin body he prooves that­ he have more power than the heavy Cancellara, he can­ produce a lot of power with legs.

    From black_portugal, on Fri 16 Oct 1:58PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Do ANY of you posters realize that Lance and Contador­ are both great riders. If they both could ride during­ their peak years, Contador would always end up as #2­ (at best).
    Also, have you actually seen Contador's­ body? If he can time trial anything other than a top­ 20 (and it would have to be an all uphill TT to do so),­ it would be a miracle. Contador is just a climber,­ plain and simple. If Operation Puerto would come clean­ with EVERYBODY'S participation, I would wager that­ Contador's name would be near the top of the list.

    From bob h, on Fri 16 Oct 1:50PM

  15. Armstrong believe Contador will be all he have to deal­ with it, but he will have a very hard time to be the­ last of a top 5 or 6, Nibali and Wiggins will be­ stronger than ever and even Schleck youngest will be­ much faster in TT, Contador is right his most dangerous­ enemy is Andy, not Armstrong. Armstrong doesnt have the­ pace in the mountains for Andy and Contador, Armstrong­ believe his team would crack all the otheres, but for­ Andy and Contador following the pace of Radio Shack is­ easy like stoll a candy from a children hands. He will­ be alone with Andy, Contador and most probablly­ Wiggins, he never have adversaries like those ever in­ his career, i'll love seeing the vampire fall again­ this time for good.

    From black_portugal, on Fri 16 Oct 12:44PM

  16. It is a fact that Contador is not yet at his physical­ peak which he probably won't reach for another 2-3­ years yet, so he is going to improve year-on-year,­ Lance is basically fine tuning an ageing body and he­ will never be as good as he was. Although Alberto may­ find himself up against it next year if he is­ surrounded by a weak team, especially in the first­ week.

    From jbandbetsymac, on Fri 16 Oct 10:30AM

  17. Makes for good debate, but the simple fact is LA is­ some way off AC. It will take something extrodinary­ for LA to challenge. Whilst LA fans will say he played­ the role of loyal team mate at Verbier and Andorra etc,­ the simple fact was he didn't have the legs to­ chase. It says something when LA is being touted as­ the no.1 rival to AC next year - a top 5 place for LA­ next year would be a very good result. The course­ does, however, favour the likes of Gessink, Shleck,­ Nibali etc, as there is such a limited amount of TT. ­ Sadly for the others, AC has proven himself to be­ unbeatable in the mountains and very competitive in the­ TTs, so perhaps the others are hoping he cracks in the­ wind and cobbles in the first week and then burns­ himself out playing catch-up.

    From pedro118118, on Fri 16 Oct 9:54AM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Some of you forget that LA didn't chase Contador in­ the mountains this year because he was actually being a­ team mate. Whatever happened behind the scenes, on the­ road Lance did actually do what a team mate is supposed­ to do - not helping people chase down your team mate if­ he's on the attack. Contador was the one who was­ screwing it up for the team during the race - attacking­ Kloeden when he was already in yellow, what's the­ point? Contador is a great bike rider but he just has­ no brains (in the biggest bike race in the world, hang­ around at the back of the peleton when there is a stiff­ side wind... I mean come on!), so Lance and any of the­ other contenders will always have a chance against him,­ especially if he is now riding in a team with no brains­ behind it. He's now relying on the tactical nous of­ Alexandre "attack for the sake of it and blow up­ 10km from the finish" Vinokourov.....

    If you­ look at the way Armstrong rode after is was definite­ that Contador would win the Andorran stage you'll­ know that there was more in the man's legs,­ although I think he was stretched later on in the race.­ But one year on and avoiding broken collarbones in the­ early season, the man could be a big contender, unlike­ one comment below, 6 minutes is nothing. Schleck,­ Wiggins, Gesink, Nibali, Muncher and Evans will­ probably benefit from the lack of spotlight if the AC­ vs LA duel is hyped up.

    From Texim, on Fri 16 Oct 2:32AM

  19. Lance doesn't have a chance and he knows it. If you­ were a multi-millionaire, owned your own team, and were­ good enough to contend with the best riders on the­ planet, what would you do with your summer? Love him or­ hate him, he brings out the best in every other rider,­ and will make this TDF another classic!

    From hankgrey, on Fri 16 Oct 12:40AM

  20. It's gona be great tour 2010, first favorite is­ Contador (complete rider, only weakness if he stays in­ Astana), second favorite is Andy Schleck (weakness TT­ and brother), third favorite is Bradley Wiggins­ (weakness maybe not enough experience on road races and­ hills), fourth favorite is Lance (weakness years and­ his ego) he's got best team on the world but that­ is not going to help him very much (no TTT). All 4­ riders, got good teams, Wiggins maybe best TT, Contador­ best climber, and Alberto best allrounder. After i see­ the route, main favorite, and i put my money on him is­ Contador

    From bobcha78, on Thu 15 Oct 11:36PM
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