Armstrong is back at work, feeling ‘pretty good’
By STEVE McMORRAN, AP Sports Writer 49 minutes ago
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP)—Riding in 103-degree heat and in wind that felt like a blast furnace, Lance Armstrong returned to professional cycling and was a long way from his champagne-sipping triumphs in Paris.
The seven-time Tour de France champion finished 120th of 133 riders Tuesday in the six-day Tour Down Under, his first road stage in three years.
Still, Armstrong said he felt “pretty good, pretty strong” for his first day back at work, although he thought officials were kidding when they told him the opening day of the race was also the easiest.
It was nothing more, they said, than two short hill climbs and a pedal through undulating hill country on the fringe of the wine-growing Barossa Valley outside Adelaide. But the searing heat tested even the fittest riders, almost all of them younger than the 37-year-old cancer survivor.
“It’s nice to get one under way and tomorrow’s another hard day,” Armstrong said. “I want to take it day by day, but I think the early indications are that I feel pretty good, pretty strong.”
Germany’s Andre Greipel, the winner of last year’s race, won the first stage by a bike length in a bunched finish. Taking time bonuses into account, he will carry an 11-second lead into Wednesday’s 90-mile second stage. The race ends Sunday.
Armstrong coasted to the finish near the back of the pack. Unfazed by the heat and the day’s exertion, the Texan spent 20 minutes talking with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
“We’ve never met,” Armstrong said. “So it’s an honor not just for myself but for the race to have him here. We talked a little bit about cycling, talked a little bit about health care, talked about the inauguration tonight, talked about the global fight against cancer.”
Armstrong found the dry heat sapping but was most at home on the hills, where the 133 cyclists labored on country roads that rose abruptly.
“It’s hot, man, it’s hot,” he said. “It’s a dry heat but it effects performance a lot. There’s really no way to perform at a high level when it’s (103) degrees. You just cope and drink as much as you can. I think we must have gone through maybe 15 or 20 bottles each today.”
DUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!!! Don’t give away the results in the Title Line!!! You totally just ruined my 30min cycling fest tonight! Just say “Lance’s results for 1/20’s Tour Down Under” or some crap like that.
sounds to me like it went exactly as he wanted it to go.
Get back into racing, get a ton of publicity, lower expectations for when the real racing starts.
Mission Acccomplished.
Exactly.
Also, in cycling, if you are not winning or in the top 5, nobody really cares. It is not the same as triathlon where people gut it out for 30th overall so they can win the “left-handed favorite color is green” category. 9th is the same as 120th, especially in a bunch finish on a flat stage. If he lost 20 min like Ivan Dominguez, then you might start to get worried.
Not a very impressive return to the office for LA…
How so?
Maybe that was his plan.
It’s still a long way to May and then July.
I saw that Lance was actually on the front for a bit. My guess that their is a game-plan in place and that he will follow it. He’s done this a few times before.
Have you ever been at the front of a 130+ rider field sprint on the first stage of the first race of the year? It’s completely insane up there.
A rider like Armstrong has no chance of winning or placing on that kind of stage so he does the wise thing and moves to the back of the peleton and stays out of trouble. It also gives him more time to react if there is a big pile up.
The only time he lost is the time that other riders won on time bonuses at the sprint points and at the finish. In other words, the only difference between 10th and where he finished is the extreme difference in risk level’s.
What would you or others be saying if he broke his collar bone on his first race back because he took stupid risks?
BTW, look at the top 10 in GC and the top 10 in the stage. They aren’t all the same people. Time bonuses.
A more fair test will be how he does in the “big stage” which I believe is the one they are about to start. Ignoring a smallish break away that may form, he needs to be in the front group at the end of the day. A front group that may be on the small side. That would show that he’s very fit.
Even still, the sharpness it takes to win will take a bit more racing.
Not a very impressive return to the office for LA…
Stage racing is won on accumulated time. This race hasn’t even started yet. All riders finish with the same time, except for time bonuses. These stages are more like a parade with a sprint at the end. You CANNOT will the stage race with a high placing on this kind of stage. Lance’s goals in order on a race like this:
Do not crash.
Try out the legs.
Smile for the camera.
Lance is not a field sprinter. It would have been stupid for him to even try to place in the field sprint against specialists. Lance’s test will come in the hills and the time trials. The guy who won todays stage will be minutes behind on those stages. Overall field spinters in a race like the Tour de France finish hours behind the climbers, losing 20 minutes per day or more. They just don’t want to get eliminated by being too far behind.
wow…do you know ANYTHING about cycling? it was a peloton finish, meaning the leader finished about 10 seconds in front of 133rd
I didn’t say he lost the freakin’ race did I? All I said was that his return wasn’t very impressive. And it wasn’t was it? All the LA groupies need to calm down.
Not a very impressive return to the office for LA…
Stage racing is won on accumulated time. This race hasn’t even started yet. All riders finish with the same time, except for time bonuses. These stages are more like a parade with a sprint at the end. You CANNOT will the stage race with a high placing on this kind of stage.
you realize of course that this race is typically won on time bonuses, right?
I’ll ruin the suspense for everyone. Lance isn’t going to win the overall. Neither is any other grand tour GC contender…
Not a very impressive return to the office for LA…
Stage racing is won on accumulated time. This race hasn’t even started yet. All riders finish with the same time, except for time bonuses. These stages are more like a parade with a sprint at the end. You CANNOT will the stage race with a high placing on this kind of stage.
you realize of course that this race is typically won on time bonuses, right?
I’ll ruin the suspense for everyone. Lance isn’t going to win the overall. Neither is any other grand tour GC contender…
I agree. That’s kind of what I was trying to say. This race is only training for Lance. Lance will only be slightly more serious in California. He will push the pace only if an opportunity presents itself. He works toward his goals and will not be sidetracked.
It just strikes me as hating Lance when you pan him for not winning a field sprint.
They don’t award medals for being a hero in training…for Lance, this is nothing but a training day/race simulation event…certainly not an actual race in his book nor anyone that follows grand tours…GC guys are never trying to peak in January!