Lance Armstrong defied old father time at the stand-alone Cancer Council Classic criterium in Adelaide yesterday, but in the end it was a one-two punch from Team Sky that took the honours in a thriller.
Armstrong, riding in the Team RadioShack colours for the first time, figured in a five-man breakaway on lap 18 of the scheduled 30, and at one point the break had a 14-second lead on the chasing bunch.
The seven-time Tour de France winner was joined by Oscar Pereiro (Astana), Mathieu Perget (Caisse d’Epargne) and the Liquigas pair of Peter Sagan and Mikael Cazaux.
The five stayed together until they were swallowed up inside the final three laps by the Columbia-HTC train, before Team Sky counter-attacked on the final lap entering the finishing straight and into the teeth of a strong headwind.
“I felt like I tested them a little bit, I felt better than last year and certainly more comfortable in the race,” Lance Armstrong said.
“We had a few good weeks in Hawaii so I know I’ve got a bit power, but sometimes it’s better to be up on those small groups than to be back fighting with 100 guys for every wheel and every corner.
“It’s harder up there, but a little safer. I had a small desire to be in a group like that, but that one staged away longer than we all expected and longer than I saw last year,” he said.
“It ended up being tough – I want to go back and look at the effort on the computer, it was a tough half hour.”
Despite the effort, Armstrong said he felt good after the race.
“I’ve been training hard and training with some intensity, so I feel well,” he added. “Everybody was completely going for it, there was no talking and only a little bit of looking around after the corners to see how close they were.
“In terms of the mix, it was a nice balance, everybody did their work.
“Some of the guys started to taper off at the end, but that’s to be expected, we get out there and you don’t expect to be out there that long.”
Lance Armstrong showed he will be a force to be reckoned with at the Santos Tour Down Under, starting with tomorrow’s opening stage in Clare, a 141km slog to Tununda.
“The Tour (de France) is the main goal. If I can have some condition throughout the spring and early (European) summer, then at least I can see myself knocking on the door of victory,” he said.
As to his chances of winning in South Australia this week, Armstrong was a little more coy.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I certainly felt better today than last year, but last year in this event I felt a little like a monkey screwing a football.
“It was not pretty last year, this year was a little more comfortable.”
Source: theaustralian.com.au
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if i were contador I’d be pissing in my pants. lol :b
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Contador is strong rider…strategy is going to be the key on TDF 2010 and LA is specialist in that area. Plus his team looks stronger than Astana right now. Good luck both. We just want action and fire on the road.
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