Lance Armstrong will light up Tour, says Robbie McEwen

Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen yesterday forecast cycling legend Lance Armstrong to light up and trigger “fireworks” in the toughest stage of the event on Saturday.

McEwen, who finished third in yesterday’s 133.5km trek from Gawler to Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills, believes the seven-time Tour de France champion is simply biding his time, waiting for the toughest stage of the race.

From the outside Armstrong appears to have spent two days riding safely and quietly in the pack with his new RadioShack team but Tour de France veteran McEwen said he been making his presence felt.

“I expect some big fireworks on Saturday,” McEwen said, referring to the gruelling 148km trek from Snapper Point to Willunga, which features the two biggest climbs of the race and has in the past proved a penultimate stage of the ProTour.

“You see how aggressive RadioShack are in the sprint for (Gert) Steegmans,” McEwen said. “I expect LA (Armstrong) to go for it on Saturday.

“He is pulling the sprint, he’s at the front and he’s very active. I think he’s just warming the race up for Saturday.”

Armstrong has repeatedly indicated he believes the Santos Tour Down Under is a race tailor-made to be fought out by the world’s best sprinters but did not completely rule out having a shot if the opportunity presented itself.

This opportunity, McEwen believes, will come on Saturday as the 132-strong field struggles to ride over two nasty climbs which come at the 106km and 129km marks of the arduous stage to Willunga and last year attracted more than 100,000 spectators at the summit.

Armstrong said yesterday that he had had no major problems in the stage raced in 30C-plus heat.

“All in all, it was not too bad,” Armstrong said.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26613027-10389,00.html

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