Team RadioShack aims for stage win in Tour Down Under

Expect a vintage supercharged Lance Armstrong to emerge from the dark shadows of the peloton at the Santos Tour Down Under. with his new Team RadioShack.

The seven-time Tour de France champion is determined to repay the faith of RadioShack’s executives, who have plunged millions of dollars into the new ProTour team.

RadioShack’s US-based executive group will be in Adelaide for the team’s ProTour debut. The group’s visit could produce a formula that will drive Armstrong to turn on the power during the TDU.

Lance Armstrong yesterday confirmed that Team RadioShack will be competitive on debut by targeting at least a stage win for the new team in his second TDU.

“I think if we leave without winning a stage we’d have to say we’re a little disappointed,” Armstrong said. “With a new team, a new sponsor, the entire executive and management team of RadioShack coming over to the race, we need to perform.

“We’ll see in a week, but the overall ambition is that we have some success as a team.”

Typically, Armstrong played down his chances of success at the TDU, despite claiming 29th overall last year after he made his comeback to ProTour road cycling more than three years after winning the 2005 Tour de France.

But the Texan has tinkered with his powerful physical engine after a bout of solid lead-up training in Hawaii before arriving in Adelaide on Wednesday night.

“I’m excited to test my form,” Armstrong said.

“There’s two key points for us as a team. It will be great to win a stage with one of my riders. You win races either because you have exceptional condition or most likely the course really suits you.

“I think my condition is better than 12 months ago. It’s not good enough to win.

“But typically, if you look at the Tour Down Under, there’s a lot of group sprints, bunch sprints, that really dictate the race and who’s going to win the race.”

Armstrong said the ambience was extremely positive among RadioShack’s team-mates during the group’s first camp in Arizona last December. But he rejected claims that RadioShack had assembled a team of veterans who were past winning ProTour races.

“Some might argue that the team is a little old in terms of average age,” he said. “But I feel good about the structure we have and certainly feel good about Johan’s (Johan Bruyneel, the team’s sports manager) direction.”

Source: news.com.au

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