Print

Mail

wiki links

Tour de France gets going as Armstrong gears up with sprint

Lance Armstrong, who seeks a record-equaling fifth straight Tour de France win, could only manage seventh place in Saturday's 6.5km prologue time trial, the Tour's first event. But no one thinks he is way off the mark.

"The thing with him is he is so, so calm. He thinks he's indestructible," Swiss rider Laurent Dufaux, who races for the Italian Alessio team, said.

The centennial Tour continues today, when the riders embark on a 168km trek from Paris east to the town of Meaux -- nationally famous for producing the popular cheese Brie.

The stage starts from the same spot, an inn called Le Reveil Matin, where the first ever Tour kicked off in 1903.

The relatively flat 168km course should help Armstrong ease back into the groove -- after the cobblestones of the Paris streets unsettled him in Saturday's short dash.

Even if it does not, there are still seven daunting mountain stages to come on the 23-day, 3,427.5km clockwise slog around France. That's when the master tactician that is Armstrong really starts to wear his rivals down. While others may fear the mountains, Armstrong relishes them.

"His age doesn't help him. It works against him physically," Dufaux said. "But that's not always crucial. He is exceptionally calm, confident and experienced. And he never panics, he knows how to stick in there."
This story has been viewed 1704 times.