PARIS, 29 June 2005 — Lance Armstrong has shaken off a crash in his preparation for this Saturday’s Tour de France first stage, a 19km time trial, and appears ready for his bid to win a seventh consecutive yellow jersey on what will be his retirement race.
Armstrong’s main rivals, Jan Ullrich of Germany and Italian Ivan Basso, have declared however they don’t plan on giving him an easy time of it before he hangs up his bike for good on July 24 when the race arrives in Paris.
The 33-year-old American escaped with only a cut to his face after crashing on his time-trial bike in training on Sunday while trying to fend off a wasp when he was riding at less than 30kmh, his Discovery Channel team confirmed Monday.
“Fortunately, I haven’t felt any ill effects from the crash in terms of pedaling. I feel I’m just as fluid as I was before,” said Armstrong, who is believed to have hit his head in the crash, smashing his helmet in two.
With no lasting damage, Armstrong will continue his training at Nice in southern France with the eight other Discovery Channel team riders who he hopes will help him to give the team’s new sponsor their first major win in the sport.
And while he is quietly confident he can bow out with his domination of the world’s toughest, and fastest, three-week ‘Grand Tour’ intact, Germany’s 1997 winner Ullrich and last year’s third place finisher Basso hope the race will pan out differently.
For Ullrich, there’s simply no point in winning the yellow jersey eight years after his first and only victory if he can’t beat Armstrong to it.
Basso meanwhile has looked a yellow jersey contender since he won the race’s white jersey for the race’s best finisher aged 25 years old or under a few years ago, and since his podium finish last year the CSC team leader has vastly improved his Achilles heel, the time trial.
But both men will have to be extra determined if they are to get past Armstrong and his finely-tuned team which includes a Spanish-inspired climbing trio who are expected to set a winning pace for him in the key mountains stages.
American George Hincapie, the only rider to have been with him on all previous six victories, is also included as is Tour of Italy champion Paolo Savoldelli, and a future Tour de France contender in Yaroslav Popovych of Ukraine.
“I think we have fielded our strongest team ever with this formation,” Armstrong boasted after the team was announced last week.
In reality, Armstrong — the Tour’s only six-time winner — has little to prove on the race which relaunched his career after his successful fightback from cancer in 1997.
After what has been described as the world’s greatest ever sporting comeback — give or take a few detractors — Armstrong has been heralded the world over.
