CHALLANS, France, 2 July 2005 — Whoever is crowned champion on the Champs-Elysees on July 24, the 2005 Tour de France will mark the end of an era. Win or lose, six-time champion Lance Armstrong will retire as the most successful Tour rider in history.
As a result, two questions will be posed at the start of the 3,608-kms, three-week race on the island of Noirmoutier today: Can Armstrong add a seventh victory to his peerless record? and who is likely to take over when he bids farewell?
“If you asked me straight who will win the Tour in 2006 my answer would be Jan Ullrich,” Armstrong said. “But it could be (Italian Ivan) Basso or (Ukraine’s) Yaroslav Popovych. I’ve never been good at predicting cycling.”
Armstrong’s vision of the future is, however, the one shared my most cycling experts.
The older generation of Germany’s Ullrich, Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov, Colombian Santiago Botero or Spaniard Roberto Heras might take their chance in 2006 before another great champion emerges. Or the new generation of Basso and Armstrong’s own teammate Popovych could step up.
However, none of them — Popovych apart — will be sitting back to applaud Armstrong home this year and they will start the race with hopes that it might be one Tour too far for the Texan. “The older you get the higher are the risks that you lose. Time is not on my side but having said that, I feel strong and motivated and I can’t complain too much about what my birth certificate says,” Armstrong, 33, said.
His six previous victories confirmed he could climb better than the opposition, ride time trials like no other, beat sickness and bad luck and lead the way with his vision of the race and tactical sense. As for his motivation, he said it had changed rather than lessened.
“I’m here to enjoy my last Tour and have a good time,” he said, appearing far more relaxed than in recent years.
“We all have to find specific motivations within ourselves and maybe that it’s my last Tour is part of it.” Ullrich, champion in 1997 and five times runner-up — three times behind Armstrong — again leads the opposition.
The German will hope his own class, his fine form and the strength of his team will help him find and expose some flaws in the Armstrong machine.
“It is my last chance to beat Lance and it is of course extra motivation,” the German said.
His T-Mobile teammates Alexander Vinokourov and Andreas Kloeden also feature on the list of riders determined to topple the icon.
Colombian Santiago Botero and Phonak teammate Floyd Landis, one of several former Armstrong teammates out to beat their former master, will also launch a double challenge.
But Armstrong has always cited Basso as his favorite rival. Despite missing out in the Giro d’Italia because of a stomach bug, the CSC team leader is expected to be ready to take over the baton from the American.
“He’s improved dramatically in the time trials and I suspect we’ll see more of it here,” said Armstrong, whose power in the mountain stages in the Alps and Pyrenees could prove more important than time trial speed this year.
“I don’t think he is happy with the way the Giro went. He wants to set the record straight. He is one of, if not the best, challengers. I’m an old fan of Basso.” All eyes, however, will be on Armstrong, who says he is well prepared despite looking off the pace earlier in the season.
“I did not fear at the time I would not be ready. In the meantime, I think we did a good job and we’re at the place that we need to be.”
Meanwhile, fancied Jan Ullrich crashed on the eve of the Tour de France prologue, but escaped with light injuries and is ready to compete, officials of his T-Mobile team said yesterday.
Team doctor Lothar Heinrich said that Ullrich sustained cuts on his neck when he collided with a team vehicle during training.
“The wounds didn’t require stitches. I don’t think they will be a handicap for Jan,” said Heinrich. Ullrich simply said “I am fine”.
