Armstrong Confirms Tour Ride
Lance Armstrong Reveals That He Will Ride the 2009 Tour de France
Dec 2, 2008
American and seven-time winner of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong has confirmed that he plans to ride the Tour in 2009 and go for his eighth victory.
Armstrong, who in the autumn stunned the world of professional world of cycling by confirming his plans to come out of retirement and race again in 2009 in order to promote global awareness of cancer, will raise for Team Astana, managed by his long-term Director Sportif Johann Bruyneel.
A Race Too Far?
The announcement that he will ride the Tour has come as a surprise to some as Armstrong had already confirmed that he will ride the three week Giro d'Italia in May, an event he has never competed in before.
It is widely regarded that to be successful in both the Giro and the Tour is, in modern times, too difficult. The Giro ends a little over a month before the Tour begins and it is extremely difficult to maintain form for that amount of time. Indeed cycling legend Eddy Merckx had previously said that he did not believe Armstrong would tackle both races. The last rider to achieve the feat was Italian Marco Pantani in 1998.
Leadership Conflict
Another factor pointing to the possibility that Armstrong would sit out the Tour was the prospect of a potential leadership conflict at the race. In 2008 Alberto Contador was the undisputed leader of Team Astana and he rewarded the team with victories in both of the Grand Tours he entered – the Giro and the Vuelta a Espana. These victories, coupled with his win in the 2007 Tour de France made him the only the fifth rider in history to achieve victories in all three Grand Tours.
It was widely felt that to avoid a leadership battle, Armstrong would aim for victory in the Giro leaving Contador free to ride for his second Tour victory. Contador hinted as much recently saying "If we both stick to our schedules, there won't be a problem."
How Bruyneel handles the issue remains to be seen. One option is to pledge team support to both riders and then let the strongest assume the leadership. A similar tactic worked for the team in the Vuelta where both Contador and Levi Leipheimer enjoyed protected rider status until Contador proved himself to be the strongest rider.
2009 Schedule Firmed Up
The confirmation of Armstrong's attendance at the Tour puts in place the last piece of the Texan's 2009 season.
Starting with the Tour Down Under in January, Armstrong will then ride most of the Spring Classics before tackling the Tour of California, Criterium International and Circuit de la Sarthe before attempting the Giro / Tour double.
The schedule represents a huge departure from the programme he used to follow during his domination of the Tour where his entire season was focused solely on Tour triumph, picking and choosing races carefully based on what gave him the best preparation possible. One thing that is certain is that with this schedule, 2009 promises to be a very different season for Lance Armstrong.
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