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PAGE 8: PAGE 8 EXCLUSIVE: ARMSTRONG IN THE BREAK
Road Bike Action
January 22, 2009
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(Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
Thursday’s third stage of the Tour Down Under saw perhaps the best indication of just how hard Lance Armstrong has been training over the European winter when he made the decisive 16-man breakaway, never missing a beat with his pulls at the front. Unfortunately for Lance, the wind played into the hands of the chasing group behind them, but as an indicator of what he may do later in the week – or late in May at the Giro d’Italia – it was very interesting indeed.
“I felt alright,” Armstrong said modestly after the stage, swamped by the press as usual. “High-end intensity I don’t have yet – I haven’t worked that part of my training. But you had to be strong just to be in the group, there was some horsepower in that 12… I have to be happy with that.”
Asked how much work he did in the break, he replied straight away: “The whole time; I mean, that was the perfect group. And you don’t have to work so hard – I mean, you look round and say, ‘Okay guys, we don’t have to kill ourselves – just ride steady and they’ll never catch us.’”
So we know he’s prepared well over the European winter, but has he found his race legs again?
“Yes and no. It’s hard to say now ‘cause I’m tired. All in all, I think it’s the kind of stuff I need to do. I need to get in the race and work that top end. Like I said a hundred times here, I can’t do that in training… I looked down at my power meter after two hours, it was 340 watts. You can’t do that in training.”
Another thing hard to replicate in training is having a TV helicopter hovering above you when the conditions are already hurricane-like, as happened on Thursday.
“It was windy – I mean, there was periods where you saw a few hundred meters up the road and [the wind was] just blowing sideways. It was strong. When it’s that windy, the last thing you need is a big wind machine on top of you. It’s swirling so much and it’s not safe, and you can get the same shot if you just pull up a few hundred meters. It’s a little nauseating listening to [the helicopter] all day long – I mean, no offense to helicopters, but it’s just a little off the course.
“With the deep dish rims now, big gusts, some of those little guys, next stop is New Zealand for them!” joked Armstrong.
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