|
|
LATEST NEWS: ARMSTRONG DOWNPLAYS TOUR CHANCES
Road Bike Action & AFP
June 19, 2010
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
(Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
Armstrong Downplays Tour Chances
Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong has played down his chances of winning an eighth Tour de France title despite lining up at the July 3-25 race with a quality-packed RadioShack team. Armstrong successfully beat cancer in 1998 to go on and win seven consecutive yellow jerseys from the world's toughest bike race in 1999-2005. Having returned to the sport last year after a three-year 'retirement', Armstrong could only finish third in Paris behind Luxemburger Andy Schleck and Spanish champion Alberto Contador of Astana.
Armstrong will line up at this year's race in a team, which includes former Tour runner-up Andreas Kloden of Germany, and American Levi Leipheimer among other experienced stage race campaigners. And the American, dominated by Contador in both the mountains and time trials of last year's race, said their support could play a deciding role as he bids to oust race favoorite Contador from the top step of the podium.
Asked about his, Leipheimer or Kloden's chances, Armstrong said: "I don't think either of us is going in as favorite for the Tour but between the three of us you never know what can happen. We have a strong team," he added. "It will be very hard with my age, the explosiveness of the other guys and my own struggle with the time trials the last few years. We'll have to be smart, lucky and play the team card but there's a handful of guys who can win."
Armstrong, who was speaking at the Tour of Switzerland where he is fine tuning his preparations for the Tour, will get a chance to test his time trial skills in Sunday's final stage. But again, the 38-year-old was coy, confirming that his skills in the race
against the clock are not what they used to be.
"It's tough to say. I'd like to say yes but the last few years my time trials have been disappointing," added the American, whose early season was hampered by illness and injuries suffered in a crash at the Tour of California. We'll see on Sunday, I'll do my best. That's one fortunate thing (in the 2010 Tour), there's only one time trial."
 Moncoutie's form in coming good just in time for the Tour de France (Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
Moncoutie Takes Control at Soute du Sud
France's David Moncoutie of Cofidis grabbed the leader's jersey after winning the second stage of the Route du Sud cycling race here on Saturday. At the summit of the Peyresourde climb following a 16.2km mountain time-trial raced in cold and foggy conditions, Moncoutie crossed ahead of France's Alexandre Geniez and Italian Fortunato Baliani.
The first part of Saturday's race was an 82.5km ride between Izaourt and Saint-Gaudens which was won by France's Blel Kadri (AG2R) ahead of compatriot Mathieu Sprick (Bouygues-Telecom).
Clarke Doubles as Zwizanski defends in NVGP
Hilton Clarke of the UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis won the bunch sprint of the Uptown Minneapolis Criterium Friday evening. It was his second consecutive stage win at the Nature Valley Grand Prix, which saw yesterday’s third stage canceled due to tornado warnings.
“This one we really had to work for,” said Team Director Mike Tamayo.
As they had in Wednesday evening’s race, UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis sought to take over the front of the race from Kelly Benefits with 10 laps to go. With nine to go, the Team had all eight riders on the front until Brad White was taken out in a crash. But he was able to get up, get back in and work his way up to the front to help out once again. Coming through the final lap, Clarke, wearing the jersey of the sprint competition leader, had his younger brother Jonny and Karl Menzies on the front doing final lead-out duties.
“A couple of the Fly V guys changed up their tactics a bit tonight and tried to get over top of us,” Clarke said. “Jonny and Karl got me to the last corner, and I only got past the two Fly V guys with meters to spare.”
A bike throw got Clarke the win ahead of Ken Hansen (Team Type 1) and Ben Kersten (Fly V Australia).
“It was definitely on tonight,” Clarke said. “I’m so proud of the team for their work tonight. The pressure was definitely on and they all just stayed calm and got the job done. Jonny and Karl rode incredibly and they did a great job getting me to the line. It was a very satisfying win.”
Adding pressure to the Team was the fact that they wanted to give 2nd overall Rory Sutherland a shot at picking up bonus seconds from the intermediate sprints and getting closer to race leader Scott Zwizanski (Kelly Benefits).
With 25 laps to go, a break was sitting 15-20 seconds up on the field. “Kelly was content to let the break stay out there to get the bonus seconds,” Tamayo said. “We chased for five laps to bring it back before the next intermediate sprint. But Kelly played it well. They sent their sprinters up and they took 1st and 2nd, so Rory got 3rd and took a one-second bonus.”
On the next one, Kelly Benefits put Zwizanski in a position to take 3rd in that intermediate sprint to earn back the second he lost earlier.
“Props to Kelly,” Tamayo said. “They defended really well today. They did a great job of racing.
Sutherland and the rest of UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis will have another opportunity to take back those nine seconds tomorrow during the new Menomonie Road Race, a new, hilly, 95-mile course that takes the race into Wisconsin for the first time.
Team Type 1 Wins RAAM 8-Person Team Race
Team Type 1 claimed its third Race Across America 8-person team victory with a total time of five days, ten hours and 48 minutes over the 3,005-mile course from Oceanside, California, to Annapolis, Maryland. Team Type 1 has now claimed victory in the epic, 24-hour-a-day Race Across America three times in 2007, 2009, and now in 2010.
In Team Type 1’s inaugural year of 2006, it completed Race Across America at an average speed of 17.33 mph for five days, 16 hours and four minutes across 3,042 miles. In 2007, the team stormed RAAM in five days, 15 hours and 43 minutes at an average speed of 22.54 mph for 3,046 miles, an increase in speed of 30% from the year prior. In 2008, RAAM saw Team Type 1 complete the 3,014-mile race in five days, 13 hours and 40 minutes with and average speed of 22.55 mph. And in 2009, setting a new world record for RAAM, Team Type 1 sealed the race in five days, nine hours and three minutes at an average speed of 23.41 mph over 3,017 miles (a 4% increase in speed over 2007.) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|