No day at the beach for Lance Armstrong
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AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 17, 2009 00:00
SANTA ROSA, California - Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong emerged from a frigid, frustrating day lying fifth in the Tour of California - a far cry from lying on a nice, warm beach. "I think a year ago I was in St. Barths on the beach," said Armstrong, who this year launched a return to cycling after a three-year hiatus.
His appearance in the Tour Down Under in Australia in January marked his first race since his 2005 Tour de France Triumph, and the Tour of California continues his build-up to a European campaign slated to include the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.
Retirement might have been looking good to the 37-year-old by the end of the day Sunday, when he woke to find his time-trial bike had been stolen, then suffered a puncture and a fall as cold wind and rain turned stage one into an exercise in survival.
"Holy hell. That was terrible," Armstrong exclaimed on his Twitter feed shortly after finishing. "Maybe one of the toughest days I've had on a bike, purely based on the conditions. I'm still freezing."
However the Texan held on to finish fifth in the stage won by Spain's Francisco Mancebo and move from 10th into fifth overall, one minute, five seconds behind.
Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer, the two-time defending champion, was second overall, 1:02 back, after he and Armstrong came up short in their bid to close the gap on Mancebo."We were going hard downhill, but at the end it was full-on team time trial," Armstrong said of the chase.
Armstrong's day started badly, when he learned the bike he had used in Saturday's prologue in Sacramento had been stolen overnight from a truck.
Retirement might have been looking good to the 37-year-old by the end of the day Sunday, when he woke to find his time-trial bike had been stolen, then suffered a puncture and a fall as cold wind and rain turned stage one into an exercise in survival.
"Holy hell. That was terrible," Armstrong exclaimed on his Twitter feed shortly after finishing. "Maybe one of the toughest days I've had on a bike, purely based on the conditions. I'm still freezing."
However the Texan held on to finish fifth in the stage won by Spain's Francisco Mancebo and move from 10th into fifth overall, one minute, five seconds behind.
Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer, the two-time defending champion, was second overall, 1:02 back, after he and Armstrong came up short in their bid to close the gap on Mancebo."We were going hard downhill, but at the end it was full-on team time trial," Armstrong said of the chase.
Armstrong's day started badly, when he learned the bike he had used in Saturday's prologue in Sacramento had been stolen overnight from a truck.