Speaking from the Tour de Suisse where he currently sits in seventh overall, Team RadioShack leader Lance Armstrong has played down his chances of winning next month's Tour de France. The seven-time Tour winner will line out with one of the strongest and most experienced teams in the race, but after former teammate Alberto Contador (Astana) rode away from him in the mountains and dominated the time trials last year, the American admits an eighth Tour crown will be a tall order.
"I don't think either of us is going in as favorite for the Tour, but between the three of us [himself, Andreas Kloden or Levi Leipheimer] you never know what can happen," Armstrong said of their chances. "We have a strong team."
Armstrong took an unprecedented seven consecutive victories in cycling's biggest event from 1999 to 2005. He dominated the race in a similar fashion to this year's overwhelming favorite and two-time winner Contador. He retired from the sport for three-years following his 2005 win, and lost his first bid for an eighth title to the Spaniard last year, where he managed to finish an impressive third.
Now the American has a year of racing under his belt and has shown that he's riding well - but not too well - in the Tour de Suisse. His form is exactly where it needs to be for him to have a chance in July, and a champion like Armstrong won't start the Tour de France with the intention of losing.
"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," he explained.
This year's Grande Boucle will only have one race of truth, a 51 kilometer effort from Bordeaux to Pauillac on the penultimate day. Admittedly, the lack of time trialing will favor Armstrong and improve his chances to better last year's result. The 38-year-old's last opportunity to work on his time trialing before the Tour will come tomorrow in the final stage of the Tour de Suisse. His performance there against Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara will give a good indication on how he may fare against Contador next month.
"It's tough to say," he said about whether his sharpness against the clock is improving. "I'd like to say yes but the the last few years my time trials have been disappointing.
"We'll see on Sunday, I'll do my best. That's one fortunate thing [about the 2010 Tour], there's only one time trial."