ESPN.com - OLY - Armstrong, Postal Service ready for Tour start

Tour de France 2001
 
Saturday, July 7
Armstrong, Postal Service ready for Tour start



DUNKIRK, France -- Lance Armstrong is hoping for a strong start in his bid for a third consecutive Tour de France title -- but not too strong.

"This is a long race and if you're in form too early and you have a bad last 10 days, then you lose," said Armstrong, a 29-year-old Austin, Texas, resident.

The grueling three-week event was to begin Saturday with a 5.09-mile time-trial prologue in Dunkirk.

Sunday's first stage is a 120.78-mile run over the flat countryside of France's northern Opal Coast, between the towns of St. Omer and Boulogne sur Mer.

Most of the following week features similar flat stages -- with a two-day crossover into Belgium also.

Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team will try to save its energy for the real test, the five days of mountain stages in the Alps and the Pyrenees mountains that make up the middle of the Tour.

The uphill stages stretch riders to the limit, and in Armstrong's words, "make all the difference."

Among them is an individual time-trial over a distance of 19.87 miles that involves a .94-mile climb.

"I think it will be one of the most critical stages of the Tour," Armstrong said of the race's 11th stage between Grenoble and Chamrousse. "It's a rare and difficult discipline."

The 30-year-old will take comfort from his triumph in the recent Tour of Switzerland, due in large part to his victory in the uphill time-trial in the Swiss Alps.

Armstrong is attempting to become only the second American -- after Greg LeMond -- to win the world's toughest cycling race three times. He is hoping to become the first American to do so three years in a row.

His strongest rivals this year include 1997 champion Jan Ullrich, who has a history of weight problems but is considered at a high fitness level this year. Lesser-known riders who have a chance of pulling an upset include Spain's Joseba Beloki, who finished third last year, and France's Christophe Moreau.

The Tour will start with doping still a major issue in the sport. Last month, the Giro d'Italia was subjected to a police raid of team hotels. More than 60 riders were reportedly placed under investigation as a result.

The UCI International Cycling Union carried out blood tests Thursday on all the riders taking part in this year's Tour. None of the riders was declared unfit as a result of the tests, which check for the blood's level of oxygen. A high oxygen level indicates possible use of performance-enhancing substances. Three riders were barred from starting last year's Tour after failing the blood tests.

Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
 




ALSO SEE
Tour de France: Day-by-day

Favorites for the 2001 Tour de France

Armstrong seeks a 'Tour de Lance' three-peat