Viva Lance Armstrong

photo by: alex_lee2001

With their first Astana training camp together starting today in Spain’s Canary Islands Contador had some interesting words regarding the team leader position and his teammate Lance Armstrong.

“If we both stick to our schedules, there won’t be a problem¹”

It’s a curiously worded statement since neither riders official schedules have been announced yet. Contador has stated many times though his main objective for this season is the Tour De France and as of now it’s the one race that’s noticeably missing from Armstrong’s rumored schedule. So in other words Alberto seems to be saying “If Lance decides to race the Tour there will be a problem”. Is Contador ruling out the possibility that Lance could even ride the Tour as a supporting man for team Astana without causing problems?

Alberto did sprinkle in some lines of praise throughout the interview saying “I’m convinced he (Lance) will strengthen the team” and “For me, it’s a pleasure to be in the same team as a man whom I have always admired.¹”. “Be in the same team” though also strikes me as an odd way to phrase it (though this could be just a language translation issue), instead of something like “ride alongside”, “work together in mountains”, or “challenge myself against the best rider in Tour history”.

Astana training camp runs through December 8th in Spain and I’ll keep you posted with any news as hopefully reports of Armstrong’s racing condition will also to be reported.

1. AFP, Condador Unsure of Armstrong Level [↩] [↩]

photo by: gavandanna

More and more cycling pros are weighing in on Lance’s comeback. Australian Stuart O’Grady is one pro who’s showing a lot of respect for the former Tour de France champion.

“Nothing would surprise me with Lance. If he turns up and shocks everyone, it is probably part of his master plan ¹.”

O’Grady also shed light on the attitude of Australian cycling fans who appear to be welcoming the Lance comeback with open arms.

…”I have just spent a week in Victoria and every person I spoke to is going to come to Adelaide for the Tour Down Under. I don’t know if he understands the magnitude he could pull here in Adelaide. ¹”

O’Grady’s also noticed a different feel around the Tour since Lance retired claiming the Tour was “a little bit lost without Lance and his team ¹”. The Tour Down Under isn’t known for it’s steep climbs and O’Grady isn’t expecting Lance to have any trouble with them.

It seems like the hype and anticipation surrounding Lance’s first race back is starting to build up, particularly in Australia!

1. AdelaideNow: O’Grady expects Lance to surprise [↩] [↩] [↩]

photo by: cobber_cpd

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has officially cleared Lance to ride in the 2009 Tour Down Under.  Lance had pinpointed the Tour Down Under as the first race in his comeback season.  It’s the first official event of the 2009  Pro Tour.

There had been some questions whether he would be able to ride since the UCI policy had been that an athlete had to enroll with their national anti doping agency six months prior to racing in a Pro Tour event.  Lance did enroll in the US Anti Doping program some months ago, but the strict sixth month period would have put his earliest date to race at Feb 1, 2009.

The UCI decided to allow an exception for Armstrong mainly because the six month rule was devised four years ago, and the their drug testing standards are much higher than they were when the rule was written.

“Riders are now subject to a much-reinforced system of monitoring compared to that of the past,” the governing body said in a statement. “Lance Armstrong has and will be the subject of very strict monitoring throughout the period running up to his return to the peloton.¹”

Lance has taken extra measures in terms of drug testing for his comeback.  He’s hired a film crew to document his comeback and his training and also hired a personal doping expert Don Catlin.  Catlin, who started the orginal US anti doping effort in 1982, will make Lance samples available to the public online as hs blood to be analyzed later to be tested later if new doping tests are developed.

So It’s official, Lance will ride in the 2009 Tour Down Under in Australia on Jan. 20-25 in his first pro tour event since he retired three years ago.

Viva Lance!

1. Sports Illustrated: Armstrong cleared to race [↩]