That failed sprint up Pinos Altos in the Tour of the Gila last Sunday must have sent the message to Lance Armstrong that he's not ready to win the 3-week Giro d'Italia that starts on Saturday.
In a dramatic turnaround, the 7-time Tour de France winner announced Tuesday that he'll ride in support of Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer, the 3-time winner of the Tour of California and winner of last week's Tour of the Gila.
Armstrong had said early in his comeback season that he wanted to race to win the Giro; it would be his first appearance in bike race around Italy. But a broken collarbone suffered in a crash at the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon in March delayed his training.
Armstrong told reporters in Italy:
“Before that I was ahead of schedule. Now we're behind schedule. I have to go into the Giro knowing I'm not a contender for the overall. But we have a rider who is going for the overall, and I'll ride for him.”
The 5-stage race in New Mexico was Armstrong's first since the crash. He finished second to Leipheimer's first.
Reports at VeloNews suggest that Leipheimer and Chris Horner (another Astana team rider at the Gila) tried to set up Armstrong for a final stage win at the Tour of Gila. Leipheimer said he pulled too hard in the closing meters and Armstrong got gapped.
Still, Armstrong said he'd be happy to win one stage at the Giro.
The bike race opens in Venice on Saturday with a team time trial. The first person across the line on the winning team takes the leader's pink jersey. Last year that was American Christian Vande Velde riding for Team Slipstream (renamed Garmin Chipotle).
Armstrong team manager Johan Bruyneel decides who goes across the finish in first. Said Armstrong:
“I would be disappointed if I didn't win one stage. I don't care if it's a mountain stage or a time trial. I assume I'll get better as the race goes on. I'm still recovering from the crash.”
In addition to the three Americans — Armstrong, Leipheimer and Horner — representing Astana at the Giro, the other six are Jani Brajkovic of Slovokia, Steve Morabito of Switzerland, Daniel Navarro of Spain, Yaroslav Popovych of the Ukraine, Jose Luis Rubiera of Spain and Andrey Zeits of Kazakhstan.
As Armstrong gets stronger during the Giro, I wonder what he'll be thinking about the Tour de France. Maybe that will be his race to win this year.
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