Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 5, 1995 TAG: 9507050078
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: New York Times News Service
DATELINE: PARIS LENGTH: Medium
``I'm definitely fit, much more fit than I've ever been in my life, ever,'' he said. ``I feel better, I feel stronger, my tests are better and my head is great.
``I'm extremely motivated, certainly more motivated for this Tour than I've ever been,'' he said in an interview before the start of the 82nd Tour de France in Brittany on Saturday. This is the third Tour for the 23-year-old American leader of the Motorola team and the first he expects to finish.
``I think I have a better understanding of the Tour de France now and how grand it is and what it truly means to the sport and to the sponsors and the people,'' he said. ``I've never been as excited about the Tour de France.''
Experience is what makes the difference in his attitude, never before considered blase.
``The first year, OK, I may have been excited,'' he said. ``But I had no clue, no idea what I was coming into.''
``Last year,'' when he wore the rainbow jersey of the world road-race champion and was a marked man, unable to come close to a stage victory in his Tour debut, ``I may have been a bit disillusioned.
``Now I realize what the Tour de France is about - the biggest spectacle in the sport. Cycling in July is the biggest sport in Europe. It's the ultimate in July and a great place to shine.''
Armstrong intends to shine.
``This year I have some goals in mind and I'm going to be fighting,'' Armstrong said.
``First and foremost, I have to finish the race. I want to win a stage - the team has to win a stage.'' Motorola, which is based in the United States and has a multinational roster, has not won a stage in the Tour since Armstrong triumphed at Verdun not quite midway through the 1993 Tour.
The Texan, who is 32nd in the overall standings, which are led by Laurent Jalabert of France, thought his team had an excellent chance for victory in the time trial Tuesday between Mayenne and Alencon. Armstrong won the Tour DuPont in May. He posted stage victories during the Roanoke Valley time trial and the Lynchburg-to-Blacksburg stage in that race.
Third in the team time trial two years ago and second last year, Motorola, he promised, would go all out. But the team finished sixth, 1 minute 59 seconds behind first-place Gewiss.
Armstrong returned to his personal goals: ``I want to ride strongly in the time trials and the mountains. And if that all adds up to - I don't know what that adds up to in the end.''
Of course he did. Less freewheeling than he was a few years ago, just as likable, Armstrong, finally came out with it.
``If I'm super, super, super, I can maybe hope to finish in the top 10. I don't know what 10th place is, normally about 20 minutes behind. If you're riding strongly in the time trials and don't have any bad luck and have just one bad day in the mountains, you can still finish in the top 10.''
What about winning this Tour de France? It's a question usually asked by Americans who remember Greg LeMond's three victories in the Tour and expect that with LeMond retired, Armstrong will simply step up and replace him on the victory podium when the Tour ends in Paris on July 23.
``Hah,'' he snorted. ``You get a few questions like that, certainly. But I get a lot more about eventually winning the Tour de France.
``I say I'd like to contend some day and I think I can. People are quick to categorize a guy, to say he can't climb the high mountains, he can't time-trial, he's too big, he can't recover.'' The first often is said about Armstrong and the second sometimes.
``Well, you know, you can't say that. Certainly if my development curve continues to go in the way that it's been going, there's no reason that in five years I can't contend for this race.
``I'm not in any hurry. I'm not saying I have to do it this year, which is nice.''
Armstrong returned in June from the United States to ride in the Tour of Switzerland, where he was fourth in the prologue and fifth in the uphill individual time trial. Both are among his best results in similar European races.
``I feel a lot stronger than I did a year ago,'' he said. ``I'm another year older.''
by CNB