ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310033
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
LANCE ARMSTRONG hopes to have the highlight of his year today in the men's cycling road race.
It appears Lance Armstrong, the fastest U.S. person on a bicycle, is ready for today's cycling road race at the Atlanta Games.
He's already going in circles, which is what 194 riders will do 17 times today. The race starts at 8:30 a.m. and roams on an 8.1-mile loop through the neighborhoods of Buckhead.
Here are two takes on how the two-time defending Tour DuPont champ looks at his first Olympic ride in his homeland:
``I know if the race doesn't agree with me, there's a World Cup race in Leeds [England] next week,'' Armstrong said at a Monday news conference.
Or ...
``The Tour de France and the Olympics are certainly the two biggest events of the year. In cycling, the Tour is bigger, while in American sports the Olympics are bigger. I'm an American sports figure in a European sport.
``I haven't won either, so I can't tell you which one does more for me. I do know that right now, I want to win the Olympics.''
His four U.S. teammates will be trying to help him do that. To accomplish that, U.S. coach Chris Carmichael's team has 80 percent of its riders from the Motorola pro team - Armstrong, George Hincapie, Frankie Andreu and Greg Randolph.
The exception is Steve Hegg of the LA Sheriff team, and he's here primarily because of his expertise in the time trial, which will be run Saturday.
``The history of cycling is like that,'' Hegg said. ``Everyone busts their butts for one guy, but there's no team medal. A team medal in the road race is certainly an interesting concept. Maybe something like that could be part of 2008. Who knows?''
Any kind of medal would be welcomed by the United States. The event was one of the original nine in Athens, Greece, 100 years ago. Since then, the only medal for the Americans was the gold won by Alexi Grewal in Los Angeles in 1984.
Carmichael wouldn't reveal his team's strategy for the ride. The 137.85-mile trip rolls over mostly flat terrain, certainly nothing like many of these cyclists see when the Tour DuPont hits the Roanoke Valley.
``We're hoping for hot weather. The obstacles in this race are the heat and humidity,'' Carmichael said. ``It's one of the challenges here. The more obstacles there are, the better chance Lance has of winning.''
Armstrong dropped out of the Tour de France after a few stages to rest for the Olympics, and he knows his primary challengers today figure to be one-day specialists.
``This is basically like the World Championships,'' Armstrong said. ``This is the highest level of competition. I rank the Olympics near the top, if not at the top.
``Regardless of what you do in Europe, Americans will remember better what you do in the Olympics.''
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: headshot of Armstrongby CNB