DUNKIRK, France -- Lance Armstrong was jeered not once but
twice by cycling fans before the start Saturday of the Tour de
France, which he hopes to win for the third consecutive year.
|  | | Lance Armstrong knows he'll have to pace himself during the first week of the Tour de France. |
The cold reception toward the Texan and his U.S. Postal Service
team came during a Friday night ceremony leading to the beginning
of the grueling three-week race.
Race director Jean-Marie Leblanc attributed the response to the
decision by Armstrong's team to not select local favorite Cedric
Vasseur to ride in the Tour.
"We can understand the public's reaction," he said.
While Armstrong's recovery from cancer has made for an
inspirational comeback, he has yet to win the hearts of the French
fans.
U.S. Postal was the only one of 21 teams riding in the Tour de
France to be booed by the several thousand fans in Dunkirk for the
team presentation. On leaving the stand, the riders chose not to
complete a traditional lap around the stand and were jeered a
second time.
Armstrong is trying to become only the second American -- after
Greg LeMond -- to win the Tour de France three times and the first
to do so three years in a row.
The showcase race began with a 5.1-mile time trial prologue in
Dunkirk. Armstrong was aiming for a strong start -- 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," he said.
The first stage Sunday is a 121-mile run on the flat countryside
of France's northern Opal Coast, between St. Omer and Boulogne sur
Mer.
Most of the following week features similar stages -- with a
two-day crossover into Belgium.
Armstrong's team will try to save its energy for the real test,
the five days of mountain stages in the Alps and the Pyrenees that
make up the middle of the Tour.
The uphill stages push riders to the limit, and in Armstrong's
words, "make all the difference." Among those stages is an
individual time trial of 20 miles that involves a climb of nearly a
mile.
"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 rider can 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 Alps.
Armstrong's most formidable rivals this year include 1997
champion Jan Ullrich, who has a history of weight problems but is
considered in good shape this year.
Others with a chance of pulling an upset include Spain's Joseba
Beloki, who finished third last year, and France's Christophe
Moreau.
Leblanc likened Armstrong to five-time Tour winners Eddy Merckx,
the top star of the 1960s and 1970s, and Miguel Indurain, the star
of the 1990s.
"There are generations that are marked by a dominant
champion," Leblanc said.
The Tour again is shadowed by drugs. Last month, the Giro
d'Italia was subjected to a police raid of team hotels. More than
60 riders reportedly were placed under investigation as a result of
the sweep.
The International Cycling Union carried out blood tests Thursday
on all riders taking part in the Tour this year. None failed the
tests, which check the blood's oxygen level.
A high-oxygen level indicates possible use of
performance-enhancing substances. Three riders were barred from
starting the Tour last year after failing the blood tests. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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