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Enlarge textThe crash at the Castilla y Leon which ended Lance Armstrong's race aspirations may turn out to be an indicator of things to come.
Armstrong showing a few cracks in the armour (Getty)
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The crash at the Castilla y Leon which ended Lance Armstrong's race
aspirations may turn out to be an indicator of things to come.
Many
critics have doubted whether the seven-time Tour de France legend will
succeed in his attempts to re-live the glory days of the past.
It
goes without saying his return to the pro-scene has been closely
scrutinised and documented since making his comeback at the Tour Down
Under in January.
You don't have to be Einstein to realise
it was never going to be an easy assignment for a man whose
expectations are to reach cycling's pinnacle yet again.
But
after the handful of races he's appeared in so far this year, the most
asked question should be "Will Lance ever be at the top of his game
again.?"
I for one certainly hope so and while the heart speaks volumes, the head says "probably not".
Lance
has certainly shown a competitive edge in all of his races after three
years away from the bike - never really dominating the way he once did.
In the years when he ruled the roads of France, it was rare to see him dropped by big-name rivals.
He also proved to be a safe and durable rider keeping himself out of trouble, seldom crashing and never injured.
Something
he acknowledged in a post crash interview, saying, βIn 17 years as a
pro I have been lucky to avoid one of the most common cycling injuries."
But after losing contact on the Cipressa at the Milan San Remo, and now
suffering injury in the Castilla y Leon, it seems those days may be a
thing of the past.
In the old days, Lance had the stamina of
a steam train, the physical and mental strength of ten men and the team
support that was built like Fort Knox.
I hate to say it, but
all those ingredients seem to be gone and questions have to be asked of
an Astana team that appears to lack structure and organisation.
Apart from Alberto Contador, Andreas Kloden and Levi Leipheimer, this
so-called "super-team" pales in comparison to the quality of talent
that guided Lance to Tour success between 1999 and 2005.
Remember
the days when Armstrong was brilliantly supported by names such as
Heras, Savoldelli, Hincapie, Ekimov, Azevedo, Popovych and Rubeira?
Just to name a few.
There's no question Lance must now review his plans and goals for the rest of the year.
Chances are he'll race the Giro in sub-par shape and attempt to be just as competitive as ever in the Tour.
But if he doesn't deliver, he can always blame the reason for any possible future failures on a shattered right collarbone.
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Comments (19)
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05 Apr 2009 11:22 AEST
From: Miranda
--
Cadel may be a a better rider than Armstrong just now, but is Silence-Lotto a better team than Astana or Saxo Bank or Caisse d'Epargne or Rabobank??? I say NO! I see a repeat performance at the Tour this year - Cadel will struggle because of lack of team support..
29 Mar 2009 21:54 AEST
From: Sydney
--
Don't write him off too quickly. Read nothing into his lack of early season form, he's building. The injury is a minor set back (nothing compared to the cancer he beat) and he probably won't be able to contend at the Giro. But he will be there and use it (the Giro) to build towards The Tour. It will be hard to reproduce his previous feats at The Tour, it will be challenging, but this guy loves a challenge.
29 Mar 2009 17:58 AEST
From: Sydney
--
Well said Arden - pulling from the heartstrings - it works every time!!
29 Mar 2009 14:57 AEST
From: Sydney
--
It's a shame that Lance can inspire and support so many disadvantaged people dealing with life threatening diseases, yet fail to gain support for his more modest and somewhat irrelevant sporting successes. The fact is, this guy beat death and those of you who haven't ever been in this position and hope you never are, it's the ultimate win. Love him or hate him for whatever reason, the man is a humanist who has achieved more in life, whilst facing death, than the rest of the world could imagine. I think he deserves a little more credit here people.
28 Mar 2009 17:09 AEST
From: WA
--
it was kinda obvious that armstrong wasn't going to be able to stay on the front group in Milan Sanremo. He has been out of cycling for 3 years and is doing 300km classic first european race back
28 Mar 2009 10:37 AEST
From: Sydney
--
I'm starting to get sick of the whole Lance saga. I'm kinda glad he busted his shoulder - for the time being at least...
27 Mar 2009 9:39 AEST
From: Newcastle
--
Am I correct in saying Castilla y Leon was the only race Lance Alberto would race together as teammates before the TdF? What's the bet Lance broke his collarbone on purpose just to avoid being embarrassed by his superior teammate...
26 Mar 2009 15:35 AEST
From: Melbourne
--
Ben from Lithgow - you're a clown. You sound like your head is where the sun don't shine!
26 Mar 2009 14:38 AEST
From: Melbourne
--
Regardless of whether Lance wins anything during his come back, what he brings to the table as far as knowledge and experience can only help to make a great rider like Contador and Astana even better. Good luck to all the other riders and teams during the tour. For the sake of an interesting race I hope I'm wrong. Astana beating themselves may be the only thing to help the opposing teams.
26 Mar 2009 13:20 AEST
From: Lithgow
--
Wow Jonno I must have slept through the last 9 or so Tour de France outings! Armstrong was the man, but time moves on. I didn't miss a beat and can you or anyone explain how a man, namely Armstrong (he is human) can physically and realistically compete on par in both the Giro and Tour with Leipheimer and Contador after a 3 year sabatical at 37 years of age. He can't. Nobody can after such a break and handing a good decade in age to one of the riders. Thinking you have an edge and delivering it are two different prospects especially in cycling. Take a look and reread your 3rd sentence, think about it, then tell me who knows a lot about very little. Try not to contradict yourself in future.
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