MONACO, (Reuters) – Bjarne Riis, the man who led Carlos Sastre to Tour de France victory last year, warned Lance Armstrong he should be ready to struggle over the next three weeks against younger rivals.
“Lance is obviously not too old. He will probably be very good and play a great role in this Tour,” the Saxobank team leader told a news conference yesterday.
“But to be honest, to beat younger riders like (Alberto) Contador, Andy or Frank Schleck in the climbs, I don’t think it is possible,” he said.
Armstrong, 37, is attempting to add an eighth Tour crown to his unprecedented collection with a strong Astana team which probably includes his most serious rival, 2007 Tour winner Contador.
Teams with too many potential leaders usually fail but Riis, the Tour winner in 1996, led Spain’s Carlos Sastre to victory in a team which also included pre-race favourites Frank and Andy Schleck.
“Astana is a very impressive team but I believe that if they want to win the Tour, they should have just one leader and it should be Contador,” Riis said.
“I’m not leading this team but I guess that’s the way they see it too. Otherwise, it’ll be fun to watch,” the Dane added.
Riis’s Saxobank start as the defending team without the defending champion, Sastre having left to join Cervelo this season.
NINE RIDERS
But Riis said his nine riders had the ability to play a leading part in the 2009 Tour.
“I believe we have one of the best and one of the most homogeneous teams in this Tour and that Andy and Frank will be at their best in the climbs,” he said.
Frank Schleck came sixth last year and Andy 12th to finish as the best young rider.
Team Saxobank have an immediate goal in the principality, tomorrow’s 15-kilometre opening stage, partly held on the site of the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix, for which Olympic time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara is a clear favourite.
The Swiss, winner of his home Tour last month, has been in great form and looks unbeatable on such a course.
“With my level of form and confidence after the Tour of Switzerland, I don’t even have to check the course,” he said, hoping to repeat his 2007 feat, when he won the prologue and held the yellow jersey for a week.
