versus cycling
Heir apparent vs. proven veteran. American vs. Spaniard. Young vs. old.
Call it what you will, but the 97th edition of the Tour de France ultimately boils down to one race: Lance Armstrong vs. Alberto Contador.
Armstrong, 38, heads into today’s start in the Dutch city of Rotterdam as a seven-time winner who has proved that adversity is no match for discipline and willpower.
The Texan met his match last year when he and Contador rode together for the Astana team.
Contador established himself as the team’s lead rider and Armstrong was forced into a supporting role, although he finished on the podium, taking the third overall spot.
Expect much of the same this year. Contador relishes the opportunity to be the lead rider.
“I prefer to make my own decisions without having to take one, three or even four riders into account,” he told Reuters earlier this season. “I like my freedom, I like having the possibility to follow my own intuition.”
The 27-year-old Contador, the 2007 and 2009 Tour de France winner, is one of only five cyclists to win the sport’s three grand tours (France, Italy and Spain). He probably would have won the 2008 race, but his team was banned for previous doping scandals, even though it had new management and new riders, including Contador.
Contador’s climbing and time-trial abilities rival those of Armstrong’s in his prime.
But all that probably fuels the competitive spirit of the sport’s most esteemed rider, who announced via Twitter that this Tour de France would be his last.
“I know that my birth certificate doesn’t lie and I don’t need to pretend that I am 25,” Armstrong said on a recent Versus program. “I know that I have a greater responsibility here than anyone else in the peloton.”
After last season, Armstrong and longtime friend and team manager Johan Bruyneel broke away from Astana and formed Team RadioShack with the intention of building a team around Armstrong. They selected riders who could help Armstrong once the mountain stages come into play.
And that is where the Tour is likely to be won before it finishes July 25 in Paris.
The 2,263-mile course provides riders with a multitude of steep and difficult climbs, where both Contador and Armstrong have excelled and won their yellow jerseys.
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