SACRAMENTO, Calif. — This didn’t sound like the Lance Armstrong known to roil the emotions of cycling fans, eliciting love and admiration from most and scorn from a vocal few.
The seven-time winner of the Tour de France has been known for his supremely confident persona, whether blowing past the competition on his lightweight racing bicycle or giving a speech about surviving cancer.
Doubts were for lesser folk. Doubts were a sign of vulnerability, and that’s not the face of this Texan.
Yet 48 hours before the start of the Amgen Tour of California, an eight-day stage race that stops in Santa Cruz and San Jose on Tuesday and Wednesday, Armstrong was using the D word liberally.
“I’m a rider who hasn’t had a lot of doubts,” he said Friday at a pre-race news conference in Sacramento. But “sometimes there are days I have had doubts.”
Armstrong, 39, will be among 158 cyclists who are scheduled to start the race Sunday in Nevada City. But he is not among the favorites, who include his RadioShack teammate Levi Leipheimer, and Saxo Bank’s Andy Schleck and Fabian Cancellara and Garmin-Transitions’ David Zabriskie.
The 800-mile California race that ends May 23 in Thousand Oaks, however, will be the start of Armstrong’s Tour de France preparation. The iconic cyclist finished third in the Tour last year after ending a three-year retirement.
“Until now it has been kind of a prologue to the important times that are starting now,” said Johan Bruyneel, the man who directed Armstrong to his record seven consecutive Tour victories.
Bruyneel, director of Team RadioShack, expects to learn a lot about his champion’s ability to win in France during the California race in which Armstrong will be supporting three-time reigning champion Leipheimer.
“It is eight days of hard racing,” Bruyneel said. “Now his health is good. His training is good. His head is good. It’s on track for a 50-day plan to the start of the Tour.”
The new May date for the California race has increased its visibility and import on the international racing calendar. It’s one of only three major races left before the Tour de France.
“I felt it was a big gamble to move away from February,” cycling announcer Phil Liggett said. “Riders don’t like to travel long distances before the Tour de France. But it wasn’t a gamble at all” because it attracted a world-class field.
With many of the top pro teams entered, Armstrong and other serious Tour de France contenders should get all the challenge they can handle.
“It will come down to the time trial,” Armstrong said of the 20.9-mile penultimate stage in Los Angeles.
Just don’t expect Armstrong to be in the mix. The rider has struggled to recover from an earlier illness. He acknowledged Friday that he has perhaps taken on too much with his return to cycling.
“I’ve tried to simplify my life,” said Armstrong, once a controversial figure in the sport because he spoke out against critics who accused him of using drugs. “Life is hectic for me now.”
He has juggled the un-retirement with helping rear four children (his current girlfriend is pregnant with his fifth child) and his devotion to his cancer foundation.
“I don’t think we’re pulling the fire alarm,” Armstrong said of his fitness. “But now is the time where the signs need to start pointing up.”
And finally, the old Lance full of vim and vigor emerged.
“I still believe I can win the Tour,” he said. “Everybody might think that’s crazy. I’m going to do everything I can to get to the start line in the best shape and see what happens.”
The world of cycling will be watching attentively.
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