Armstrong back to diligent reconnaissance

Lance Armstrong is back to his old habits when he diligently scouted out the Tour de France routes prior to beating his opposition. Armstrong is said to check out the final of Milano-Sanremo today and will ride over the Poggio, the final climb of La Primavera.

Italian sports paper Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Armstrong will also have a look some Giro d'Italia stages, including the 61-kilometre time trial in Liguria. He may go on to visit Blockhaus, which is a very short 79-kilometre stage. The stage 17 Blockhaus stage starts at 56m of altitude and ends at 2,064m.

Armstrong may also go on to check stage 19 to Vesuvio. This stage has very undulating terrain and ends in 1,000m of altitude.

The Giro d'Italia was first run 100 years ago and is scheduled from May 9-31, 2009.