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Dauphiné Libéré
Photo ©: Sirotti


Tour de France News for June 12, 2003

Edited by John Stevenson

Bruyneel pleased with TT test

US Postal Service directeur sportif Johan Bruyneel was more than pleased with Lance Armstrong's dominant ride in the stage 3 time trial of the Dauphiné Libéré. Armstrong had already said he was not desperate for a win in the Dauphiné, but the time trial was clearly an important litmus test for the American's fitness.

"I knew beforehand this was a very important race," Bruyneel commented after his leader's victory. "It was to be the only long time trial Lance will have raced all year. It was a hard circuit and we wanted to go for it and it worked out well."

The time trial win was Armstrong's first victory of the 2003 season, and just the right reassurance for Bruyneel and the Postal team. "Winning takes some luck, but in a time trial the strongest usually wins," he explained. "Personally, I think Lance at Amstel and Liège-Bastogne-Liège was good enough to win but the circumstances of the race changed that. But that's cycling, you can't always plan for what will happen."

"The fact that Lance won by such a large margin was definitely something to be very happy about," Bruyneel added. "It was probably one of the most impressive time trials I have seen from Lance."

Verbrugghe looking for stages

Plagued by injury and illness in the spring, Rik Verbrugghe (Lotto-Domo) will enter the Tour de France with plenty of ambition, but not for the general classification. Directeur sportif Claude Criquielion explained that the team will be ready to go on the attack in July. "It's best to set some realistic objectives," he told La Dernière Heure. "We're going to the Tour with a team of fighters who are also capable of working for McEwen in the sprints."

Verbrugghe had a good return to competition after his stage 3 crash in the Giro d'Italia which forced him out of the race. The Belgian raced the Tour of Luxembourg, where he was able to keep pace despite the lack of racing in his legs. But, as Claude Criquielion explains, "if he starts the Tour at 80% of his ability, he would likely have to forget the general classification."

Verbrugghe spent the past week training in the south of France, testing his climbing legs at a training session based in Perpignan. He will line up for Lotto-Domo at the Belgian national championships at the end of the month, along with Axel Merckx and the rest of the team's Belgian contingent.

(All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2003)

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