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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