Tour de France
Lance: Never say never
2009-07-07 07:28
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France - For the first time since his last Tour de France triumph in 2005, Lance Armstrong is perfectly placed to reclaim the leader's yellow jersey in Tuesday's 38-km team time trial in Montpellier.
"Never say never," the seven-times winner said following Monday's third stage in which he climbed to third place overall after joining a decisive move led by the Columbia team.
The American finished only 40 seconds behind leader Fabian Cancellara and given the overall performance of his Astana team in the opening individual time trial in Monaco, with four of their riders finishing in the top 10, they will be strong favourites on a winding course.
Astana have left nothing to chance in preparing for what could be the first really significant moment of this year's Tour.
"We checked it four times and frankly it was not too much if you want to memorise it all," said team director Alain Gallopin.
Armstrong is familiar with Tour team time trials having won several with US Postal.
Their outstanding performance in the third stage to La Grande Motte made Team Columbia another outfit to watch, especially as they won similar stages on the Giro and Tour de Romandie.
A victory could put young German Tony Martin, currently 33 seconds behind Cancellara, in the spotlight.
American team Garmin-Slipstream, with specialists like Bradley Wiggins, David Millar and David Zabriskie, or Cancellara's Saxo Bank, should also be among the serious contenders.