Once Burned Out, Armstrong Rededicates Self To Cycling

Lance Armstrong, the youngest world champion in cycling, isn’t saying whether he has aspirations of winning his sport’s pinnacle event, the Tour de France.

For now, he just hopes to finish.

The December retirement of three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond left an opening for a new American superstar.

But Armstrong and his coach said it’s too soon to know whether his 23-year-old legs could one day carry him to victory in the race.

“It’s a 23-day race. Anything can happen,” said Team Motorola coach Noel Dejonckheere of Belgium.

Rich Carlson, editor-in-chief of Winning, Bicycling Illustrated magazine, is skeptical.

“Everyone who’s anyone will be at the Tour de France looking to win something. It’s just an incredibly competitive event from start to finish,” he said.

The race begins July 1 in SaintBrieuc, France, and ends 2,197 miles later in Paris on July 23.

A Tour de France finish would help Armstrong shake off last year’s sophomore slump.

In 1993, he became the youngest person to win the World Cycling Championship and a stage of the Tour de France. He did not win a stage last year, nor did he repeat as world champion.

Already this year, he has captured the most prestigious U.S. race, the Tour DuPont, after twice finishing second, and he followed that up last week with a win at the 500-mile Kmart Classic in West Virginia.

Armstrong, who divides his time between Austin, Texas, and Como, Italy, said 1994 was a letdown. He was unsure then that he still had the love for the bike, but now he believes he’s stronger than ever.

“I rededicated myself to cycling,” he said.

Dejonckheere said Armstrong’s early success and rainbow world champion jersey came at a cost.

“He won that young, maybe too young,” Dejonckheere said. “Now that he’s not racing with the jersey, I think he found his motivation back.”

He and Armstrong concede that Motorola expects him to finish the Tour de France. Last year, Motorola pulled him after the race began to save him for a defense of the world championship.

In addition to capturing a stage, Armstrong wants to improve his time trials and hill-climbing.

The standard for time trials is set by four-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain of Spain and Tony Rominger of Switzerland, Carlson said.

“Lance has not come close to what they are achieving,” he said.

But Carlson said chances were good that Armstrong could win a stage.

Armstrong already is eyeing some points in Belgium, where the race has a classic hilly stage that suits him. The hills aren’t as torturous as the grueling Alps, which come later.

As far as eventually winning the Tour de France, Armstrong and Dejonckheere said it will take up to three years before they know whether he has the potential.