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Filed at 5:04 a.m. ET
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) -- Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance
Armstrong said Monday not to expect too much from him in his return to
competitive cycling after three years in retirement.
The testicular cancer survivor will make his professional comeback
with the Astana team in the six-stage Tour Down Under from Jan. 20-25.
''I think it would be unrealistic to expect a victory,'' Armstrong
said Monday. ''The race has gotten harder and harder over the years. I
hope to be in the mix, I could be completely wrong.''
The 37-year-old American arrived in Australia on Sunday and took a
four-hour training ride Monday before appearing at a media conference.
He spent several weeks in Hawaii training for the Australian race.
''I've prepared much harder this series of months than I ever would
have in the past,'' Armstrong said.
''The tests that we do on the bike, or on the road, or in the lab
indicate that my January fitness is much better than it ever was the
years when I was winning the Tour. But that doesn't mean anything
until you get into the race.''
He quipped that he might be the first rider dropped from the peloton
-- an unthinkable scenario for Tour Down Under organizers.
''I know I have questions about my personal condition, but I've worked
hard to get in shape, I've worked hard to show up here and try to ride
at the front,'' he said. ''But when you're one man out of 200 it's
strange how 199 other guys dictate how your day goes. I think it would
be unrealistic to expect a victory.''
While Armstrong said most of the other riders in the field were also
starting their seasons in Australia, he must reacquaint himself with
riding in the peloton.
''I have a little bit of insecurity and a little bit of nervousness
there and so that's the reason I've tried to train hard and prepare
hard -- I'm fairly fit,'' he said.
''You have to consider cycling: it's not just about your physical
condition, it's about 200 guys going down the road and going around
dangerous corners at 40-50 miles an hour -- and how does that feel?.
''That's a dynamic that you can't simulate in training, so I've got to
get in the group. And those are the things that most people look at
and think we're nuts to do this.''
Armstrong said his decision to return to competitive cycling was
influenced by his efforts in campaigning for cancer awareness.
''There have been times where I've thought `what the hell have I
done', but they're brief,'' he said.
''For me it's not so much a sporting challenge, and it's not a
financial challenge, it's not any of those things. I came back as a
volunteer and so I'm here for the love of the bike and the passion of
the cause.''
He said the Lance Armstrong Foundation has raised more than $250
million for the fight against cancer.
''We're reminded on a daily basis that this epidemic is truly a global
issue -- 22,000 people a day die from this disease,'' he said.
''Hopefully in conjunction with a sporting comeback we can also raise
a bigger issue and create greater awareness for this disease around
the world.''
As well as the Tour Down Under, his race schedule for 2009 will
include the Giro d'Italia and an attempt to win
Filed at 4:47 p.m. ET
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) -- Lance Armstrong arrived in Australia on
Sunday a few hours after his Astana team, and a few days ahead of when
Tour Down Under officials expected him.
The team flew in from Europe via Singapore in preparation for the UCI
ProTour race, which starts next Sunday and marks the seven-time Tour
de France winner's return to professional competition four years after
he retired.
Race officials had said that Armstrong was still training at his base
in Hawaii and might not arrive in Australia until midweek.
But Armstrong arrived later Sunday at Sydney International Airport,
about a 75-minute flight from Adelaide. He was accompanied off his
flight by Australian Federal Police and security guards.
''I believe my form is as good as it ever was for this early in
January,'' Armstrong said. ''My fitness is probably ahead of where it
would have been other years, but I've been training a lot earlier than
the previous years as well.
''I just don't want to get clobbered too bad. That's my main
motivation for training hard. I don't have delusions of grandeur. I
hope I get in the race and get reacclimatized to the tempo and the
speed and what it's like to be around 200 guys and a fast-moving
group.
''It's been such a long break. This is the longest break I've had.
But ... it's nervousness and excitement.''
The cancer survivor is using his return to cycling to further the
fight against the disease worldwide. While in Adelaide he will appear
at two major functions, including one run by the Cancer Council of
South Australia.
Besides the Tour Down Under, Armstrong will compete in the Giro
d'Italia and Tour de France this year.
The Spanish Euskaltel Euskadi team and the French Bouygues team also
arrived on Sunday, while AG2R La Mondiale and Caisse D'Epargne flew in
on Saturday.
A criterium kicks off the Tour Down Under next Sunday and is followed
by six stages from Jan. 20 to 25.
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