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Bruyneel: Armstrong’s form is good, but he needs to work on his speed

by VeloNews.com

• January 20, 2009
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By Justin Davis, Agence France Presse

2009 Tour Down Under, stage 1: Armstrong on the climb

Photo: Agence France Presse

Lance Armstrong may have to wait months before displaying the top-end race speed that was characteristic of his seven-year domination of the Tour de France.

However, the cycling icon’s team manager at Astana, Johan Bruyneel, admitted he was a relieved man after seeing the American return to life as a professional cyclist here at the Tour Down Under on Tuesday.

Armstrong showed no signs of pain as he eased through the 140km first stage of the race, his first as a professional since retiring after his seventh Tour de France win in 2005.

Coasting up the race’s only true difficulty, a short but steep 600-meter climb that left the burly sprinters struggling to keep pace, Armstrong looked as though he had never been away from the peloton.

That eased Bruyneel’s anxiety, but the Belgian believes it could be some time before Armstrong is ready to face the test of much faster racing, especially on the monster climbs of the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France — both of which feature in the American’s plans this year.

“We were a little anxious before the stage to see what he would be like, but it gives me confidence to see him like that today,” said Bruyneel.

“As you can see, he’s no different from before, he’s the same person.

“His base form is really good, but he will need a few races to find the rhythm again — you simply can’t simulate real racing conditions in training.”

Armstrong said he was taking his return one day at a time.

“It’s nice to get that (first race) out the way. I’m just going to take it day by day. I feel quite strong, but we’ll see how the recovery is,” he said.

Armstrong will further test his racing form in February at the Tour of California.

By the time he arrives in the United States, he will likely have shed some of the excess muscle he gained early last year in the gym, which would prove a handicap to his campaigns this season, said Bruyneel.

“He was doing work on his upper body in the gym right up to August last year. At that point we didn’t know he was going to return,” added Bruyneel.

“He’s already lost a fair bit of that muscle since and he’ll lose more as he trains and races more. I would say he still has three to four kilos to lose.”

In his yellow jersey reign between 1999 and 2005, Armstrong was known for his superb time trialling ability and for speeding away from rivals at the end of the race’s notoriously gruelling mountain climbs.

Those abilities often prompted comparisons with racing cars.

But when asked if Armstrong still had the “engine of a Ferrari”, Bruyneel said: “He’s three years older, and we still need a bit of time to see if it’s in the same condition.”