• Road

Astana at camp

by VeloNews.com

• February 06, 2009
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By Jason Sumner

The Astana crew is training in NorCal in preparation for the Tour of California.

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Lance Armstrong didn’t turn up for his Astana team’s Wednesday meet-and-greet with the media, but the seven-time Tour de France champ’s presence was unmistakable.

Following a five-hour training ride on the spectacular rolling roads of Sonoma County in Northern California, Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Alberto Contador and the rest of the Astana crew returned to temporary team headquarters at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Santa Rosa. But citing a prior engagement, Armstrong exited the premises while the rest of the squad made the rounds with press that ranged from The Associated Press and The Washington Post to a Chinese TV crew and a slew of small cycling-centric websites.

All of them — VeloNews included — wanted to know, how does Armstrong look?

“Whether he’s at his best here, I doubt it,” answered Leipheimer, who lives in Santa Rosa, making him de facto training-ride planner during the 10-day camp that started February 1 and will conclude on the 10th, four days before the start of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California. “I think he’s still going to improve but that’s normal. In his head he’s thinking that way as well. He’s using these [early season] races to get back into it.”

So does that mean Le Boss can be a factor in the race Leipheimer has owned for the last two years?

“Lance can definitely be a factor,” said the two-time defending ToC champ. “I think he’s already shown that in the Tour Down Under. He was strong, he was in the mix … Certainly his body has a memory, but it’s no shame if he’s not 100 percent here.”

And that means, in his mind anyway, Leipheimer is the man to beat.

“I’ve won the race the last two years, so there is really no question that I am a favorite of the race,” he said. “But there are other riders on my team who can win and you never know what can happen. A break could go with a teammate in it, and if we feel that it’s a combination that could work for us, then that could allow a teammate to win the race. That’s part of the sport. But I will have every chance and every bit of support of the team to win again.”

Translation: Leipheimer is confident, but also wary. In 2007, he and then-teammate Tom Danielson watched fellow Discovery Channel rider Janez Brajkovic roll away with the Tour de Georgia title when a freak break went up the road and gained an insurmountable advantage. It’s hard to imagine a similar scenario at the Tour of California. The field is stronger, the big prize more coveted. More likely, as Leipheimer predicted, the race will be won — or lost — during stage 6’s 15-mile time trial in Solvang.

“Solvang is the most important stage but there are a lot of unknowns before we get there,” he said. “There’s not a specific climb or stage where we can go to the front and blow the race apart, so it’s hard to know how things will shake out.”

Unknowns were prominent in the Q&A with Contador as well. Speaking through a translator who was frequently flummoxed by cycling terminology, the reigning Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España champ admitted (as he has before) that Armstrong’s return initially gave him pause.

“It is true that my initial reaction wasn’t very good,” said Contador, who’s not racing the Tour of California, and as of right now isn’t slated to share a start line with Armstrong until July’s Tour de France. “But after some time to let the emotions go away, I am very happy to share a team with Lance.

“I think you have to think things over, see how things develop. Sometimes in the beginning some things seem negative, but turn into something positive. I’m certainly happy he’s on my team and not some other team. And to be able to learn from his great spirit, that can only make me stronger in the future.”

Continuing with the Tour theme, the 2007 yellow-jersey winner admitted his time trialing still needs work, but he’s focused on improving.

“It’s something that comes with time,” said the Spaniard. “I am working to get better at this discipline. I have good motivation for the time trial and I have been training hard with this bike.”

So will all that targeted training make him the 2009 Tour de France favorite?

“There is no doubt that there are four of us that can be a favorite,” said Contador, alluding to himself, Armstrong, Leipheimer and German Andreas Klöden. “A lot of people are concentrating on Astana, but there are many other racers that have the same possibilities and ambition to win.”

That’s a nice gesture, but if someone sporting robin’s-egg blue doesn’t win this year’s Tour, it will undoubtedly be a major disappointment for all concerned parties at the Santa Rosa Hyatt, not to mention all those cycling fans back in Kazakhstan who a few years back signed on to root for home-country hero Alexandre Vinokourov, but might as well be sporting New York Yankee caps these days.

But July is still a long ways off. Better to focus on the present — and the amazing riding in Northern California.

“A day like today is why I do what I do,” said Leipheimer of a training ride that ended with a spectacular stretch of pavement along the jagged Pacific Ocean coastline. “To take my teammates on the best roads in the world is really special. These are legendary roads, roads that bike magazines write about and car commercials are filmed on. It’s what makes Sonoma County so special. This is my playground and to share it with the team is pretty fun.”

So just one last question, isn’t Solvang this group’s usual training ground?

“Well, give credit to Lance,” added Leipheimer. “He was up here in October and I met up with him to ride. I said, ‘We’ve got to have camp here, it’s better than Solvang and I know all the roads.’ I think Lance convinced Johan (Bruyneel) to let us come up here.”

There’s that presence again.