Contador's too good: Armstrong
The Age
Monday July 27, 2009
"OLD fart" Lance Armstrong admits teammate Alberto Contador is so good he would have beaten him in at least three of his seven Tour de France victories.Armstrong said he would be happy to settle for a minor podium place behind Contador after the 26-year-old Spaniard all but guaranteed he would claim his second tour title with another sterling climb up Mont Ventoux in the penultimate stage on Saturday.Going into the usually ceremonial final stage on the Champs-Elysees overnight, Melbourne time, 37-year-old Armstrong was in third place, five minutes 24 seconds behind Contador with Luxemburg's 24-year-old Andy Schleck second at 4:11."I can't complain; for an old fart coming in here and getting on the podium with these young guys is not so bad," said Armstrong with a grin after he and Contador stuck with Schleck's repeated surges up Mont Ventoux.Armstrong said that even at his peak while winning the tour from 1999-2005, he may have lost to his Spanish teammate."Contador is that good, so I don't see how I would have been higher than that," said the American, who returned to the tour this year after a three-year retirement."I think his performance this year would have beaten my performances in '01, and '04 and '05."He added that Contador was better than Jan Ullrich, one of his biggest rivals during the years that he won his seven tours. "Absolutely," he said. "Far better."Armstrong, however, expects to perform better in 2010, and perhaps even beat Contador, who confirmed he would be in a different team in 2010.Contador said that having Armstrong as his teammate - and rival - added lustre to his second tour victory."When you win, you like that the ones who are behind you, that they are good riders with a big name. So I'm sure that the photo we take in Paris will be historic," he said.Contador made sure that his overall win was a virtual fait accompli with his fourth place in Saturday's 167-kilometre stage from Montelimar to the summit of Mont Ventoux which was won by Spaniard Juan Manuel Garate from his German breakaway companion Tony Martin.Contador, who beat Australian Cadel Evans by 23 seconds for his first tour crown in 2007, only needed to stay on the bike to keep the top three as it is.After being tight lipped on the issue for most of the tour, Contador finally conceded that there was a rift between him and Armstrong, but added that it was caused by both wanting to win the tour."I knew that he would be a rider to beat in the general classification. If I wanted to win, he wanted to win. It's not compatible if two riders try to win. I knew that he would be a rival," Contador said."I will be in a different team from Lance next year but whether it's a new project based around me or me joining an existing team, I don't know. It's still too early to say."Schleck threw everything at Contador in a bid to crack him with eight attacks on the ascent to the Mont Ventoux summit. -- With AFPTOUR DE FRANCESTAGE 201. Juan Manuel Garate (Spa/Rab)4 hours 39 min 21 sec2. Tony Martin (Ger/Col) +3s3. Andy Schleck (Lux/Sax) +384. Alberto Contador (Spa/Ast) same time5. Lance Armstrong (US/Ast) +41OVERALL1. Alberto Contador (Spa/Ast) 81:46.172. Andy Schleck (Lux/Sax) +4:113. Lance Armstrong (US/Ast) +5:244. Bradley Wiggins (Eng/Grm) +6:015. Frank Schleck (Lux/Sax) +6:04KING OF THEMOUNTAINS1. Franco Pellizotti (Ita/Liq) 210 points2. Egoi Martinez (Spa/Eus) 1353. Alberto Contador (Spa/Ast) 1264. Andy Schleck (Lux/Sax) 1115. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra/Bbox) 99
© 2009 The Age
