ARMSTRONG IS FULL OF CONFIDENCE; CYCLING.TOUR DE FRANCE France (frăns, Fr. fräNs), officially French Republic, republic (2005 est. pop. 60,656,000), 211,207 sq mi (547,026 sq km), W Europe. legend Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France—cycling's most prestigious race—seven consecutive times, from 1999 to 2005. was in bullish mood about his chances of another success following Astana's win in the team time trial. The American, a seven-time Tour champion, wiped out a 40-second deficit to race leader Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born March 18, 1981) is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer. A time trial specialist, he is the current, and two time, World Time Trial Champion. In 2006 he also became the only second Swiss winner of the Classic one-day race Paris-Roubaix, following Heiri thanks to Astana's victory in Stage Four yesterday. Cancellara, of Saxo Bank, remains in the yellow jersey heading into today's fifth stage between Le Cap d'Agde and Perpignan but he now has an identical time to Armstrong, who has not lost any of his fighting spirit after three-and-a-half years out of the saddle. Armstrong refused to play down his hopes of what would be a sensational Tour win. "I am happy with where I am," he said. "I don't know if I'm the best in the race. (But) I came in this race thinking that I would be one of the best, based on the training and tests that I've done. "Today I am realistic. I have both feet on the ground." Armstrong believes Astana dealt a serious blow to some title candidates with their team time trial success.. Britain's Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins remains well placed in sixth. CAPTION(S): CONFIDENT: Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong |
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