TNT Sports
Armstrong relieved
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Published 27/07/2003 at 14:18 GMT+1
Just hours before being crowned Tour de France champion for a record-equalling fifth time, Lance Armstrong admitted to being relieved at the end of his most difficult Tour. "It's absolutely the most difficult year for many reasons. Physically I was not su
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"This close Tour feels different and feels better than some of the others," he added.
With a 76-second lead over closest rival Jan Ullrich, the American is about to join the four greatest cyclists in history who, like him, all struggled to win their fifth Tour.
But it was a real struggle, which he finally won with courage, experience, a sense of strategy and a little bit of luck.
"I was not necessarily on top of my game, I was able to survive in the bad moments, the loss in the first time trial for instance, to avoid some crashes and not be too affected," he said.
"But at the end of the day, sometimes you have to survive in order to win. I was able to do that."
Armstrong, who pledged to return next year to try to become the first rider to win the race six times, told the tale of his long and hard path to a fifth victory.
CURSED TOUR
"My problem started in May and June," he said. "The Dauphine Libere was a tough race to participate in because I crashed like I never had before. It was tough to come back from there."
Coming into the Tour, the American said he had had a succession of little problems that nearly ruined his chances, all starting with an omen the day before the prologue.
"Before the team presentation, the top of our bus was open and a bird shit on my sleeve, and (team mate) Pavel (Padrnos) swore it was the start of a cursed Tour," Armstrong said.
"There were little physical problems -- the day before the Tour, I had very bad diarrhoea, then trying new shoes led to a tendinitis in the hip, lots of things.
"It's not really my style to complain but there were enough of them to not really be myself on the bike," he said.
As a result, the American missed his prologue, finishing ninth, far behind Australian Bradley McGee.
"Then there was the crash which could have had terrible consequences," he said about the massive pile-up in the first stage from which he escaped unhurt.
EERIE TOUR
Citing the first time trial in Cap Decouverte in which he suffered severe dehydration and lost 96 seconds on Ullrich as probably his worst moment, the Texan told other strange stories that made his fifth victory "an eerie Tour".
"I did not feel good on the Galibier and I discovered on the descent that somebody had moved my back break," he said. "The back break had been rubbing the wheel.
"To ride four or five hours takes a little bit out of you with the brake on," he added.
Then in the stage between Gap and Marseille, his U.S. Postal team-mate Padrnos found out at the finish that "his front wheel was completely loose and came out".
Even on his best day, in Luz Ardiden, when he resurrected to win the stage and drop most of his rivals, he realised that he had finished with a broken frame after crashing in the climb.
"We took issues like that," he said. "We're very lucky to be in a position like that. It was an eerie Tour.
"The mixture of physical problems, tactical errors and just bad luck, having crashes and near-crashes, it gives you mental stress and physical stress," he said.
As a result, unlike other years, the American will take a big rest before thinking about the next Tour, shunning the world championships as he has done in previous years.
"Normally, preparation for the next year starts the next day, on Monday," he said.
"This Tour took a lot out of me, the stress was much higher than it has been in the past. I need to step back from cycling and relax a little bit and focus on 2004 in due time."
In any case, Armstrong will return hoping to achieve what no other rider has done.
"I'll be back next year and I'm not coming back to be second but hopefully to come back to the level I was in the first four Tours. Because this was not acceptable," he said.
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