Tour de France, 2010: Mountains, cobblestones generate plenty of comments

October 14, 5:49 PMCycling ExaminerJames Raia

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(L to R) Cavendish, Armstrong, A. Schleck, Contador. AP Photo/Christophe Ena

The announcement of each year's Tour de France route always generates responses from team directors, race organizers and riders.

Here's sampling of reactions from a few well-known Tour de France players:

Alberto Contador (Astana) of Spain, reigning titlist, on VeloNews.com:

"My authentic rival is Andy Schleck. Looking at the time trial, it’s better for me than last year. This Tour is better for me than last year, especially with a stage finish atop a climb so difficult as the Tourmalet.

“If I have good legs, I can take out a lot of time in the mountains going into the final time trial. Astana was the most-watched team during the past year. We have nothing to hide. I don’t have any problems. I hope to be the leader of the team, but I still don’t know where I am going to be racing. Concerning a rivalry with Armstrong, I don’t see it like that. I see Andy Schleck, myself and Armstrong as the favorites. I won’t look just to Lance, but rather watch all my rivals.”

Lance Armstrong (Team RadioShack) via the Associated Press:

“I think it’s going to be a lot more open than last year. There isn’t the team time trial and a lot of guys will be missing that. I was one never to say this Tour is harder than another.

“They’re always hard. And the strongest rider always wins. (The rivalry with Contador) is good for cycling, but honestly, I think he and I could do without it. It’s good for the events. The buildup to the Tour, in April, May and June, will be really intense. I think the Schleck brothers will be good and I think Wiggins can come back.”

Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) Great Britian, 10-time Tour de France stage winner on the BBC:

"I counted five definite sprint stages I could win and maybe eight. There are three in the opening week, so I'll try to grab as many wins as I can to get in the green jersey and then survive through weeks two and three."

Angelo Zomegnan, Tour of Italy director, on CyclingNews.com:

"I always give a vote of ten on the others' designs. It is a more complicated course than the past, and more demanding. There's the Tourmalet, the celebration of 100 years since its introduction into the Tour de France."

Rolf Aldag, director Columbia-HTC, former Tour de France rider, team press release:

"Our goal is to be competitive for the green jersey next July. It's the next logical step after Mark [Cavendish] won six stages this year and finished in Paris. Even more logical if you think about how he won that last stage on the Champs-Elysées."

"It's true there are fewer flat stages, so when it comes to the green jersey, the question will be which sprinters can get over the climbs at the end of the hillier stages. Mark managed to win his fifth stage in the Tour this year after a really tough final climb."

"This year Tony Martin he did really well considering it was his first Tour de France. Next July our target is that if he manages to avoid the two bad days he had, we'll be able to see where that gets him. If he finishes somewhere between eighth and twelfth in Paris, we'd be absolutely delighted."

To read more about the 2010 Tour de France, visit:

•  
• Tour de France, 2010: Unique, mountain-dominated course in 3D video
• Tour de France, 2010: More mountains, fewer time trials and cobblestones
•  Rotterdam hosts Grand Depart, expands Tour de France legacy
  Tour de France, 2010, stage 1 overview
• Tour de France, 2010: Prologue overview
  Watch the Tour de France presentation for free on the Internet
• Tour de France 2010 Presentation scheduled Oct. 14
• Tour de France, 2010: A double ascent of the Col du Tourmalet?
•  

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