Tour de France interview: Lance Armstrong back in the media saddle again

July 7, 9:26 PMCycling ExaminerJames Raia

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Four days into the Tour de France, the overriding topic of the Tour de France remains the same: Who is the leader of Team Astana, Lance Armstrong or Alberto Contador?

The two riders and five teammates crossed the line together Tuesday, propelling Astana to the team time trial victory in stage 4 in Montpellier and pushing Armstrong within a fraction of a second of race leader Fabian Cancellara. Contador is third overall.

Armstrong, 37, is the former seven-time Tour de France winner; Contador, 26, won the event in 2007 and has claimed the past three Grand Tours in which he's competed.

Here's what Armstrong said following Astana's team's time trial victory:

On his disappointment of not getting the yellow jersey:

"Yes and no. We did what we could. That's cycling. We can look at each other and say that we did our best. The most important thing is that we won the stage and took time on the other rivals. I said it earlier to Alberto as well that it is so important that we take time to Evans, Sastre and the others. We were fairly successful. I wouldn't like to be two minutes down right now."

On the team's success in stage 4:

"We came last week to Montpellier to see the stage. Johan Bruyneel already had the order of riding in his head. We tried that order that day and we did the same today. Like usual, he was right. The result speaks for itself. You always feel that somebody is stronger than you. For me, if  I analyze our performance, I would say that Klöden and Popovych were the strongest, but overall the team was consistent. We were smooth. We didn't make any mistakes. No mis-turns, no crashes, no flat tires."

On his position in the general classification:

"What happened yesterday, you couldn't expect that neither. It's nice to be close, to win a stage, to win an event we like so much. We will see now. This is a confession: 12 months ago I expected it to be easier, so yes, I expected it. Six months ago I did not expect it any more. I realized that it was harder than I thought. I was just disrespectful to Carlos Sastre or Cadel Evans. This is not easy at all. Today I am realistic. I have both feet on the ground. It will not be like in 2001 or 2005. It will be harder. That's as honest as I can say it."

On the spectacle he's brought back to the Tour in four days:

"I think there was excitement the last four years. A day like yesterday was just a surprise. There were questions about the tactics of yesterday. It was just luck. Tomorrow Evans can be in the front and we might not be."

On being considered a favorite:

"I am happy with where I am. I don't know if I'm the best in the race. I came in this race thinking that I would be one of the best, based on the trainings and tests that I've done, based on the trainings with Levi Leipheimer. "

On the team's cohesion:

"It's not nearly as difficult as the media makes it up to be. The first week of the Tour the media have to find something to write about. In Monaco it was about Vinokourov and Bruyneel, yesterday it was about Contador and me. Next week it will be something else. In the mean time we just ignore those things and Alberto does that too. We proved today we are just a good team. Most of this falls to the responsibility of Johan Bruyneel and our directors. They have to direct the team and the tactics and attitude in the team. We go forward with two leaders. I am confident we will find a good solution. "

On not having to defend the Yellow Jersey:

"There will probably be less pressure, but this will not change the race for us. We wouldn't have tried to control the race tomorrow anyhow. The Tour will not be decided in week one but in part two of week three."

Additional Cycling Resources:

• Tour de France Archive (1997-2008): Tour de France/James Raia
• Cycling Features Archive (1997-2008) Cycling/James Raia
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• The Tour Within The Tour de France (E-book). Free preview