Just about any European bicycle race this month is touted as a tune-up for the 2010 Tour de France. That's always been true for the just-ended Dauphine Libere.
It's also the case for the Tour de Suisse that started Saturday and runs through next Sunday. The Versus cable network will broadcast highlights of the race daily this week.
While Spain's Alberto Contador focused attention on the Dauphine as the training ground for his attempt for a third victory at the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong, above right, is racing in the Tour de Suisse to prepare for his attempt for an eighth Tour de France championship.
[RadioShack teammate Janez Brajkovic won the Dauphine, Contador second and US cyclist Tejay Van Garderen from HTC-Columbia finished third.]
Among others, he's going up against Switzerland's homeboy and defending champion Fabian Cancellara, above left. The time trial specialist won the opening prologue and remained in yellow after Stage 2 on Sunday. Cervelo Test Team's Heinrich Haussler won the stage.
Armstrong sits 29 seconds behind Cancellara in the overall classification in 33rd place after Stage 2. He wrote at Twitter:
“I felt “ok”. Not great, not terrible. …. Nasty weather, over the simplon pass (2000 mts), fast downhill, and aggressive final w/ some short climbs that hurt.”
Full results can be found at CyclingNews.
The mountainous bike race also drew a half-dozen other American cyclists. They are:
RadioShack — Levi Leipheimer and Jason McCartney
Garmin-Transitions — Tom Danielson, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie
BMC Racing — George Hincapie
The Swiss bike race is a late addition to Armstrong's race card as he needed more time on the bicycle after crashing out of the Amgen Tour of California in May. The 38-year-old felt his condition returning during the Tour of Luxembourg where he finished in third place overall in early June. He's hoping the mountains in Switzerland will fine-tune his legs.
Versus schedule
Because of interest in the bike due to Armstrong being on the roster, the Versus sports cable network is broadcasting daily highlights from the tour. Here's what Versus posted on its TV schedule so far this week:
Sunday: 5 p.m. ET
Monday: 7 p.m. ET
Tuesday: 4 and 7 p.m. ET
Wednesday: 7 p.m. ET
Thursday: 7 p.m. ET
Friday: 7 p.m. ET
Saturday: (No coverage scheduled.)
Sunday: 5 – 7 p.m. ET
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