HTC-Columbia's Czech time-trial champion Frantisek Rabon won Stage 4 of the Murcia bike race on Saturday and took the overall lead, as Lance Armstrong climbed into 7th place.
The Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia across southern Spain ends Sunday with a 75-mile stage that's expected to end in a mass sprint.
Elsewhere, the week-long Paris-Nice bicycle race starts Sunday in France, and Tirreno-Adriatico rolls out Wednesday for seven days across Italy.
While top racers struggle for top finishes in the Murcia bike race, most eyes are on Armstrong. RadioShack manager Johan Bruyneel made headlines earlier in the race when he said the 38-year-old Texan was a “long way off” from being in good shape right now.
That shouldn't cause any concern among Lance-o-philes. The last time he raced Murcia was as a hot-shot 32-year-old in 2004. He finished in 23rd place that year, but still went on to win his 6th Tour de France victory that same summer.
Armstrong finished in 8th place in Saturday's 13.6-mile flat time trial, 1:18 behind winner Rabon.
Other top finishers included Denis Menchov in 2nd at 33 seconds back and Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins at 48 seconds behind. Wiggins is considered as one of the top contenders for this year's Tour de France, along with Armstrong nemisis Alberto Contador.
Armstrong teammate Andreas Kloden finished in 4th place at 52 seconds back. Garmin Transitions time trialer David Zabriskie finished in 10th.
Recent Comments