Being your own boss brings pressure, says Armstrong

Published>Thu, Jun 03 10 08:51 AM

Being your own boss can bring its share of pressure and seven-times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong is experiencing just that this year.

The American, in his second year of competitive cycling following more than three in retirement, is riding with Team RadioShack, an outfit he launched at the end of last season after leaving Astana.

"Last year at the Tour I felt no pressure, absolutely no pressure," Armstrong told reporters after the prologue of the Tour of Luxembourg.

"It was not my team, I did not take a salary. I was there just riding, to do everything with the (Livestrong) foundation."

One of the highlights of last year's Tour de France was the duel between Armstrong and eventual winner Alberto Contador of Spain.

Both were riding for Astana and the relationship between the two quickly deteriorated. Armstrong announced the creation of Team RadioShack after the race's final time trial in Annecy.

"This year is different. This is my team and we put the team together and we organise it, we organise the money," said Armstrong, who finished fifth in the Tour of Luxembourg 2.6-km prologue.

"So with that comes pressure."

There is also pressure on the road for Armstrong, who is trying to make up for lost time in a season hampered by illness and a crash at last month's Tour of California.

"There are still some lingering effects (from the crash) but it's nothing that's going to keep me from training hard, racing hard," he said.

Armstrong, however, needs some competition, after stomach problems forced him to pull out of the Milan-San Remo classic and retire from the Circuit de la Sarthe.

"It's been kind of a year of speed bumps, little hiccups or false starts. The stomach bug in La Sarthe was a big problem, the crash was also a problem but there's nothing we can do," he said.

"The reason I came here is to get four or five extra race days and hopefully (the Tour of Switzerland later this month) will provide those too."

Confidence is high, however, in Armstrong's camp.

"Indications we were getting in California before the crash were good," the 38-year-old Texan said.

Armstrong's team manager and mentor, Johan Bruyneel, told Reuters: "Everything is now in order, he has been to able to train normally after the crash."

Armstrong is riding the Tour of Luxembourg until Sunday before heading to the Tour of Switzerland from June 12-20.

The Tour de France starts from Rotterdam on July 3.

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