Armstrong braces for Tour’s last, tough week

PARIS (AP) — For Lance Armstrong to win an eighth Tour de France, he will not only have to beat the best rider in the world — his teammate and rival Alberto Contador — he will also need to master an innovative course with a grueling last week that includes four mountain stages.

The 37-year-old, back in competition this season after more than three years of retirement, said this year’s race, starting Saturday in Monaco, was more likely to favor pure climbers like Contador.

“There is only [about 34 miles] of time trials, which is much less than normal,” Armstrong said, “and the final week is extremely hard with a lot of climbs. So all the way from Colmar [stage 14], to Verbier, the Alps, the time trial and then the [Mont] Ventoux ... I’ve never seen a final week of the Tour like that.”

Armstrong has never won at the fabled and dreaded Ventoux — one of the few climbs where’s he’s come off second-best.

“It owns a special place in my heart,” Armstrong said. “Obviously it would be a sweet feeling to win there finally, but if you want to win there you have to be the best.”

Traditionally, the Tour finishes with a time trial on the penultimate day, before a largely ceremonial ride into Paris on the last day.

But this year, Ventoux, a huge moonscape of rock in Provence with no vegetation, will be the 20th of the 21 stages. The punishing climb, on which British rider Tom Simpson died in 1967, could possibly decide the outcome.

In his heyday, Armstrong had two occasions to triumph on the so called “Bald Mountain.”

In 2000, when he won the Tour for a second time, he allowed the late Marco Pantani of Italy to pass him at the finish line, later regretting having given away the victory.

Two years later, Armstrong’s team reacted too late and failed to catch Frenchman Richard Virenque, settling for third place.

After the opening time trial in Monaco and a team time trial in Montpellier where the Texan believes his Astana team will take the yellow jersey, the peloton heads out along the Mediterranean coast and up through the Pyrenees, where three mountain stages are scheduled.

The first one, between Barcelona and Arcalis, is the most demanding with a grueling 6.6-mile final ascent. Usually, Armstrong would dominate his rivals on the race’s first big climb, but this time he is preaching caution.

“There are too many difficult parts in the final week,” he said. “Honestly speaking, I plan to be careful in Arcalis. You really have to think about the final week.”