With rivals such as Alberto Contador already racking up big results, Lance Armstrong will have some busy weeks ahead as he seeks to build the kind of form which could see him take his eighth Tour title. His latest schedule has been announced on the Team RadioShack website, and he will do either eight or nine events before heading to France for the biggest goal of 2010.
The 38 year old’s next race will be in one week’s time, namely Milan-San Remo. He will head back to the Italian Classic determined to improve upon his showing last year, where he was 125th, eight minutes and 19 seconds behind the victor Mark Cavendish (HTC- Columbia).
That performance showed that he was some way off where he needed to be, and the problem was compounded by his crash two days later in the Vuelta Castilla y León. A broken collarbone further hampered the Texan’s progress.
Following Milan-San Remo, Armstrong will head to Corsica for the two-day, three stage Critérium International. Next up will be the Tour of Flanders on April 4th and, depending on how he is feeling, he may also ride the Circuit de la Sarthe between April 6th and 9th.
Three more Classics follow after that; Amstel Gold, on April 18th, Flèche Wallonne on April 21st and then, four days later, Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Following those one day events, his focus will turn completely towards stage races as he continues his buildup to the Tour. He will join a host of other big names in the Tour of California, which should benefit from far better weather in its new May 16-23 timeslot.
He’ll then finalise his preparations for the Tour de France by riding the Tour de Suisse from June 12-20, a race he won back in 2001.
In between those races, he will be training hard in the US and in Europe, attempting to reach a higher level of form than in 2009. He was third in last year’s Tour, and knows that he if he can step up his game, he could challenge for another yellow jersey in Paris.
Armstrong will not compete against Alberto Contador before the 2010 Tour de France, which begins in Rotterdam on July 3rd.
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Lance Armstrong's 2010 race schedule (provisional):
Milan-San Remo - March 20
Critérium International - March 27-28
Tour of Flanders - April 4
Circuit de la Sarthe (Possible) - April 6-9
Amstel Gold - April 18
Flèche Wallonne - April 21
Liège-Bastogne-Liège - April 25
Tour of California - May 16-23
Tour de Suisse - June 12-20
Tour de France - July 3-25