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Lance Armstrong quits Paris-Nice race
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-11 10:36
American Lance Armstrong has pulled out of the Paris-Nice race with a sore
throat.
The six-times winner of the Tour de France will return to his home at Girona
in Spain for treatment, according to a statement on his Discovery team's Web
Site.
American Lance
Armstrong has pulled out of the Paris-Nice race with a sore throat. The
six-time winner of the Tour de France will return to his home at Girona in
Spain for treatment, according to a statement on his Discovery team's Web
Site. Armstrong is seen after the second stage of the race in Thiers,
March 8, 2005. [Reuters] | "I had finally adjusted
to the jet lag of the trip but woke up this morning with a sore throat that
seemed to get worse all day," Armstrong said on Wednesday. "I will return to
Spain to rest up and be back on the bike in a couple of days."
Paris-Nice was the first major event on the agenda of the Texas rider after
he decided to enter the Tour de France in July and chase for a seventh
consecutive victory in the most gruelling cycle race of the world.
But even before he returned to France, the American made it clear that he did
not expect anything from Paris-Nice apart from spending time on his bike in race
conditions.
"This is my first race of the season and I'm not physically fit at the
moment," he said. "I'm certainly a bit late in my preparations as I have spent
more time than usual in the United States this winter."
Armstrong finished at a disappointing 140th place in the Sunday's prologue,
an individual time-trial of 4.5 kilometers in the Paris suburbs.
The Discovery team leader then lost more ground on leaders when he was
trapped in a collective fall in the first stage near Chabris on Monday.
SCHEDULE CHANGES
He then finished twice with the bunch but he seemed to suffer from the bad
weather as the second and the third stages, shortened because of the snow, were
raced in sub-zero temperatures.
When he pulled out, Armstrong was 62nd overall, one minute 35 seconds behind
race leader Tom Boonen of Belgium.
His withdrawal means that Armstrong will now have to reshuffle his schedule
and bring in some changes in his preparations for the Tour de France.
He is considering taking part into the Setmana Catalana next week before
returning to the United States for the Tour of Georgia.
Armstrong had said that he wanted to focus on spring's one-day races and he
could race in the Tour of Flanders on April 3 before
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