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Still getting better Long-time coach says Armstrong is even fitter in 2002Posted: Sunday July 07, 2002 6:11 PMLUXEMBOURG (Reuters) -- Long-standing coach Chris Carmichael is confident the Lance Armstrong will win his fourth consecutive title in this year's Tour de France. "Lance is in good shape. I think he's in the same condition he was last year at the start of the Tour," Carmichael told Reuters on Sunday, a day after Armstrong won the Tour's opening prologue in Luxembourg. "If we're at that level, then he'll be very difficult to beat." Carmichael has coached Armstrong for the past 12 years, helping him to develop from a raw amateur talent into a successful professional rider. He also helped Armstrong return to cycling after his testicular cancer in 1997. Carmichael believes that Armstrong has constantly improved as a rider since winning his first Tour in 1999. "He's got better and better but it's getting harder to see it," Carmichael said. "He's made improvements but they're smaller. For example, this year he's done more core body work to strengthen his back and abdomen. "That'll help him hold an aerodynamic position on his time-trial bike on the climbs and false flats. It means he can stay aero, stay sitting in the saddle, and so gain time on the climbs. "Perhaps that only makes a tiny difference during the whole of the Tour, but the important thing is that it does make a difference -- it's an improvement. "Lance is always looking to improve, he's a perfectionist," Carmichael added. Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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