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Armstrong is favorite, says Indurain Posted: Thursday July 11, 2002 10:15 AMMADRID (Reuters) -- Capturing the overall lead in the Tour de France may have been a major boost to Igor Gonzalez Galdeano's hopes of winning the race but Lance Armstrong remains the overwhelming favorite, according to five times Tour winner Miguel Indurain. "He (Gonzalez Galdeano) has now beaten Armstrong on his own territory and so he we will feel optimistic about the rest of the race," Indurain told Spanish sports daily Marca on Thursday. "But the American (Armstrong) remains the favourite. The differences between the two are minimal and there is still another time trial to come before they hit the mountains." Gonzalez Galdeano became the first Spaniard to wear the leader's yellow jersey in the Tour since Indurain in 1995 thanks to a slick performance from his ONCE team to help them win Wednesday's 67.5-km fourth stage team time trial. The 28-year-old Basque rider leads the overall standings with team mate and fellow countryman Joseba Beloki second and three times Tour winner Armstrong in third, a further three seconds back. Indurain said that claiming the yellow jersey for the first time was a major achievement for the ONCE rider, but that he would have his work cut out to retain it. "He is going to have a very tough job because he has Armstrong to beat, and if the American is in the same shape as the last few years, then bad luck," he said. But Indurain, who dominated the Tour with five consecutive victories between 1991 and 1995, said even Armstrong would struggle at some point in the race. "At the moment Armstrong looks very strong and he has a great team, but it should never be forgotten that everyone has some bad moments in the Tour," he said. "But if one of his coincides with the mountains and his rivals get to find out then anything could happen."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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