Injured Armstrong fine for Le Tour, says team manager

Published on Tuesday 24 March 2009 21:46

ASTANA team manager Johan Bruyneel is confident that Lance Armstrong's broken collarbone will not prevent him from riding in either the Giro d'Italia or Tour de France, though he isn't likely to be a contender for the title in the Italian classic.

"I don't think this changes anything for the Tour de France," Bruyneel said. "A broken collarbone in March does not at all compromise the start of the Tour de France or your performance in the Tour de France."

The Tour runs from 4-26 July, but the 37-year-old American had also planned to ride in the Giro for the first time from 9-31 May. Bruyneel said the team was "not ruling out the Giro at all". He added: "Being at the start of the Giro is no problem. But he has to have at least a decent level to be in the race and to compete at a certain level.

"Now it's almost clear that he's not going to be able to be a contender but we just have to change our focus and try to do the Giro, if he can get to the start, with another mentality."

Armstrong fractured his collarbone on Monday after crashing in the first stage of the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon race in northern Spain. The seven-time Tour champion stayed in Bruyneel's house in Madrid on Monday night before flying out yesterday to Austin, Texas, for possible surgery.

"Sitting in the airport getting ready to fly home. Layover in NYC then ATX!" Armstrong wrote on his Twitter feed. Bruyneel said Armstrong would see a specialist in Austin as soon as possible.

"Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow morning, and then we'll see what the verdict is," Bruyneel said. "I would say at first it's not a complicated fracture, which is good. I think now the question is whether there's going to be surgery or not. That's up to the specialists."

Armstrong was riding in only his second race in Europe since returning from three-and-a-half years of retirement. Last week, he finished 125th in the Milan-San Remo cycling classic, more than eight minutes behind the winner, Britain's Mark Cavendish.

"He was very disappointed. Spirits were not high yesterday, I have to say, but that's logical," Bruyneel said. "He has to consider himself lucky that it's not worse. From all the bones you have in your body, if you have to break one, I would choose the collarbone because it's the one that heals the fastest. It's not a leg or a knee or a foot or a hip, which would mean several weeks or months without any activity."

Armstrong crashed after a pileup of riders about 12-and-a-half miles from the finish of the first stage of the Castilla and Leon race. Bruyneel said Armstrong hit the ground hard with his head, breaking his helmet.

Armstrong was riding alongside Astana team-mate Alberto Contador, winner of the Tour de France in 2007, for the first time.

"It's a shame to lose Lance in this way because he was eager to get some good preparation in this race, " Contador said. "The only thing I can do is to give him my best and hope he recovers to race in the Giro."