Armstrong is feeling the strain in Spain

The 38-year-old Armstrong said yesterday he "suffered a little bit" at the start of the Vuelta of Murcia, his first race in five weeks. Nerves even came into play.

"It's just the tempo," he said. "It was a windy day, it's nervous and at the end we're doing 60-70 kilometres (35-45 miles) an hour, and you can't simulate that in training. So you're a little bit out of element."

Team RadioShack chief Johan Bruyneel said Armstrong, who was 46th with the same time as leader Robert Hunter of Garmin-Transitions, was "still a long way off from being in good shape right now.

"He's a bit better than last year, but he's different," Bruyneel said. "Last year everything was new, we had lost all of the references. The whole time we lived with doubt – doubt whether he would reach a certain level, how would that level be, what do we have to do. Now we know he can reach a competitive level."