Check this out (courtesy of Velonews.com 01-06-2004)
In an interview broadcast on Dutch television Thursday, American Lance Armstrong strongly suggested that he is not inclined to take on the Tour de France in 2005.
Instead, the six-time Tour winner said he wants to focus his efforts on a host of spring classics.
"The Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race, Liège-Bastogne- Liège and why not Paris-Roubaix?" Armstrong suggested. "There are a lot of races I would like to do. There's also the hour record. That would be great, too. I'd also like to take on the world time trial championships, too."
In an interview with Dutch journalist Mark Smeets in Austin in November, Armstrong said that the he currently had no plans to ride the Tour.
"I am not planning to take part in the Tour," he said, noting that now the best he can do is to add to his record.
Contacted by the French wire service AFP on Thursday, Discovery Channel assistant director Dirk Demol said that Armstrong had not entirely written off the 2005 Tour.
"It's just that he doesn't want to think about the next Tour until after the Classics," Demol said. "Contrary to what I read and heard in the Belgian media Thursday, Lance definitively hasn't closed the door on the Tour this year."
"You may well see him in Fromentine," site of the July 2 prologue, said Demol.
Uncertainy surrounding the Tour or not, Armstrong said he was certain that he would not ride either the Giro d'Italia nor the Vuelta a España.
The 33-year-old Texan has a two-year contract with the Discovery team, which has scheduled its official debut for early next week.
In an interview broadcast on Dutch television Thursday, American Lance Armstrong strongly suggested that he is not inclined to take on the Tour de France in 2005.
Instead, the six-time Tour winner said he wants to focus his efforts on a host of spring classics.
"The Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race, Liège-Bastogne- Liège and why not Paris-Roubaix?" Armstrong suggested. "There are a lot of races I would like to do. There's also the hour record. That would be great, too. I'd also like to take on the world time trial championships, too."
In an interview with Dutch journalist Mark Smeets in Austin in November, Armstrong said that the he currently had no plans to ride the Tour.
"I am not planning to take part in the Tour," he said, noting that now the best he can do is to add to his record.
Contacted by the French wire service AFP on Thursday, Discovery Channel assistant director Dirk Demol said that Armstrong had not entirely written off the 2005 Tour.
"It's just that he doesn't want to think about the next Tour until after the Classics," Demol said. "Contrary to what I read and heard in the Belgian media Thursday, Lance definitively hasn't closed the door on the Tour this year."
"You may well see him in Fromentine," site of the July 2 prologue, said Demol.
Uncertainy surrounding the Tour or not, Armstrong said he was certain that he would not ride either the Giro d'Italia nor the Vuelta a España.
The 33-year-old Texan has a two-year contract with the Discovery team, which has scheduled its official debut for early next week.