Lance Armstrong to Race Giro to Win? If So, Bravo and Forza!!!

Lance Armstrong has hinted to the press that he may contest the 2009 Giro to win, rather than to use the race only as preparation for the July Tour de France. The Italian grand tour will be running for the 100th time, giving Armstrong a chance to be the only man ever to win the centennial edition of two grand tours. Although Armstrong's claim that he may not ride in the Tour is probably an elaborate bluff, it is still encouraging to see the 7-time Tour champ consider a different race.

The biggest knock against Lance Armstrong over his career is that he disregarded all other races in favor of the Tour de France. While it is true that he won other races during his career, no one can argue with the fact that Armstrong was 100% for the Tour, and only entered races that would help him reach his goal of overall victory year over year.

Armstrong's sudden declaration that he would like to contend at the Giro presents several interesting scenarios. One of course is that the world would get to see Lance Armstrong compete to win a race other than the Tour. But there are several other subplots that could develop. Lance's main adversary over the last years of his carrer at the Tour, Ivan Basso, is also set to ride the Giro in 2009. The two are friendly, yet each is trying to forge a new path as they make a comeback to the sport they had previously dominated. What will the dynamic be between Armstrong and Basso when the Giro begins?

Also worth consideration is who would support Armstrong at the Giro. Contador will probably be in a training camp during that time, which leaves Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloden as Armstrong's main supporters. But Johan Bruyneel will have to be careful not to tire his gregarios out too much, and so the team that Armstrong has at his disposal could be on the weaker side. Add the possibility of Alexander Vinokourov returning, and you have the possibility of real chaos as the team searches for an identity.

Another problem could arise if Armstrong somehow manages to win the Giro in 2009. Bruyneel has gone on record as saying that Alberto Contador is the world's best stage racer, but would he maintain that stance if Lance won his first Giro and had a chance to do the Giro-Tour double for the first time since 1998, when a doped-to-the-gills Marco Pantani took top honors in both races? If Armstrong manages to win in Italy, surely he'll want a shot to contend in France, which could set Astana up for legitamate turmoil within the team.

Either way, I salute Armstrong for his willingness to contest the Giro. If he follows through on his word and races to win, I'll cheer him like I never have before. I have always believed that the other great champions (Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, Indurain) had something Lance never did: variety. Each of the aformentioned five time Tour winners had at least one Giro win to their credit, in addition to a slew of other big time races. Armstrong will never have the complete palmares of the legends listed above, but a Giro title would go a long way in proving that the Texan belongs among the best in the history of the sport.

As the Giro is only seven months away, Lance will need to get cracking now if he is to be on top form come May. He'll have to come into the Tour of California on decent form, and will need to adjust his normal schedule to coincide with the beginning of the Giro. A perfectionist, expect Armstrong to use the Tour of California and Paris-Nice stage races as indicators of his form as he sets out to win his first, and probably only, maglia rosa.