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Last chance for Lance Armstrong's gold medal hopes rest on time trial
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Lance Armstrong has one day left to mark the Sydney Games. Armstrong, the two-time Tour de France champion is a favorite in the 48.6-kilometer (33-mile) time trial. It's his last shot, but also his best shot, at the gold he came to claim. "Winning the gold medal is a big objective," said Armstrong, who placed 13th in Wednesday's road race. "If it wasn't, why bother coming? If I didn't think I could win gold, I wouldn't have done it." His toughest opponent could well be Jan Ullrich, who won Wednesday's road race. "The big advantage is that I've got my gold medal," said Ullrich. "He still has to work for it," he said, referring to his U.S. rival. In the time trial, riders leave individually and race against the clock for the fastest times. Armstrong didn't need to compete in Sydney to make a name for himself. He came back from cancer to win the Tour de France in 1999, his autobiography is a best-seller and he repeated as Tour champion this year. "It would have been easy to take a pass, call it a great year and do some vacation time," Armstrong said. But an Olympic medal was missing from his brilliant career, and it nagged his competitive soul. As a kid growing up in Texas, Armstrong dabbled in swimming and fantasized about Olympic glory. "I always looked at Olympic swimmers and thought how cool that would be, to grow up and be an Olympic swimmer," Armstrong said. "I don't think I had the talent to do that." No, but his interest in swimming spawned his participation in triathlons, which developed into his cycling career. Now, he's one of the world's best riders, a former world champion and two-time Tour champion. If only he could reach the podium at the Olympics. "I always dreamed of winning an Olympic medal," Armstrong said. "For me to make the Olympic team in '92 was a career high at the time. As a kid, my sport was swimming. Fortunately, I found my real sport and now I'm here." Armstrong's road race was disappointing, his fourth Olympic event going back to Atlanta and Barcelona without a medal. Then again, the road race wasn't his priority for Sydney. He targeted his training toward the time trial, especially after breaking a neck vertebra when he crashed into a car during a training ride last month. Armstrong wasn't able to endure the seven- to eight-hour training rides needed to prepare for the road race. Instead, he did shorter training rides aimed at the time trial. "I would categorize it as less training with more intensity," he said. Right after the road race, Armstrong began thinking of the time trial. "My legs felt good," he said. "I didn't really train for this race. I'm very optimistic about Saturday."
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