Lance Armstrong plays down his chances of winning time trials at Tour de France

Armstrong wary of first week of Tour

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, — The Tour de France gets under way Saturday and Lance Armstrong says he doesn’t expect to win the 5.5-mile prologue of what will be his last ride in cycling’s premier event.

The short and mainly flat stage through the Dutch port of Rotterdam’s city center doesn’t feature major problems but Armstrong has struggled in the discipline recently. He used to dominate his rivals in time trials during his heyday.

Last year, his failure in the Annecy time trial hampered his chances in his comeback attempt at winning the Tour for the eighth time. He eventually finished third in the race.

Armstrong says “I’m not going to win on Saturday, I know that.”