Armstrong Braced for Tough New Giro Challenge

Lance Armstrong believes the Giro d'Italia – which he will ride for the first time in May – will place unprecedented demands on him as a cyclist.

The seven-times Tour de France winner, who has spent the past three years in retirement, is relishing the new and unique challenges posed by the Giro in its centenary year after its organisers announced the race format for 2009.

"It's totally different for me. I'm used to the Tour, where you have at least 10 flat stages that don't have an impact on the overall standings. Whereas in the early stages of the Giro there's going to be a lot to lose and little to gain," said Armstrong.

During his run of Tour victories, the American usually stayed with the pack during the opening flat stages in the first week, then blew away the competition on the opening mountain stage. The Giro, however, will begin with a team time-trial, while the fourth and fifth legs each end with climbs.

"We're going to face the Dolomites right away in the first week, and they're not just minor stages. There are two consecutive uphill finishes. I'm going to have to be ready right away." Accustomed to midsummer conditions during the Tour, which is raced in July, Armstrong is also worried about bad weather in the Italian Alps. "At the beginning of May, on certain mountains the climate could be terrible," he said.

Armstrong is also relishing the prospect of the 38-mile individual time-trial on stage 12. "It's long, maybe the longest of my career, with climbs," he said. "It's going to last about an hour and 20 minutes and there could be several-minute differences between the first, fifth, and 10th-place finishers."

The other key stage Armstrong has circled is the 17th leg from Chieti to Blockhaus, about half of which is an uphill finish. "It's only 79km (49 miles) but short stages are always very dangerous," he said. "Some riders excel and others don't. And it comes after a rest day. It's always tougher to race after resting. The body gets used to the rhythm of racing, then you stop and something strange happens."