Disappointed Armstrong eyeing late bid for victory

Lance Armstrong admitted his return to competitive cycling at the Tour Down Under had so far been “disappointing” but he refused to rule out a late victory surge.

The American, competing for the first time in three years, is currently in 38th position overall, 39 seconds behind ochre jersey holder Allan Davis, who claimed the fourth stage today in a sprint finish in Barossa Valley.

Stage-three victor Graeme Brown (Rabobank) was runner up while Jose Joaquin Gil (Caisse d’Epargne) was third home.

Seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong finished in the peloton and conceded afterwards he was still a little rusty following his long lay-off.

He said: “It’s disappointing but still it’s January not July so I have to keep reminding myself.

“It’s all about setting and re-setting expectations, it’s been three-and-half years, it’s a long time.

“This is still the first race back after a long time and I’d be kidding myself if I expected to show up and pound people.”

The race concludes on Sunday on the streets of Adelaide with the Texan insisting he will be there or thereabouts come the finish.

He said: “I think I can be there, I know I won’t be riding away (from the field).”

It is expected Armstrong’s best chance of winning a stage will come tomorrow when the competitors ride from Snapper Point to Willunga.

Davis, who rides for team Quick Step finished today’s 143-kilometre stage in three hours, 29 minutes and 35 seconds.

He admitted he was surprised to win because he was feeling ’very ordinary’ when it began.

“I had pretty bad feelings today. I pulled up a little bit stiff from the crash yesterday,” he said.

“I pretty much followed Robbie (McEwen) and the Katusha team for the last 50km.”

Earlier, Vladimir Efimkin (AG2R La Mondiale), Andoni Lafuente (Euskaltel - Euskadi) and Travis Meyer (UniSA) broke away and at the 12-kilometre mark they had a one minute, 20 second lead over the peloton.

Just over 20 kilometres of hilly terrain later and the trio had extended their buffer to more than nine minutes and it wasn’t until the first sprint in Mount Pleasant that the rest of the riders started to regain ground.

At the 99-kilometre stage Lafuente fell off the pace and at about the same time Matthew Lloyd (Silence – Lotto), Tom Stubbe (Silence – Lotto) and Dries Devenyns (Quick Step) veered away from the peloton in pursuit of the leading duo of Efimkin and Meyer.

The peloton picked up the pace and reined in the chase group and then the leaders with about 13 kilometres to go.

It ensured a huge finish with a massive group of riders finishing the stage within seconds of each other.