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SYDNEY, Jan 12, 2009 (AFP) – American Lance Armstrong has arrived for next
week’s Tour Down Under declaring he is in the best shape of his life at the
start of a season, reports said Monday.

The seven-time Tour de France champion played down ambitions for his return
to professional cycling in the Australian tour, but hinted he was in arguably
the best form of his career, for this time of the year.

“Considering other Januaries, it is probably ahead of what it would have
been in other years,” Armstrong told The Sydney Morning Herald upon his
arrival late Sunday.

“But I have been training a lot earlier than the previous years as well. I
am optimistic. I feel good.”

The Texan cycling great said he was feeling the anticipation over his
return to racing, which will have him competing in the Tour de France in July
at the age of 37.

“It is hard to compare because it has been such a long break and it has
been the longest break I have had,” he said.

“It’s both nervousness and excitement. I am excited to be here.”

Armstrong will race with his Astana teammates for the first time on Sunday
in the Down Under Classic criterium warm-up in Adelaide, and said he wanted to
use the tour to re-adapt to racing after coming out of retirement.

“I just don’t want to get clobbered too bad. That is my main motivation for
training hard,” he said.

“I don’t have any illusions of grandeur. I hope I get in the race and get
re-acclimatised to the tempo and the speed and what it is like to be around
200 guys in a fast-moving group, and we will see.”

Armstrong’s arrival in Australia via Sydney ended days of speculation as to
his travel plans, which organisers had tried to keep secret.

Given the extraordinary interest surrounding his comeback to elite cycling,
organisers said they are taking extra security measures to protect Armstrong
during his time in Adelaide.

Armstrong has dedicated the Tour Down Under not only to his comeback but
his anti-cancer fight through the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which was formed
in 1997, one year after Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

He successfully battled the cancer in 1996, retired from riding in 2005,
but has dedicated his comeback to his “Livestrong” cancer prevention campaign.