ADELAIDE, Australia, Jan 12, 2009 (AFP) – Seven-time Tour de France
champion Lance Armstrong said Monday it would be unrealistic to expect him to
win his first race in three years in next week’s Tour Down Under.

The American cycling great declared he was in the best shape of his life at
the start of a season as he prepared to return to professional racing at the
age of 37.

Armstrong’s appearance in the Adelaide tour has generated huge
international interest, enough for organizers to take extra security measures
to protect him during the event.

The first evidence of that was when he was escorted to a press conference
here Monday by police.

Armstrong said he was excited and looked forward to racing again.

“I think it would be unrealistic to expect a victory,” he said.

“The race has gotten harder and harder over the years.

“I hope to be in the mix, I could be completely wrong. I might be the first
guy dropped.”

Armstrong said he was as serious as ever about the competition.

“I’ve prepared much harder this series of months than I ever would have in
the past,” he said.

“The tests that we do on the bike, or on the road, or in the lab indicate
that my January fitness is much better than it ever was the years when I was
winning the Tour (de France).

“But that doesn’t mean anything until you get into the race.”

Armstrong said his decision to return to competitive cycling was influenced
by his campaigning efforts for cancer awareness.

“For me, it’s not so much a sporting challenge, and it’s not a financial
challenge, it’s not any of those things,” he said.

“I came back as a volunteer and so I’m here for the love of the bike and
the passion of the cause.”

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.

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 ended days of speculation as to his travel
plans, which organizers had tried to keep secret.