The presence of seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has dominated the build-up to the Tour Down Under, but the man himself remains modest about his chances when the ProTour season-opener begins in Adelaide on Tuesday.
Armstrong will make his well-publicised comeback to professional cycling after originally retiring from the sport following the last of his Le Tour successes in 2005.
His participation, along with 2006 Tour de France winner Oscar Pereiro, has ensured unprecedented interest in the 10-year-old Tour Down Under.
And the Texan, 37, got a taste test of what to expect during the six-stage event today when 138,000 fans turned out to watch him compete in the Cancer Council Classic - a 51-kilometre criterium around the streets of Adelaide which acts as a prelude to this week's tour.
Armstrong, who was riding for new team Astana for the first time, kept out of trouble by opting to sit back in the peloton and afterwards admitted he was probably still short of fitness, despite a punishing training regime in the lead-up to his comeback.
‘It's fun to get back in there (but) it will probably take a while and I need to get more power and do some more hills,’ he said.
‘I felt good, I've trained a lot for this comeback, I've trained a lot for this race. I'm glad the first day is over and now we can get into the race and maybe relax a little bit more.’
Armstrong has denied, however, the tour will act as a glorified training run for him.
‘If the opportunity is there to attack I'll certainly take it,’ he said. ‘If the race dictates it and I feel good I promise you I will attack.’
Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel does not expect Armstrong to be amongst those battling for the leader's ochre jersey.
However, with a couple of testing climbs during the tour, most notably on the 148km penultimate stage, Bruyneel expects Armstrong will look to fully examine his current level of fitness.
‘It's definitely not our ambition or intention to win here. What is for sure, if Lance feels good at a certain stage he will want to test himself but how good that is going to be compared to the top level competition we don't know,’ he said.
‘I think he's good enough to be in the front group but really to go for the win is way too early and it wouldn't be really realistic, he needs more time.’
Team Columbia's Andre Greipel will be looking to defend his title after he won the race last year when it was granted ProTour status for the first time.
The home challenge will be headed by Stuart O'Grady, who won the Tour Down Under in 1999 and 2001.
Australians have won this event on five of the 10 occasions it has been run, and are expected to figure prominently as it arrives in the middle of their summer programme.
Pereiro, who was named the 2006 Le Tour winner after the disqualification of Floyd Landis, will head the European challenge as he makes a return of his own.
The Spaniard only returned to the saddle a month ago after breaking his arm on a descent in last year's Tour de France.
The tour starts with a 140km stage from the Adelaide suburb of Norwood to Mawson Lakes on Tuesday.
