More Lance effect at Tour Down Under

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MAWSON LAKES, Australia -- Astana team director Sean Yates made sure Lance Armstrong’s bike was safely stored in the team bus, assessed Armstrong’s 120th placement in the first stage of the Tour Down Under as ‘satisfactory,’ then put a little pressure on the 37-year-old comeback kid in advance of Wednesday’s 45-mile stage from Hanhdorf to Stirling that includes one-mile climb, as being a stage where Armstrong might chose to attack to try to win. ‘I’d watch out for Lance,’ Yates said. ‘It’s a good stage for him.’

Tour officials said that during last year’s first stage an estimated 77,000 fans were on the course and that Tuesday there were 88,000.

-- Diane Pucin