A poor spring marked by his withdrawal from the Tour of Italy might not seem like perfect preparation for the Tour de France, but Greg LeMond is certain he can win his fourth Tour when the 1991 race starts Saturday.
"I'm a different man as soon as the Tour starts," LeMond said Wednesday. "It's what I've always dreamed about. Some riders crack up psychologically. They just can't take the pressure. I can. The only thing that will stop me is injury."LeMond's three victories in the Tour, the world's most famous cycle race and arguably the most grueling test offered by any sport, owes as much to his abilities as a strategist as to his stamina.
He won just one stage on his first Tour triumph in 1986, four in 1989 when he beat Laurent Fignon of France by eight seconds on an incredible final day, and none as he won last year.
In fact, he hasn't crossed the finish line first in a race since the world championship of 1989.
"Believe me, I'd like nothing better than to go across that line with my arms raised, but the Tour is a league competition," he said. "You soon find out exactly who you have to beat and you work out how and when to do it.
"It doesn't always mean you have to beat everybody else. All that counts is when the sums are done, you come out top."
This year, threats to LeMond in the 2,448-mile race could come from several sides.
Claudio Chiappucci, runner-up last year, and Gianni Bugno could give Italy its first winner since Felice Gimondi in 1966. Erik Breukink looks like a candidate to become the first Dutch winner since Joop Zoetemelk 11 years ago.
The Italian pair is brimming with confidence.
"I can't see LeMond doing it again," said Chiappucci, 28, known as "Bionic Man."
"He's had a good run. He's had his share of luck. It's someone else's turn. It's my turn. I'm more experienced and I have got a good team. We are here to win" he said.
Bugno, angry at failing to win a second successive Tour of Italy, said he has been concentrating his season on the Tour de France.
"I was very annoyed for one or two days in Italy when I just seemed to lose my legs, but finally it wasn't all negative," he said.
Three stage wins gave him fourth place and restored confidence.
LeMond does not believe in bionic men and thinks Bugno's performance in Italy will hurt him.
"Once you get used to winning, it's hard to accept defeat. His Giro experience (in Italy) will have hurt him," said LeMond, who pulled out of the Italian race before the mountain stages.
"I was not in condition, and there was no point in taking any risks before the Tour."
Chiappucci can count on virtually no help from anyone but his own team after repeatedly breaking professional cycling's unwritten code.
He broke ranks in the Tour of Italy when the rest of the riders had decided on a go-slow to protest poorly lit tunnels.
"At first I put it down to his ambition," LeMond said. "Now I believe it is in the guy himself. You need friends in cycling and he'll pay for it one day."
The 27-year-old Breukink, third last year, has done little of note this season.
One man who is ready to gamble on him is Fignon. The 30-year-old, two-time Tour winner has been plagued by injury and loss of form since losing the Tour to LeMond on 1989's dramatic final day.
"Breukink seems to have taken a leaf out of Greg's book," Fignon said. "He seems to be deliberately keeping a low profile, but from what I saw in Italy he looked really strong."
Fignon's own slim hopes were damaged by a split with team manager Cyrille Guimard this week.
Eight of Breukink's last 12 wins were in time trials. He is good on the long, tiring stages across rolling wind-swept countryside and can limit the damage in the mountains.
"The eighth stage should tell us whether Greg can hold off Breukink, " Fignon said.
That July 13 stage is a 44.74-mile time trial from Argentan to Alencon in Britanny.
The fact there are fewer big mountain stages this year should help both Breukink and Spain's Pedro Delgado.
Delgado, 31, based his 1988 win on his prowess in the mountains but has struggled since that controversial win. Traces of a diuretic, sometimes used as a masking agent for anabolic steroids, were detected in a urine sample.
Canada's Steve Bauer, whose second-place honors include the Olympics and world championships, is another unlikely winner. But he should repeat last year's feat of wearing the leader's coveted yellow jersey for the first week.
Belgians Jean-Paul Van Poppel and Johan Museeuw should rake in the honors in the mass sprint finishes which will dominate those early stages.
LeMond wants to match the record of five wins shared by French greats Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault and Belgian legend Eddy Merckx. He believes that without the 1987 shooting accident which kept him out of two Tours, he would have already tied the mark.
LeMond believes tactical savvy plays a big part in his success, but the answer to his uncanny ability to hit form in July might be a whole lot simpler.
"I suffer from hay fever. I'm never on form in the spring but by the time the Tour swings around I'm just fine," he said.