Armstrong's name had been linked with Laurent Jalabert's ONCE team, but in recent months the rivalry between the two has so strained relations that the Texan promptly discounts the theory. "There's no way in hell that I'd go to ONCE," he stated, "especially as Jalabert is still acting so strange towards me. Anyway, I don't understand ONCE's tactics - they kill themselves to put the whole team in the top 20 at the prologue, but why? Echavarri [directeur sportif to Miguel Indurain's Banesto team] is much smarter, much calmer. You wait - Echavarri knows exactly what he's doing."
So, with the Atlanta road race looming on the horizon, when could we expect to see the 24-year-old former world champion shaping events at this year's Tour? "I'll be trying to take it easy in the bunch until the Massif Central stages (July 12-14)," he revealed, "but I'm trying to keep some reserves for Atlanta. There's no point me killing myself through the stages in the Alps and the Pyrenees, only to get dropped on the final big climbs - that's not going to achieve anything. I'll be with the gruppetto!"
Meanwhile, a couple of tables away, Mapei/GB's Tony Rominger, fifth overall after the prologue, was sitting alongside his lean teammate, world road race champion Abraham Olano, chatting amiably to journalists in Italian, Spanish and English. The Swiss star's demeanor was a far cry from his stressed and weary manner before the start of last year's race, which followed on from a stunning but exhausting victory in that year's Giro d'Italia. "Yes, I am more relaxed than at this time last year," admitted the 35-year-old. "But this is the first time in my career that I've concentrated only on the Tour and that makes a big difference to how you feel when you start the race. For the last four years I've raced and won the Tour of Spain (1992, 1993 and 1994) or the Giro d'Italia (1995). If that happens, then it's hard to lift yourself again for another three-week stage race so soon afterwards."
Rominger was another of those riders not surprised by Alex Zulle's performance in the prologue. "That's what he's good at," he said, "short time trials up to about 30 kilometers. Beyond that distance, Indurain is the best and sometimes, if I'm in really good condition, I'm among the best, too."
But in Rominger's view, could any conclusions be made following performances in the prologue? "It's a shame it was raining," he said, "because everybody held back, especially after what happened to Boardman last year. So it's not easy to tell from yesterday who's going well and who's not in great form. And it was completely flat, even though it was long, so that doesn't help either."
So would he now slip back into the pack, awaiting the crucial stages to Besancon and Les Arcs, at the end of this week? "It's not as simple as that," he explained. "Today it's windy and it might rain, too, so you have to be really careful. It's a very big peloton and everybody's nervous because it's the start of the race - you can never take it easy during the Tour ...."