Lance Armstrong only rode the Tour De Suisse as a tune up ride for the Tour De France next month but he’s happy with his win.
Having won the prologue time trial, he won the main mountain time trial by over a minute and a half from Gilberto Simoni the Giro winner. His USPS team practised their jersey defence strategy for the next two days to make sure Armstrong crossed the finish line 1:25 ahead of second place. As team manager Johan Bruyneel toldCyclingnews.com “We are not overexcited, because our goal is higher than this, but I’m very happy with the results and how things went. We know we are ready.”

Meanwhile French magistrates have finally said that Lance and the US Postal Service team are unlikely to be charged over an investigation following reports of possible dope dumping by French media. An official statement yesterday said “Tests on the contents of the bags didn’t bring to light any facts susceptible to lead to criminal charges.” Tests of year 2000 urine samples still continue, but results won’t be known until after the tour.