As you probably know from THIS story TdF champ Lance Armstrong and Ironman Chris Lieto had a bit of TTT (Twitter Time Trial) race in Kona, Hawaii last week.
The two Trek sponsored athletes raced against the clock down the Queen-K highway on the big island.
BTW: In case you are curious Armstrong won by 15 seconds.
But the experience left one of the strongest cyclist in Ironman Triathlon racing impressed with Armstrong's Kona chances.
"I think he’ll be in the mix a little bit. He’ll create some stir. He’ll get some people worried, stressed out about where he is. I think he even has the ability to get top-five" Lieto recently told Competitor's VeloNews managing editor Neal Rogers.
"Velo New: So what sort of performance is he capable of? I’m looking for a time. Can he go under nine hours?
CL: Oh yeah, he’ll go under nine, for sure. There’s
no reason he couldn’t. It’s all about the engine. He’s a very smart
guy, so he gets the part about balance, and nutrition … there’s so much
more to a triathlon than pure raw power and speed. You’ve got to be
patient, and you’ve got to be calculating in your nutrition plan and
how you get the fluids in you, and as far as dosing your effort. He’ll
know that if he does a 112-mile bike, he’ll need to be reserved to do
the marathon. He’s not going to go and kill the bike leg. In the race
we did on the Queen K, it was 18km, 10-11 miles, it was short, it’s
different, it’s raw power, a different approach. He knows what he’s
doing. I think he’ll go sub-nine. I think he’ll be in the mix a little
bit. He’ll create some stir. He’ll get some people worried, stressed
out about where he is. I think he even has the ability to get top-five."
You can read the rest of the interview HERE.
Lieto took the runner up spot at last year's Ironman Championships in Kona to Craig Alexander
Click HERE to see the best moments from that 2009 Ironman Championship race including Lieto's second place finish.
Check out Armstrong's TT bike HERE.
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