Graphic: Tour de France 2009

Lance Armstrong's real intentions at the 2009 Tour de France remained enigmatic as the countdown to today's Grand Départ in Monaco continued.

The American will be the eighteenth rider to leave the start ramp in the 15.5km (9.6 miles) time-trial today, nearly three hours before the main contenders set off. It is a far cry from his glory years when, as defending champion, he was always the last man away.

Armstrong's early start may be an attempt to play down his chances, or, given the local trend for late afternoon showers, could be a cunning plan to avoid descending through steep hairpins in the rain. In any event, the Texan can expect to be back at his hotel by the time his younger Astana team-mate - and potential rival - Alberto Contador, of Spain, takes to the road.

Yesterday Armstrong, 37, remained elusive, ensconced inside the Fairmont Hotel overlooking the Mediterranean, as the paparazzi gathered outside. After a brief training sortie, during which he was pursued by a school of motorbikes, he avoided the afternoon press conference given by Contador and Johan Bruyneel, the Astana manager.

Contador, winner of the past three grand tours - of France, Italy and Spain - that he has ridden, is the nominated leader of the Astana team, where he will ride, uneasily, alongside Armstrong, cycling's self-proclaimed “boss”.

This has not been a comforting build-up for Contador. Reminders of Armstrong's iconic status are everywhere, from the clutches of door-stepping journalists outside his hotel, to the boxes of gifts addressed to Armstrong stacked up in the Fairmont's opulent lobby. Contador may be the most prodigious talent in the peloton, but everyone has come to Monaco to see Armstrong.

That includes the doubters and sceptics, who, like moths to a flame, have come to Monaco in search of vindication. Yet Armstrong is too astute to indulge them and requests for interviews from those who have displeased him continue to be denied.

Even the Tour organisation itself, happy to accuse him of “betrayal” in 2005 after doping allegations in the French media, appears seduced. Not for the first time, Armstrong has subjugated the doubters and the power of his name is demonstrated everywhere, even in the Tour follower's handbook.

Yesterday the charm offensive continued as Bruyneel attempted, with Contador alongside him, to play down suggestions of a rift between Armstrong and the Spaniard.

“We start with Alberto as leader, because he has won the last three grand tours that he has ridden,” Bruyneel said. “We respect him and value him for what he has done. We don't have any rivalries within our own team. Our rivals are the other teams. The Tour is always won by the strongest rider.”

Bruyneel admitted that his two star riders had yet to bond. “There haven't been a lot of opportunities for them to be together,” he said. “Then there is the language difference and the cultural barrier. But team spirit will be very high.”

Contador now claims to be motivated only by Armstrong's presence and Bruyneel dismissed suggestions yesterday that his Spanish leader had been so keen to escape Astana this year that he had started negotiations elsewhere. “The only thing you can believe in the newspapers are the date and the price,” Bruyneel said.

Yet the doubts persist over the Contador-Armstrong ticket. Betrayal, backstabbing, and intrigue have often been key elements in the Tour's history. Infamously in 1986, Greg LeMond, of the United States, and Bernard Hinault, of France, began the Tour as joint-leaders of La Vie Claire and ended it as bitter enemies. LeMond, the Tour's first American winner, finally emerged triumphant over the veteran Frenchman, but only after becoming so wary of sabotage by his own team that he slept with his bike in his hotel room and dined separately, his meals prepared by a private chef.

Armstrong's guile will see him through the first part of the race but his experience, both as an athlete and as a master of mind games, may be the key to the final outcome. Few of his younger rivals - Contador, 26, included - are old enough to have been confronted by the Machiavellian skills that Armstrong has in abundance. But is the seven-times champion still capable of proving himself the best rider?

In many senses, Armstrong is already dominant. “I've already won,” he said yesterday. The initial bemusement and, in some quarters, anger and cynicism that greeted the announcement of his comeback has been swept away over the past few days. Armstrong has the French media, the Tour organisation, and it seems, the world governing body, the International Cycling Union (UCI), on his side.

The truth is likely to out in the Tour's final week, which brutally combines mountain climbing and time-trials. Throw in some Armstrong mind games, a little paranoia, and plenty of fatigue and it is easy to see how Contador's protected status as Astana team leader could quickly unravel.

The wit and wisdom of Lance Armstrong

On last year's Tour de France and the performance of Christian Vandevelde
“The Tour was a bit of a joke. I've got nothing against Christian, but finishing fifth in the Tour? Come on!”

On rebuilding relations with the media
“Anybody who wrote a negative article: done. Never speak to them again. I won't do that this time. Everyone's invited.”

On his numerous doping controls
“I take a leak every day anyway, so it doesn't matter. It's not as if they show up and you have to do 200 push-ups.”

On criticisms of him by Bernard Hinault, the five-times Tour winner
“What a w***er! Five Tour wins doesn't buy you any common sense.”

On the launch of his independent drug-testing campaign last January
“It's the most comprehensive anti-doping plan in the history of sport and I'm proud of it.” (The programme was abandoned shortly afterwards.)

On lifetime bans for doping offences
“This is not China. There are people who will say: 'Once a cheater always a cheater.' I don't think that does anybody any good because you know what, man? The last I checked, nobody is f***ing perfect here.”

On his rivals at this year's Tour
“I'll kick their asses.”