Lance Armstrong will go head-to-head with Astana teammate and chief rival Alberto Contador for the first time in Spain's Castille and Leon Vuelta this month. In a change of schedule, the seven-time Tour de France champion will also ride in the centennial Milan-San Remo classic to prepare for the Giro d'Italia. Armstrong has dropped the Tour of Flanders one-day classic and France's Criterium International from his program. Astana is planning to send a star-studded team to the March 23-27 tour in northern Spain, with Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer and, possibly, tour expert Andreas Kloeden joining co-leaders Armstrong and Contador. The changes mean Armstrong will be back in Europe well ahead of the March 21 spring opener from Milan to San Remo. The centennial racing of the classic will feature all the top one-day cyclists. The 298-kilometer race along the Mediterranean is the longest on the calendar but has few daunting hills. From northern Italy, Armstrong will then switch straight to the hilly Castille and Leon from March 23
