With the return of Lance Armstrong to the peloton and the Tour de France in 2009, the numbers of fans, the amount of spectators, the rows of media and the sizes of camera lenses around the Team area have increased drastically. It is just surreal.

To get a glimpse of Lance Armstrong and his teammates, you’d better be patient or carry around your favorite step ladders…

Lance Armstrong makes his way to the Astana Team bus

Lance’s TT machine has to be retrieved among the large crowd waiting outside the Astana Team bus

In the Village Depart, the rows of spectators hoping to see Lance Armstrong just keep increasing

From the back, the photographers will use their biggest lense looking to take the perfect snap shot of Lance