Team RadioShack's Lance Armstrong is feeling the physical demands of his second year back in cycling.

38-year-old Armstrong said Thursday that he "suffered a little bit" at the start of the Vuelta of Murcia Wednesday, his first race in five weeks. Nerves even came into play.

"It's just the tempo," Armstrong stated. "It was a windy day, it's nervous and at the end we're doing [35 to 45 miles] an hour, and you can't simulate that in training. So you're a little bit out of element."

Team RadioShack boss Johan Bruyneel said Armstrong, who moved up to 32nd from 46th after two stages Thursday, was "still a long way off from being in good shape right now."

"He's a bit better than last year, but he's different," Bruyneel said. "Last year everything was new, we had lost all of the references. The whole time we lived with doubt -- doubt whether he would reach a certain level, how would that level be, what do we have to do. Now we know he can reach a competitive level."

Armstrong said memories of last year's crash in the first stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon did not resurface, even though it was his first trip back to Spain since the accident. He suffered a broken collarbone that required surgery. See Roadcycling.com's April Fool's joke from last year about Lance Armstrong's collarbone surgery and his carbon collarbone implant.

"The key there is don't be in the back," the seven-time Tour de France champion said. "I was at the back and you get caught behind the crashes and stupid stuff happens."

Bruyneel attributed the crash to qualities one never would have associated with Armstrong: "Uncertainty, doubts, not having the same reflexes as before -- he had lost everything."

Armstrong is making up for lost training time in Murcia, where Saturday's 13.7-mile time trial will provide a big boost for his hopes of winning the Tour. Robert Hunter of Garmin-Transitions leads with an overall time of 8 hours, 35 minutes, 52 seconds. Armstrong is five seconds back.

"We didn't have time to focus on specific things," Bruyneel said. "Last year was more general training without an idea of where it would go.

"Until 2005 we knew that if things went well -- the preparation, if there were no crashes, no one got sick, no mechanical problems on the course and if the team worked well -- we had certain guarantees to win the Tour. Now, that's not the case."

Former teammate Alberto Contador won last year's Tour de France when the two riders were at Astana. After a drop from favorite to front-runner, Armstrong finished third.

"He tries to win, but it's not like in 2005 when it started to become an obligation. There was a lot more distractions and negatives and now we're trying to cut all the negative and to enjoy what we do," Bruyneel said.

"It feels like 2004-05. There's super ambiance, everyone enjoys what they're doing. It's a little bit better than last year."

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