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| | Thursday, July 13 Armstrong proves '99 was no fluke | ||||||||||
| By Andrew Hood ABC Sports Online LOURDES-HAUTACAM, France -- Lance Armstrong proved last year's victory at the Tour de France was no fluke on Monday. He lived up to expectations -- and more -- in Monday's epic stage through the Pyrénées. Neither rain, nor wind, nor fog could stop Armstrong. Riding like no American racer before him, Armstrong took the yellow jersey with a decisive attack late in the race.
Riders woke up Monday morning in Dax to a heavy downpour. Rain in the valley meant worse weather higher up in the mountains. It certainly meant a long day of suffering in the saddle. "This is a bunch of ___," lamented Spanish rider Jose Maria Jimenez. "I hate the rain." The opening half of the race was over the rolling hills heading south to the Pyrénées massif. A climb to Col de Marie-Blanque was the day's first major obstacle at 1,035 meters (3,415 feet). The Category 1 climb has been featured in seven Tours. The peloton hit the foot of the climb together. The favorites were wary to make an attack too soon and held back. It opened the door for climbers who have no chance of winning the Tour, but a great chance of winning a stage if they wanted to go on a suicidal give-all attack. Kelme's Javier Otxoa attacked first, followed by Nico Battan, a Belgian on the Cofidis team. Michael Sanstod, a Dane on the upstart Memory Card team, went as well. Jacky Durand pulled off the front on the flats and pulled out there working alone until Otxoa and Battan passed him. They set a harrowing pace. Team Banesto drove the peloton to the top of the col with Armstrong among a group of 80 riders that included Virenque, Pantani, Ullrich and Zülle. The descents down the steep, narrow Pyrénéan roads are treacherous when dry. Add cold winds and driving rain, and it's downright deadly. Chaos ensued. Durand crashed and several others had close calls. By the end of the day, nine riders had abandoned and several riders had crashed, including American Jonathan Vaughters. A top climber, Vaughters had high hopes for this year's Tour. The Credit Agricole rider was transported to a French hospital and is out of the race for the second successive year. Col d'Aubisque The day's second climb, there were four main groups up the Aubisque. Otxoa was alone off the front, with Battan fading. Oxtoa would ride all the way to the finish alone. Halfway up the climb, Italian Michele Bartoli accelerated off the lead group. The Mapei team captain and former world No. 1 is more of a classics, one-day racer, but has ambitions to win a stage at the Tour. Banesto's Jimenez followed. A group of eight riders, which included Richard Virenque, led the chase for Oxtoa, but reached the summit 10:24 behind the leader. This is where things got dicey and the real racing began for the big guns. Armstrong proved too strong not only for the top rivals, but for his teammates on the U.S. Postal team as well. He was alone halfway up the Aubisque. "Was I a little worried? I was very worried," said Armstrong, who was more than 11 minutes back at the top. "The important part of the race began on the Aubisque. I didn't have any teammates there and I had no idea what to do. I just had to wait, so it was a bit of a crisis for me." Of course, if the descent wasn't dangerous enough, there was a horse loose on the road. Col du Soulor Not really a high pass, Soulor is a 1,474-meter (4,643-foot) summit the course passed between Aubisque and Hautacam. Rated a Category 2 climb, it's a short punch to the summit during the descent off the mountain. It's here where Armstrong hit a rock and crashed hard in May. Luckily, he was wearing a helmet and wasn't seriously injured.
The narrow winding road to Hautacam is a gut-busting 13k (8-mile) climb with an average grade of 7.9-percent. It's a beyond-category climb, which means it's very, very hard. The last time the Tour came here was in 1996, when five-time winner Miguel Indurain cracked and Dane Bjarne Riis put the final stake into his rival's morale. When Armstrong hit the base of Hautacam in a group of 19 riders, he is alone, unlike the other favorites, who had at least one other teammate to help. Zülle was the first to attack. Second to Armstrong last year, Zülle has put everything into preparing for this year's Tour. Pantani and Armstrong followed, while Ullrich hesitated and stayed with the bunch. "When we were crossing the Aubisque, I decided to wait to attack at Hautacam. I felt that would be the real selection. For a while it was confusing. We had to risk letting the race go," Armstrong said. Next, Pantani accelerated, with Zülle and Armstrong on his wheel. Armstrong counters with Pantani and Zülle on his wheel. Ullrich was still struggling with the lead group. Armstrong accelerated again, dropped Zülle, with Pantani on his wheel. Then Armstrong upped the tempo again, Pantani shook his head and then Armstrong dropped everyone. Here's how Armstrong described it: "Everybody was waiting for Pantani and the race really started when he attacked. He attacked and then Zülle pulled through effortlessly. He was flying and I thought this could be a long race. But then I dropped him. Then I was with Marco for awhile and I expected him to pull through." While the favorites watched each other, Otxoa held his lead all the way to the finish. Even Armstrong's late charge couldn't bring back Otxoa. "I was really suffering in the end. When I heard Armstrong was attacking, I was nervous that I might not make it," Otxoa said, winning in 6 hours, 9 minutes, 32 seconds. Armstrong finished just 42 seconds back, but he said winning wasn't his main objective. "I had no desire to win the stage. My ambition was to put time on the rivals," Armstrong said. "If that meant finishing 10th, that was OK. It was good that Otxoa won because there were a lot of Spanish fans here and he did a lot of work." Halfway to Paris Now halfway to Paris where the Tour ends July 23, Armstrong took a giant step toward repeating in cycling's most important race. "If Armstrong has no weak days he will be the winner in Paris," said Ullrich, now second, 4:14 behind. But with 11 stages remaining, including four tough mountain stages in the Alps, Armstrong's rivals all but conceded the race. "I felt good, that's why I attacked, but I couldn't match Armstrong's rhythm," said Zülle said, now 13th overall and 7:22 behind. "I have a very strong team for the mountains and we don't like the rain very much. My only hope is that Armstrong is peaking too early. I still hope to be on the podium in Paris." Virenque, a strong climber on the Polti team, was one of the attacking riders Armstrong reeled in on the final climb. "Armstrong was like a plane and he's the man to beat," Virenque said, now 11th overall, 6:59 back. "In the end, I paid for my early efforts, but then I go better in the sun. It was a promising start. The days to come will still be important even after Armstrong's ride today. But I hope it gets hotter because the heat suits me much better." Now that Armstrong has won the battle in the Pyrénées, he is confident he'll be the victor when the war ends in Paris. | ALSO SEE Armstrong climbs from 16th to first in Tour de France Hincapie Diary No. 7 | ||||||||||
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