| | By Andrew Hood
ABC Sports Online
MONT VENTOUX, France -- Lance Armstrong delivered another deadly blow to his rivals in the 2000 Tour de France on Wednesday afternoon. After climbing the dizzying heights to the top of Mont Ventoux, there aren't many left standing.
Armstrong landed on the moon-like 6,299-foot summit of Mont Ventoux with panache in Thursday's 92-mile stage, proving not only he is a champion for the ages, but also a gentleman.
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Lance Armstrong said Marco Pantani deserved the stage win. |
Italian Marco Pantani used to put fear in the hearts of cycling's top stars. Now it's Armstrong that's turning into the cannibal. Pantani is used to leaving his rivals gasping for air in the highest heights. Instead, it was Armstrong that was the benevolent one, letting Pantani win the stage while Armstrong took more time on second-place Jan Ullrich.
Armstrong, now 4 minutes, 55 seconds ahead of Ullrich, said Pantani deserved the stage-win.
"It's not fair to say I gave him the stage. He's a real fighter. In the minds of many people Pantani's the best climber in the world. He deserves to win," Armstrong said after finishing second to Pantani. "It's appropriate that a climber like him win on a legendary climb like Mont Ventoux."
Armstrong's performance on the steepest part of the climb up Mont Ventoux will quickly be added to Tour lore. Just as he was in the beyond-category climb to Hautacam on Monday, Armstrong was unbelievable again when the race went vertical.
Second for the fourth time in this year's Tour, the defending champion took a giant step toward winning his second-consecutive Tour title after another dominating performance in the toughest climbs of the three-week race.
"It's not important for me to win the stage. It's more important to win in Paris," said Armstrong, who won the Tour last year after a dramatic comeback from cancer.
Armstrong made the grueling 14-mile climb up Mont Ventoux look easy, while Ullrich struggled in the final section and crossed the line fourth, 29 seconds behind Pantani and Armstrong.
"The only objective was to control the race. I didn't need to attack. I took the opportunity because Ullrich was still there and he's my top rival," Armstrong said.
Thursday saw a return to the warm sunny weather typical of Provence. The summit of Mont Ventoux was obscured in clouds and high winds on Tuesday and Wednesday, prompting race officials to relocate the press center from the summit to Carpentras near the startline. There were still 35 mph gusts of wind on the summit, but nothing like the 90 mph winds from Wednesday.
Disaster struck in the opening 15 miles of the day's stage when scores of riders crashed at the back of the main pack. In all, nine racers abandoned the Tour, including Texan Chann McRae.
Early in the race, a group of eight racers attacked off the front. They came over the day's third climb at the Col de Notre-Dame-des-Abeilles, 4:32 ahead of the main group where Armstrong was riding solidly in the main bunch with his U.S. Postal Service teammates.
The real battle began on Mont Ventoux, which claimed the life of British cyclist Tom Simpson in 1967. Scores of U.S. fans waving American flags were among the thousands lining the course.
Two of Armstrong's teammates, first Tyler Hamilton and then Kevin Livingston, set a blistering pace up the lower flanks of Mont Ventoux.
Hamilton led a surge, which thinned the lead pack to 15 riders. Livingston then did a long pull, further reducing the lead pack to Armstrong and five other riders.
"Hamilton and Livingston were strong and they did great work early in the race," said Johan Bruyneel, directeur sportif of the U.S. Postal team. "The team today showed the world it is strong. Tyler and Kevin were very strong and we eliminated a lot of rivals today."
Among their victims were Alex Zülle, Fernando Escartin, Abraham Olano, Jose Maria Jimenez and Laurent Jalabert, who didn't have the gas to continue with the lead group.
Pantani was struggling 15 seconds behind, but the Italian found the legs to bridge to the lead group with about five miles to go to the summit.
"It was really hard to catch the Armstrong group, but they seemed to slow a little bit in this one section. I knew that was my last chance because I knew it would be very windy once we got out of the woods," Pantani said.
Pantani sat in the lead group as they slowly chugged their way up the climb. Armstrong, Ullrich and Pantani were there with three Spanish riders, Joseba Beloki of Festina, and Roberto Heras and Santiago Botero of Kelme, and finally Richard Virenque, a Frenchman on Polti.
Pantani unsuccessfully tried to shake the leaders four times, but on the fifth attack he dropped everyone, except Armstrong. It wasn't the Pantani of old. With Pantani about 400 yards ahead nursing a 10 second gap, Armstrong punched the accelerator and easily caught Pantani. Armstrong looked to have the legs to continue, but instead sat up and worked with Pantani to the finish.
"I was encouraging Pantani to continue. It's easier to have two riders working together against this wind than just one," Armstrong said.
For Pantani, the stage victory is a small consolation for a disappointing Tour. Now 12th overall and 10:26 behind Armstrong, he has little chance to win.
"This is a very hard stage. I'm not in 100 percent fitness, but I attacked hard because I am a climber," said Pantani, who returned to racing in May after nearly a year off the bike fighting doping allegations. "It's important for me to win this stage. Armstrong is so strong. It's impossible for him to lose if he stays this strong."
"It was a good race for us. The team was super strong all the way to the top," Armstrong said. "There are two stories today. The first part is the team. The second part was the wind. It was so windy. I'm glad it's finished."
With nine stages remaining until the Tour ends July 23 in Paris, only Ullrich remains within striking distance among the overall pre-race favorites. Zülle and Escartin, second and third behind Armstrong last year, struggled Thursday and are now more than 10 minutes behind Armstrong.
The remaining riders in the top 10 are strong climbers, but aren't expected to be a threat to Armstrong for the final victory in Paris. Still, Armstrong faces three tough climbing stages in the Alps over four days starting Saturday.
"There's a lot of racing still. There are three hard stages in the Alps. Those will be very difficult, so the Tour is not over," Armstrong said.
The 21-stage, 2,250-mile Tour de France continues Friday with the 13th stage, a 185 kilometer (115 miles) ride from Avignon to Draguignan. It's a rolling, technical stage with three minor climbs across the heart of France's Provence region. | |
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