| | By Andrew Hood
ABC Sports Online
MULHOUSE, France -- Lance Armstrong roared through Friday's race against the clock and put a nice exclamation point on his dominant performance in the 2000 Tour de France.
| |
 |
| |
Fans cheer on Lance Armstrong as he rides on his way to win the 19th stage on Friday. |
Armstrong was comfortably leading the Tour, but was winless going into Friday's high-stakes 19th stage, a 36-mile individual time trial that brought the Tour back into France after a raucous visit to Germany. Second-place Jan Ullrich was the pre-race favorite, but the defending Tour champion let the truth be known in what's called the race of truth.
"I really wanted to win this stage," said Armstrong, who finished 25 seconds ahead of second-place Ullrich. "I had a lot of stress and a lot of anger and a lot pressure. The Tour wouldn't be complete for me if I won the Tour without winning a stage."
Armstrong roared over the course with an average speed of 53.98 kph, the second fastest ever for a Tour de France individual time trial stage. American Greg LeMond still holds the record, which he set when he won the Tour on the final day in 1989.
Armstrong won all three time trial stages last year, but lost to David Millar by two seconds in the opening time trial July 1. ONCE won the team time trial on July 4.
This time, Armstrong handily beat Ullrich, the 1997 Tour champion who has won four time trial stages in three Tours.
"It's important for the maillot jaune to show himself in the time trial because it's the race of truth," Armstrong said. "So it would have been easy to ride easy and ride conservative and not take risks, but I think it's important for the race leader to make that demonstration."
Tens of thousands of Germans lined the course from Freiburg to Mulhouse. Freiburg is just 5k from Ullrich's adopted hometown. Fans camped out on the course overnight, drinking beers, cooking sausages and celebrating the Tour's return to Germany for the first time since 1992.
"Jan is a big engine and big champion," Armstrong said. "We were racing in his backyard and you felt that and the people carried him along. That's hard for a stranger to race in those conditions. It was a big fight."
Mulhouse, an industrial city in eastern France, is the home to France's automobile industry. But on Friday, two-wheeled engines took the stage. Sleek and aerodynamic as the most modern of cars, today's time trialists present the modern face of professional cycling. Riding custom-made, lightweight bikes, racers head out on the course in what's called the race of truth.
Except in Friday's stage, the truth was already known.
The 19th stage might be the final battle in the 87th Tour de France, but it's a battle with small stakes. The three-week war that is the Tour had already been won by Armstrong and all of his rivals either had conceded the race or gone home in defeat.
The real battle on the flat, winding course from Germany to France was for honor. Armstrong and arch-rival Ullrich were the main attractions.
Armstrong started the day with an untouchable lead of 5 minutes, 37 seconds, and could afford to race conservative to save the Tour. Ullrich had to race to the limit to save face.
"Typically, I start too fast in time trials," Armstrong said. "Today I started very conservative and watched the heart-rate monitor very closely. I wanted to go conservative until I got to the first time check and decide what to do. When I heard at the first time check I was at the same time as Ullrich, I knew I was having a good ride."
While Armstrong and Ullrich were duking it out for the stage, there was a real race on for the final position on the podium.
Third place through sixth started the day within two minutes of each other. Joseba Beloki of Festina started the day in third, 6:38 behind Armstrong. Fourth-place Roberto Heras (Kelme) was just five seconds behind Beloki, while fifth-place Richard Virenque (Polti) , a winner at Morzine, was just 58 seconds behind Beloki. Sixth-place Christophe Moreau, also of Festina, is the strongest time trialist of the bunch, and started the day 1:44 behind Beloki.
"The race for the podium is going to be exciting," Armstrong said on the eve of the race. "There's a lot of guys there who really will be wanting to get that last spot on the podium. There's the race for the top French rider. All that is very important."
Moreau did what he had to do, finishing third in the time trial, 2:12 behind Armstrong, but it wasn't enough to knock Beloki out of third. Beloki put down a strong ride to finish fifth in the stage and retain third place by just 30 seconds over Moreau.
"It's like a dream to be on the podium," Beloki said, a young rider from the Basque region of Spain. Last year, Beloki was racing on a small second division team but got picked up by Festina. He shined in the mountains and is the top Spanish rider in the Tour.
American Tyler Hamilton of the U.S. Postal Service team had another strong time trial, finishing fourth, 3:01 behind teammate Armstrong.
"I went as hard as I could in the first 40 kilometers, so Armstrong would have good time checks to make a reference. After that, [team director] Johan [Bruyneel] said I was having a great ride and just to keep going," Hamilton said.
The Tour de France is now but a formality. Saturday's monster 157-mile stage is the Tour's longest this year and weary riders ready to party in Paris won't be putting too much into the race. Sunday's spin through Paris is not much more than a long victory parade for the U.S. Postal Service team.
All Armstrong needs to do is avoid a crash and he will become only the 11th man to repeat as Tour de France champion. Eighteen have won more than once.
How many more for Armstrong?
"I promise I will be back next year. After that, I will see how motivated I am. There's no way to win five in a row. There are a lot more talented cyclists in racing than Lance Armstrong is."
There might be, but none are as driven and successful as Armstrong is. | |
ALSO SEE
Armstrong wins time trial as Tour title draws near
Hincapie Diary No. 15
Stage Nineteen results
Notes from Mulhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Lance Armstrong wins the Stage 19 time trial.
avi: 793 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jan Ullrich chases Joseba Beloki to the finish line.
avi: 1045 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Stage 19 course map
RealVideo: 28.8
 Lance Armstrong says it was important for him to win a stage.
wav: 274 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|
