| | Associated Press
MULHOUSE, France -- Lance Armstrong won the individual time
trial Friday for his first stage victory in this Tour de France,
another key step toward a second straight title in cycling's
premier race.
He crossed the finish line at the end of the 19th stage in
Mulhouse in eastern France after a 35-mile ride from Freiburg,
Germany. He was 25 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor, Jan
Ullrich of Germany. Christophe Moreau of France was third.
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Only Greg LeMond rode faster in an individual time trial than Armstrong's time on Friday . |
With a lead of 6 minutes, 2 seconds on Ullrich, Armstrong looks
virtually unbeatable with just two days to go before the Tour
finishes in Paris on Sunday.
The Texan acknowledges what everybody else on the Tour has said
for a week: The only way he will not repeat as champion was if he
had a disastrous crash between now and Paris.
He said Ullrich was just too far behind. And though he cautioned
that "if you crash the race isn't over," Armstrong sounded a lot
like a man who had already crossed the Champs-Elysees finish line
on top for the second time in as many years.
In an interview with American correspondents before Friday's
race, he said he was finding this year twice as sweet. That's
partly because he had gotten the better both of Ullrich, the 1997
champion, and Italian star Marco Pantani, the 1998 winner who
withdrew earlier this week after failing to beat Armstrong in the
final mountain stage.
"It's definitely a vindication. Last year was very special in
many ways, but I also knew that Ullrich and Pantani weren't
there," Armstrong said. "I couldn't control that. I just had to
cycle my race. But they were both critical of my performance _ and
I thought a lot about that all through the winter and spring,
through May and June, and through the mountains."
Still, Armstrong said he could well have ended up chasing
Pantani for winner's honors this weekend had the Italian not made
such a recklessly aggressive start to that last grueling mountain
stage Tuesday.
"He attacked early simply to destroy our team," said
Armstrong, the captain of U.S. Postal, the only American-sponsored
team in the 20-team field. "He could have been standing on the
winner's podium this Sunday if he'd held back."
Armstrong raised the risk of crashing into a spectator, scores
of whom accidentally got in the way of riders in Thursday's race
from Switzerland to Freiburg.
The 87th Tour de France concludes this weekend with a mostly
flat 158-mile race Saturday to the west. Then, following a
late-night transfer by Orient Express train to their Paris hotels,
the riders complete a largely ceremonial 86-mile dash within the
French capital. | |
ALSO SEE
Stage Nineteen results
Armstrong proves to be a true champion
Notes from Mulhouse
Hincapie Diary No. 15
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
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