The news that Miguel Indurain considered the Tour as good as won must have been comforting to Lance
Posted in General on 22. Aug, 2010
The news that Miguel Indurain considered the Tour as good as won must have been comforting to Lance Armstrong yesterday morning. “Armstrong is unbeatable,” said the five times champion with unusual flamboyance. Traditionally the most taciturn of men, Indurain has become a more forthright spokesman now his days on the road have ended. In his prime, Indurain spent years denying that Tours were done and dusted. Instead, he would shrug his huge shoulders and tell his inquisitors to wait and see.
The news that Miguel Indurain considered the Tour as good as won must have been comforting to Lance Armstrong yesterday morning. “Armstrong is unbeatable,” said the five times champion with unusual flamboyance. Traditionally the most taciturn of men, Indurain has become a more forthright spokesman now his days on the road have ended. In his prime, Indurain spent years denying that Tours were done and dusted.
Instead, he would shrug his huge shoulders and tell his inquisitors to wait and see.
For the Spaniard, yesterday’s classic stage through the spectacular gorges of the Haute Provence and into the Hautes Alpes would have been a day for watching and waiting, a game of patience at which he was the master. With a lead of nearly five minutes over Jan Ullrich at the start of the 14th stage, Armstrong had exerted a similar hold on the minds and the bodies of his pursuers.It was up to his rivals, Ullrich and Marco Pantani, to dictate the pace, to dent the seemingly impregnable American and up to the climbing teams of Kelme – whose Santiago Botero won the stage – and Banesto to impose some consistent pressure on the yellow jersey in an attempt to open a race rapidly in danger of becoming a procession.Instead, the second longest stage of the Tour, a 249-kilometre slog northwards through the Alps, turned into a battle not between Armstrong and his main rivals, but between the two halves of the defending champion’s split personality. In his heart, the American wanted to ram home his advantage on a classic Alpine stage, the playground of great champions like Gina Bartali, Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx; in his head – and in his earpiece linked to Johan Bruyneel, the directeur sportif of the US Postal team – he realised safety should come first. Perhaps his legs betrayed him for once, but, mindful of another gruelling day in the Alps today, the Tour leader aborted an explosive burst of climbing on the way up the Col d’Izoard and coasted down a vicious descent into Briançon to protect rather than extend his lead.The main bonus for Armstrong was the decline of Ullrich, who was first off the back of the yellow jersey group when Pantani attacked halfway up the final climb. The 1997 champion had struggled back to the yellow jersey group by the finish, losing no time. But, unless the German is bluffing spectacularly, his hopes for a second Tour victory were slowly suffocated on the Col d’Izoard yesterday.Nor could Pantani make any impression on the relentless American, his successes limited to a gesture of defiance as he overtook Armstrong on the descent of the Izoard and a generous tribute from his rival later. “Today, Marco was the stronger climber for sure,” Armstrong said.
“When he attacked I had to give everything just to stay with him and I told him he was very strong It seemed the right thing to do. My concern is he seems to be getting stronger every day.”The stage was deservedly won by Botero, reviving a tradition of South American climbing which had lain dormant for too long. Botero’s climb up the Izoard was the mere prelude to a hair-raising descent into Briançon when the little Colombian, who served a six months suspension for testing positive for testosterone two years ago, stayed upright at speeds approaching 90kph only through a potent combination of sheer courage and blind faith. It was no less than Botero or his team deserved.As he crossed the finishing line at the end of one last cruel climb into the town, Botero spread his arms wide in acknowledgment of the huge crowd and, moments later on the podium, smiled so broadly the beam spread all the way down the valley. Shortly after, Armstrong made his by now traditional walk to the top step of the podium at the end of his fifth day in yellow.The peloton idled through the early miles of the day, in sullen protest at their nine-hour day in the saddle and a nagging headwind.
Only when a group of seven riders, none of them a danger to the yellow jersey, broke away 100km from the finish did the racing begin in earnest. Botero joined the seven and quickly broke away off the front to set up his epic win by two-and-a-half minutes from the Italian, Paolo Savoldelli of Saeco.David Millar, recovering from a dislocated collar bone, completed the stage safely if not soundly and, provided he can survive today’s climb of the Col de Galibier, can start to turn his thoughts, like Armstrong, towards a ride along the Champs Elysées.. Thw world 100-metres record-holder Maurice Greene clocked 9.93 seconds, the second fastest time of the season, in his qualifying race in the US Olympic trials here before throwing down the gauntlet to his Olympic 200m rival Michael Johnson. Thw world 100-metres record-holder Maurice Greene clocked 9.93 seconds, the second fastest time of the season, in his qualifying race in the US Olympic trials here before throwing down the gauntlet to his Olympic 200m rival Michael Johnson.
Greene will meet Johnson, the current world-record holder at 200m, in the trials this week.