Ax-3 Domaines, France – Atop a ski resort that felt more like a pizza oven, Team CSC director Bjarne Riis leaned against a team car Saturday while his star cyclist wiped away the sweat of 137 torturous miles in 90-degree heat.
Ivan Basso performed admirably. The Italian finished third in the 14th stage of the Tour de France. He is third overall.
However, he finished 18 seconds behind Lance Armstrong. One more opportunity to put an unlikely stop to Armstrong’s record seventh straight Tour de France win. One more opportunity alone.
And time is running out.
With one week left until the finish, Riis was asked what it would take to beat Armstrong. He shook his head. A smile, as if the idea seemed almost humorous, cracked his lips.
“Try harder and try again,” he said. “It’s the only way. I was happy that Ivan was able to put some pressure on him. He was able to block him. That’s what we want to see.”
But regardless of how many times his rivals have attacked, Armstrong hasn’t cracked. Unless he does in the next two mountain stages in the Pyrenees or in the time trial next Saturday, the Texan will retire with a Tour record that should stand forever. The odds of stopping it appear insurmountable.
Entering today’s hellacious 127-mile stage from Lézat-sur- Léze to Saint-Lary Soulan, Armstrong has a lead of 1 minute, 41 seconds on Denmark’s Mickael Rasmussen (Rabobank, Holland). Rasmussen is the Tour’s top climber this year but is a horrid time-trialer and would need more than a two-minute lead on Armstrong going into Saturday to pull an upset.
Armstrong’s main rivals are way back. Basso is 2:46 behind and Germany’s Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile, Germany), a five- time runner-up, is fourth at 4:34. American Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner, Germany) is fifth at 4:45.
The pack isn’t giving up, but signs of resignation are showing.
Last week, Basso paid Armstrong the ultimate compliment, calling him the American “juventus,” referring to the Turin team that has won 20 Italian soccer championships.
Armstrong’s rivals had reason to be optimistic when he woke up Saturday morning, and Armstrong had reason to be nervous.
It was at this stage up to the ski resort of Ax-3 Domaines two years ago when Armstrong, suffering from dehydration, lost 18 seconds to Ullrich. Armstrong’s record fifth Tour win hung in the balance. Armstrong hung on.
He also remembered.
So when he learned in early July that temperatures in the Pyrenees resembled those on the asphalt in Sevilla, he started guzzling water days before.
Rivals have claimed Armstrong is vulnerable in the heat, and he hasn’t denied it.
“I kept trying to remember my training day here about six weeks ago versus the 2003 Tour, because I felt a little better in the training ride,” Armstrong said. “But similar situation. I was with Jan and Ivan, who I was with in 2003. Similar with the heat.
“It was incredibly, incredibly hot.”
Every rider felt every one of the 90 degrees on Port de Pailheres, a savage 9-mile climb at an 8 percent grade with tens of thousands of fans lining every inch of it. The crowd included three Basques in drag, their orange bikinis possibly representing Basque hero Iban Mayo’s disappointing 53rd overall standing.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the mountain, Austrian veteran Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) and Italy’s Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas-Bianchi, Italy), attacked. Ullrich’s T-Mobile team prepared one also. When Ullrich broke, Armstrong, Basso, Leip- heimer and American Floyd Landis (Phonak, Switzerland) broke with him.
“It’s scary when you see five (kilometers) from the bottom an entire team go to the front and start riding as fast as they can,” Armstrong said. “You see what’s going to happen. You see what they’re setting up for. That naturally gives you fear.
“In that situation, you either fight back or you run away.”
Garzelli wilted fast, and eventually Leipheimer and Landis did, too. With less than a mile to go, Ullrich began to fade and Armstrong pulled ahead of Basso to finish 56 seconds behind Totschnig, in second, good for 12 bonus seconds.
If Ullrich’s finish is any indication, he may not be a threat today on one of the stages in Tour history with 16,000 feet of climbing over four Category-1 hills (1 being the highest) and one beyond-Category hill. Armstrong doesn’t appear winded; he even joked in the news conference by donning a reporter’s pink T- Mobile cap.
Armstrong also wants to win a stage in his farewell (can we say “coronation” yet?) Tour and will want to win on the same stage where his 1995 teammate, Fabio Casartelli, died 10 years ago.
What chance do the others have? Let Basso summarize.
“I tried to attack,” he said, “but Armstrong shows no sign of weakness.”
Greetings from …
Thursday was Bastille Day, the French Independence Day that usually is one of the best parties of the year. Believe it or not, the French know how to party and I’ve seen my share of wild, unabashed bravado on my two previous July 14s during the Tour de France.
This time, however, Bastille Day seemingly came and went like Arbor Day in Brooklyn. I was in Aix-en-Provence, a lovely town dotted with 18th-century fountains and tree-lined boulevards outlined in the beautiful yellow paint that symbolizes Provence so well. I went to the city center and the crowds were there, but everything else was missing.
No one wore France’s tri colors. There was no honking of horns. The passionate French couples weren’t terribly passionate. Even the fireworks lacked spark.
I have arrived at a tough time for France. The French tend to brood anyway, from the smoky writers cafes in Paris to the quaint cobblestone villages here in Provence. But now they have gone from brooding to steaming. Besides getting absolutely hosed July 6 by the Olympics choosing London for 2012, President Jacques Chirac’s approval rating has dropped to 30 percent thanks primarily to a 10 percent unemployment rate.
And only two Frenchmen are in the top 35 in the Tour de France.
Au revoir, John Henderson
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
