Pau, France – Lance Armstrong protected his comfortable
lead on the Tour de France’s last day in the high mountains,
finishing today in a pack with his main rivals behind stage
winner Oscar Pereiro.
Now, the only things standing between Armstrong and a seventh
consecutive Tour title are a time trial, two medium mountain stages
and two mostly flat stages, including the last ride into Paris on
Sunday.
Pereiro beat a fellow Spaniard, Xabier Zandio, and two other
riders in a finishing sprint to win today’s stage. Armstrong
trailed in a group with his main rivals, keeping his overall lead
over second-place Ivan Basso at 2 minutes, 46 seconds.
Armstrong’s main rivals, sensing that their chances of catching
the American are slipping away, tried testing him again on two main
climbs in stage 16 from Mourenx to Pau, the last of three days in
the Pyrenees that straddle France and Spain.
But Armstrong comfortably matched their uphill accelerations
and cruised to the finish looking relaxed. He finished in a group
with Basso, Jan Ullrich and other top riders, all 3:24 behind
Pereiro.
Armstrong called it a “no chain” day meaning he felt so
strong it seemed as if his bicycle had no chain.
“I felt amazing on the bike,” Armstrong said. “It’s always
nice to get through the mountains, especially the second set of
mountains. … The big difficulties are done.”
The Spaniard’s win, his first at the Tour, made up for his
disappointment Sunday in the 15th stage, when he placed second,
beaten in a finishing sprint by Armstrong’s Discovery Channel
teammate, George Hincapie.
Pereiro completed today’s 112.2-mile trek in 4:38.40, this
time coming out on top in a final sprint against three other
riders.
Basso is looking to improve on his third-place finish last year.
Mickael Rasmussen of Denmark is third, 3:09 behind Armstrong, and
1997 winner Ullrich is fourth overall, trailing Armstrong by 5:58.
Already, some rivals are pinning their hopes on next year when
Armstrong will be retired.
“When Lance Armstrong, the sheriff, is no longer here, then we
can think about doing something more,” said Francisco Mancebo, a
Spaniard who is fifth overall.
Today’s stage was marked by another crowd-related incident
when a roadside spectator hit rider Andrey Kashechkin in the face,
bloodying his nose. The angry Kazakh said after completing the
stage that race organizers should improve security.
He was struck, apparently accidentally, by a spectator who was
cheering the riders on an ascent.
Kashechkin pulled up and then headed a short way back down the
climb to hook up with a race doctor following behind in a car. The
doctor treated him for a nose bleed.
During Sunday’s 15th stage, a spectator running alongside riders
up another climb went under the wheels of a motorcycle carrying a
TV cameraman taping the race.
