Le Puy-En-velay, France – For Lance Armstrong, something is missing from his last competitive bike race.
With the finish line in Paris only two days away, he has no individual stage victories. Never in his six-year reign has he arrived on the Champs-Elysees without at least one victory.
Today’s long, hilly time trial around Saint-Etienne could provide the individual victory he’s been craving. Team director Johan Bruyneel will not be yelling at Armstrong by radio about staying conservative when the champion rolls off the starting gate as the final rider on the course.
“I’d like to win it,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong has known for a week that he probably sealed a record seventh Tour de France championship on his sizzling ascent to the summit of Ax-3-Domaines in the Pyrenees in Stage 14.
He leads Italy’s Ivan Basso by 2 minutes, 46 seconds – a lead built on three second-place finishes and a triumph in the team time trial July 5.
Strategically, it has made sense for Armstrong not to go all-out for stage victories. Rather, he has stuck with his main challengers, thwarting their chances to disrobe him of the coveted yellow jersey.
He did the same Friday on the 95.4-mile Stage 19 from Issoire to Le Puy-En-velay. T-Mobile’s Giuseppe Guerini won the stage, with Armstrong and the rest of the podium contenders staying safely behind a handful of escapees.
Today’s 20th stage will be different. The cyclists will begin the 34.2-mile time trial one at a time, riding against the clock with no help from teammates.
Armstrong is considered the best time trialer in the peloton. He was undefeated in extended time trials from 1999 through 2001 and won both time trials a year ago. He came in second in the short Stage 1 time trial to open this year’s Tour, two seconds behind David Zabriskie, who has since dropped out of the race.
Publicly, Armstrong has claimed Germany’s Jan Ullrich, who in fourth place is one step away from the final podium, should be the favorite.
“He’ll be really fast,” Armstrong said.
But privately, Armstrong has set a goal for ending his career with a winning ride in the time trial, something he describes as “representing the yellow jersey.”
The terrain for today’s stage is a bit rugged, but nothing like the mountain time trial Armstrong won a year ago on L’Alpe d’Huez.
The route climbs for the first half of the 34 miles, then encounters more ground swells about 9 miles before the finish.
The ending will be fast as riders descend into Saint-Etienne.
Armstrong scouted the course June 28, the day before he went to Challans to report for the Tour’s start.
“I think the course definitely favors Lance,” said Chris Carmichael, Armstrong’s longtime private coach. “There’s a lot of ups and downs, and it’s harder than people think. I think Lance is going to fly.”
Armstrong’s worst moment during his previous six Tours came in a time trial in 2003, when he became dehydrated, suffered double vision and lost 13 pounds. Still, he came in second that day, losing 1:36 to Ullrich.
Barring a significant crash, Armstrong should emerge Saturday in the yellow jersey. The next two riders in the overall standings – Basso and Denmark’s Mickael Rasmussen – are better climbers than time trialists. Basso has spent all year trying to improve his time trialing. He did well at the Giro d’Italia, coming in second in one of the time trial stages. But neither the competition nor the course was as imposing as the Tour de France.
Ullrich, the leader of T-Mobile, has the most to lose. After winning the 1997 Tour and finishing as runner-up five times, he didn’t make the podium in Paris a year ago. Stuck in fourth place, Ullrich is 5:58 behind Armstrong going into the time trial and 2:12 behind third-place Rasmussen.
“Tomorrow’s showdown in Saint-Etienne boils down to two things – podium or nothing,” Ullrich said. “The time trial should suit me. It is tough, but it also includes straight stretches where I can really drive it hard.”
