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Topic: Armstrong wraps up the tour for a 5th straight year
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pdykstra600
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NANTES, France -- Lance Armstrong put himself in position for a record-tying fifth Tour de France title Saturday by finishing ahead of rival Jan Ullrich in a drama-packed time trial.
Ullrich fell on the rain-slicked course, got back up and finished 11 seconds behind the American.
The race's final stage Sunday in Paris is traditionally a ceremonial ride where no one challenges the overall leader. So barring disaster, Armstrong will match Miguel Indurain's record of five consecutive victories in cycling's most prestigious event.
"This was absolutely ... the most difficult,'' Armstrong said. "This close one feels different and feels better ... than all of the others.''
And he's already thinking about returning at age 32 to try to become the first rider to win six Tours.
"I'll be back next year,'' Armstrong said, "and I'm not coming back to get second.''
Indurain, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault of France, and Eddy Merckx of Belgium have won five Tours since the race began in 1903. Only Indurain won them all in a row.
Armstrong smiled broadly and thrust a clenched right fist into the air as he powered to the finish of the 30.4-mile time trial.
The gesture, he said, was because of "relief to have made it through a time trial that was very dangerous at the end and relief to have gotten that much closer to winning the Tour de France.''
He raced cautiously to protect his slight lead.
The last 6 miles "were really dangerous -- it was very stormy, and there was a lot of water on the road,'' Armstrong said. "My plan today was to leave gently and get into a rhythm. I had a lead of more than minute. I didn't want to take any risks.''
The 31-year-old Texan finished third in the 19th stage, one spot in front of Ullrich, the 1997 Tour champion whose rivalry with Armstrong made this year's race one of the most gripping in years.
But Ullrich now appears destined to be the runner-up in the overall standings for the fifth time. The German entered Saturday trailing Armstrong by 65 seconds.
That deficit forced Ullrich to take risks. And his challenge effectively ended when he slipped negotiating a turn during the course from the Atlantic coast port of Pornic to the western town of Nantes.
About 20 miles in, Ullrich had a 2-second edge on Armstrong. Shortly after that, though, Ullrich's wheels slid out from under him as he went around a traffic circle. He slid across the road, ending up in soft red-and-white safety cushions.
He hopped on his bicycle, but his race was shot. He almost missed another turn just moments later because he was looking down at his bike, apparently inspecting for damage.
Ullrich attributed his crash to bad road conditions.
"I didn't go into the curve fast. There must have been a little oil on the road,'' he told German state TV.
By the end, Armstrong's overall lead had grown to 76 seconds -- by far the closest margin since he began his streak of Tour victories in 1999 after overcoming cancer.
At the finish line, Armstrong accepted a fresh yellow jersey worn by the overall leader. He was handed a large bouquet of yellow flowers, which he jubilantly tossed into the air.
Armstrong said Hinault congratulated him by saying: "Welcome to the club.''
David Millar of Britain won the stage in 54 minutes, 5 seconds. Tyler Hamilton, the American racing with a broken collarbone, was second in 54:14, followed Armstrong in 54:19.
It's the first time during his streak of Tour triumphs that Armstrong didn't win the closing time trial, an individual race against the clock.
Perhaps that's fitting, given all the problems Armstrong has faced during the past three weeks.
He had a stomach flu before the July 5 start. He was bruised in a crash on the second day, then failed to shine in the Alps, where he usually dominates. He even needed to ride into a field, bouncing across sun-scorched grass, to avoid a crash in front of him.
"This Tour took a lot out of me,'' Armstrong said.
The turning point came Monday, when Armstrong fell off his bicycle when the handlebars were clipped by a spectator's bag. Armstrong wound up recovering to win that stage in the Pyrenees, and the glint returned to his steely blue eyes.
All of Armstrong's previous victories came with the comfort of final overall margins of at least 6 minutes.
But Ullrich never made things easy this time, beating Armstrong by more than 1½ minutes in a time trial last week. The German hoped for a repeat performance Saturday, but he couldn't produce one.
Armstrong saluted Ullrich as "a big champion,'' acknowledging he was worried by the challenge.
"He kept us up at night,'' Armstrong said.
Posts: 4159 (0.63 per day) | From: new jersey | Registered: May 2001 (6514 days)
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rpazdzierski600
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good job man you deserve it
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Contact me on AOL Instant Messanger: rpaz517
Posts: 2171 (0.34 per day) | From: New Jersey | Registered: Sep 2001 (6382 days)
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pdykstra600
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Posts: 4159 (0.63 per day) | From: new jersey | Registered: May 2001 (6514 days)
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SirLardsAlot 
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- your a fuckin moron -
[ 27 July 2003, 18:55: Message edited by: pdykstra600 ]
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Posts: 5087 (0.84 per day) | From: Poopland | Registered: Oct 2002 (5985 days)
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-gbotto600-
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shut the fuck up you piece of shit
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Decima MAS
  \
When ancient Rome was near defeat,
the invincible Tenth Legion was raised:
they beat the barbarians on the battlefield
and Rome gained peace with honour again.
When the traitor, on September the eighth,
left the fatherland in infamy,
the Tenth Flotilla was raised from the sea
and it brought weapons at the cry for honour!
Oh our Tenth Flotilla,
you that mocked England,
you victorious on Alexandria,
Malta, Souda and Gibraltar,
you already victorious upon the sea,
now even on the dry land
you will win!
To you Italian ships, stolen from us
not in battle but by treason,
and to you, our prisoners and dead brothers,
we swear:
we swear that we'll came back,
let this be God's and the Flag's will.
We swear that we'll fight
until we obtain an honourable peace!
Posts: 7713 (1.18 per day) | From: NJ | Registered: May 2001 (6514 days)
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