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| |  Friday, 20 July, 2001, 09:46 GMT 10:46 UK Armstrong bidding for glory Armstrong celebrates his mountain time-trial victory Lance Armstrong will know by Sunday night whether he will be able to take his place among cycling's all-time greats by winning his third Tour de France in a row. The Texan already has a psychological advantage over his rivals having closed dramatically on the lead with two crushing performances in the Alps. Friday is the first of three consecutive days in the Pyrenees which will almost certainly decide the Tour. Armstrong put in two exceptional rides on Tuesday and Wednesday, becoming the first man in seven years to win back-to-back stages in the Alps.
Armstrong lies third overall, having taken 22 minutes out of the race lead in two days. He is now just over 13 minutes behind Frenchman Francois Simon. On Tuesday, Armstrong launched a devastating attack on the climb up to the Alpe D'Huez, taking more than 17 minutes out of Simon and extending his lead over arch-rival Jan Ullrich to more than two minutes. Then came Wednesday's 32km mountain time trial. Armstrong beat Ullrich by one minute and slashed Simon's lead once again. Armstrong took the solo route to glory in the Alps, but he says he will now be looking for help from his US Postal team-mates Roberto Heras and Luis Rubiera, who are specialist climbers. "The two star climbers in our team are both Spanish," Armstrong said. "It's no secret that the Spanish prefer the Pyrenees to the Alps.
"They'll be closer to home, with lots of fans out, and they'll be motivated by that. I think the whole team can see that we're getting closer to the yellow jersey." Simon may cling onto the lead after Friday's stage from Perpignan to Ax-les-Thermes, but he is unlikely to hold out on Saturday. The field faces five mountain passes on the 194km journey from Foix to Saint-Lary-Soulan and the stage will probably be decisive. Second-placed Andrei Kivilev, from Kazakhstan, a more renowned climber than Simon, is only two minutes ahead of Armstrong. And he is unlikely to be able to live with the American. Ullrich performed well in the two Alpine stages, but even so fell further behind Armstrong. 'Higher level' He still talks about winning, but doubts about his chances of beating Armstrong seem to be forming. Ullrich said after Wednesday's stage: "Lance Armstrong once said that Jan Ullrich is the greatest talent in cycling. This doesn't seem to be the case." The sporting director at his Telekom team, Rudy Pevenage, said: "Ullrich has been doing a good job, but Armstrong's riding at a higher level." And with Ullrich and Spain's Joseba Beloki both trailing by over three minutes, Armstrong will enter the second half of the mountain stages a clear favourite to claim his third Tour in a row. Stage 12, a 166.5km climb from Perpignan to Ax-les-Thermes takes place on Friday. Overall classification: 1 Francois Simon (Fra) 46hr 48mins 36secs | |
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