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| |  Monday, 23 July, 2001, 16:35 GMT 17:35 UK Ullrich hands it to Armstrong The leaders shake hands as they finish stage 14 With six stages of the Tour de France remaining, the result is already beyond doubt. That is according to Jan Ullrich, who lies a distant second behind defending champion Lance Armstrong. "Armstrong is impossible to beat this year, he is stronger than ever," said Ullrich. The German Telekom rider trails Armstrong by five minutes and five seconds. And with five of the six remaining stages relatively flat, the chances of gaining ground on the American are slim.
But Armstrong is as strong in time-trials as he is in mountain stages and a lead of over five minutes will surely be enough. The American is closing in on his third successive Tour victory after dominating in the mountains. Ullrich, winner in 1997, made one last bid to close the gap in stage 14 on Sunday, but found it impossible to shake Armstrong from his shoulder as the pair climbed to Luz-Ardiden. As the German crossed the line just one metre ahead of the man in the yellow jersey, he reached out to shake hands as if to confirm the inevitable. Unbeatable "I tried everything, my team tried everything," he said. "I attacked, my team attacked, but Lance was simply unbeatable." Armstrong, though, has paid tribute to Ullrich's efforts this year. "I've only raced against him two times in the Tour de France, last year and this year and no doubt he's much better and stronger than he was last year," Armstrong said. "You can see that. He looks fitter, he looks stronger."
Ullrich took part in this year's Giro d'Italia for the first time as part of his bid to depose Armstrong. But according to former Tour rider and respected coach Cyrille Guimard, Ullrich's late efforts were not enough. "The major difference between Armstrong and Ullrich is that Armstrong trains at least 10 months of the year and Ullrich trains for a month," Guimard, a former coach of Armstrong during his brief spell with Cofidis in 1997, told the L'Equipe newspaper on Monday. He added: "Ullrich has to work on his speed because it's something he's neglected. Speed is the fundamental quality of a rider. "Armstrong goes up those mountains at 90 rotations a minute, which allows him to ease the workload on his heart and his muscles, while Ullrich is managing only 70." Ullrich will now have to concentrate on securing his fourth second place in five years, with Cofidis rider Andrei Kivilev of Kazhakstan just eight seconds behind in third. Armstrong's performances over the last week have also seen him rise in the race for the green jersey, and he is now third in the points standings on 109. Australian Stuart O'Grady of Credit Agricole leads the points race on 140, with Telekom's Erik Zabel 13 points further back. | |
See also:  22 Jul 01 | Tour de France 22 Jul 01 | Tour de France Top Tour de France stories now: Links to more Tour de France stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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