Tour de France-Day 12-A Tragedy, A Triumph, A Whisper of Drugs

Austin American-Statesman ^ | July 17 | AP

[concentric circles]

French rider Halgand wins stage Galdeano, Armstrong still pace overall standings as mountains loom next

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Wednesday, July 17, 2002

PAU, France — French rider Patrice Halgand won Wednesday's 10th stage of the Tour de France, while three-time champion Lance Armstrong and overall leader Igor Gonzalez Galdeano finished in the main pack with the same time.

Armstrong was 40th, nearly 4 minutes off Halgand's pace, and remained in second place in the standings, 26 seconds behind Gonzalez Galdeano.

It was disclosed Wednesday that Gonzalez Galdeano tested positive for salbutamol last week, but organizers said he is cleared to use the restricted substance. Salbutamol treats asthma and is banned unless athletes have a prescription.

Traces were found in a July 12 test at the end of the stage from Forges-les-Eaux to Alencon, Tour spokesman Philippe Sudres said.

UCI, world cycling's governing body, "has long had a medical justification for this rider" to use salbutamol, Tour de France deputy director Daniel Baal said.

Halgand, who rides for the Jean Delatour team, surged in the final climb of the relatively flat 91-mile leg from Bazas to Pau in southwestern France for his first Tour stage victory.

He attacked in the final 3 1/2 miles, and beat countryman Jerome Pineau by 27 seconds. Halgand finished in 3 hours, 15 seconds.

Gonzalez Galdeano has held the yellow jersey worn by the race leader for six stages, and will wear it in Thursday's opening mountain leg from Pau to La Mongie, high in the Pyrenees.

The 98-mile ride features two difficult climbs and should see Armstrong make his first serious bid for the race lead.

Gonzalez Galdeano has been the talk of the Tour, suddenly touted as Armstrong's next big rival.

Armstrong is a little puzzled.

"I never feel safe," the Texan said Tuesday. "But I wonder sometimes where such confidence comes from, when there's been no precedent, or rather, where the buzz comes from."

While undeniably talented, Galdeano did not come close to scaring Armstrong in the Tour's key mountain stages last year.

He lost 4:03 to the U.S. Postal Service rider in the opening mountain stretch from Aix-Les-Bains to L'Alpe d'Huez. By the end of the 2001 Tour, he trailed by 13:28.

"I was reading all of this stuff — this is such a big war between Armstrong and Galdeano," Armstrong said. "And I thought, I've got to look at the Tour last year.

"I looked at L'Alpe d'Huez: four minutes. I looked at the final: 13 minutes. These are big chunks of time."

Riders face one exceptionally difficult climb up the Col d'Aubisque mountain pass on Thursday. The day's other major challenge is the ride to the La Mongie ski station on the Tourmalet, one of the Tour's toughest climbs.

Because of his traditional strength in the mountains, Armstrong remains the favorite to win the Tour for the fourth straight year, but he is still not completely comfortable.

"Sometimes I feel like such a momentum rider," the Texan said. "You get the momentum going, you feel good, you win a stage, you get the jersey, and all of a sudden you feel great.

"We don't have that. It's not that we're going backward, but we don't have any momentum."

Asked if that worried him, Armstrong replied: "No. Not yet."

[concentric circles]

This is it! Tomorrow, the first mountain stage, Pau to La Mongie, 98 miles finishing at a ski lift station. Do I detect more than just a little excitement in the air?

[stylin_geek]

Lance and Greg are my sports heroes. Any chance the riding by Lance to this point is somewhat similar to what he did last year when he faked his struggle in the opening of the mountain stages?

[concentric circles]

Ping! Would a broken spoke be "Pong?"

[concentric circles]

Your handle is not going to help in the "Cycling is for girly boys" tempest.

[Coop]

I doubt he's faking it. He's just self admittedly not in a groove yet. But he still sounds quite confident. And why shouldn't he be, sitting in 2nd place going into his strongest area, knowing he beat the first place guy by 13 minutes in the mountain stages last year?

[Drango]

IMHO, Lance dosn't have to win the stage tommorrow, he just has to beat Galdeano and the other potential winners by 27 seconds or more...Then he takes the yellow and adds more time in each mountain stage...holds the yellow all the way into Paris.

I just hope his team has been able to keep his legs fresh...

[Benrand]

I don't think he's playing lame because there isn't Jan Ullrich to worry about.

[Gil4]

RE:A Tragedy, A Triumph, A Whisper of Drugs (the title)

What tragedy? Did I miss something?

[stylin_geek]

As for us cyclists being girly boys, I used to ride every other day to work, 14 miles, one way, in heat and humidity (MN summers) weld for 8 hours, then ride home.

Now, I generally ride every other day, 25 miles, and try to maintain a high average speed. Unless I feel the need for some extended road work. Then I go 50 miles or so.

[Cagey]

I too wondered why the word "Tragedy" in the headline.

From Phil Ligget.

"It was however, a sad day with the death of a seven-year-old boy who apparently ran out in front of a vehicle in the advanced publicity caravan. These past two years the organizers have worked hard to limit such a thing happening, but with up to a million spectators on the roadside, such accidents will always happen. "

[Cagey]

I used to ride every other day to work, 14 miles, one way, in heat and humidity (MN summers) weld for 8 hours, then ride home.

MN Summers? When is that, July 28th to August 4th?

[concentric circles]

A child was struck and killed by a Tour vehicle prior to the arrival of the racers. My mistake, most other stories mentioned this and I overlooked its omission in this AP story.

[stylin_geek]

Yes, I see where he might be telling the truth about his groove, but I also remember last year when Pantini was lipping off, and Lance kept quiet until the end, then ripped Pantini completely apart. I think it makes for some interesting speculation. And, right now, Galdeano appears to be commenting when he really should keep quiet. IMO

[stylin_geek]

What, you do not believe in Global Warming? MN summers are now July 26th to August 5th.

[Cagey]

	O V E R A L L   S T A N D I N G S ( T O P 1 0 )

Pos.	N°	Name	Nat.	Team		Time
1	024	GONZALEZ GALDEANO Igor	ESP	ONE	en	36h 25' 35"
2	001	ARMSTRONG Lance	USA	USP	à	00' 26"
3	021	BELOKI Joseba	ESP	ONE	à	01' 23"
4	085	HONCHAR Serhiy	UKR	FAS	à	01' 35"
5	032	BOTERO Santiago	COL	KEL	à	01' 55"
6	053	PERON Andrea	ITA	CST	à	02' 08"
7	047	MILLAR David	GBR	COF	à	02' 11"
8	067	O'GRADY Stuart	AUS	C.A	à	02' 15"
9	158	RUMSAS Raimondas	LTU	LAM	à	02' 22"
10	052	HAMILTON Tyler	USA	CST	à	02' 30"

[RoughDobermann]

Barring an accident, I don't think that anyone will be able to touch Lance. No, he didn't win the ind. TT, but he did average a cadence of 120! I think Sherwen commmented that Lance intentionally did so to "make the other riders quake in their boots!"

[Cagey]

Hahaha. Well, That explains why Lemond took up cycling and ditched skiing.

[Prodigal Son]

It's summer 8 hours a day all year round under a welding hood- I know. Arc, MIG, TIG?

[RetiredArmy]

This Gonzalez guy was not even in the pre-race favorites. Most of the Tour thus far has been run on flat ground and that favors the sprinters. They die in the mountains. The mountains are what makes the Tour. Lance wins in the mountains. Last year, I cannot forget the climb where he looked back at the German as if to ask: "I'm leaving now dude? Are you going?" Urlich did not respond in performance or words and Lance left him in his dust! Classic moment. Lance appears to struggle some in this Tour, but geeze, this is a heavy duty physical event. 21 days of racing over a couple of thousand miles. Everyone is going to have a down day from time to time. Lance is 24 seconds behind mainly because he got caught up in a wreck that was not his fault and he did not fall, but did have to stop and start over and that is what cost him time. Gonzalez was riding away while Lance was trying to get untangled. Last year Ulrich fell and Lance held back and waited on him. That is sportsmanship at its best. This guy came back from life threatening cancer to win three of these races. I think he is the greatest. No whine, no complain, just race and win. Great going Lance. Good luck the rest of the way. And as it says on his site, "Now it is time for Daddy to put the pain on them." Or words to that effect.

[RoughDobermann]

Agreed. I get the feeling that Lance is being somewhat coy. He has played possum more than once in his career. Not that being 26 back in the GC is playing possum! The mountains shall tell the tale. However, I hope that his team is still strong in case he needs them...