Armstrong Heads for the Hills
DAX, France — Lance Armstrong used Sunday’s ninth stage of the Tour de France as a dress rehearsal.
The defending champion tested the bicycle he plans to use in the tougher climbing stages, and still managed to stay ahead of his chief challengers in the overall standings.
Paolo Bettini of Italy won a four-way sprint to win the ninth stage. Armstrong was 47th, in the main group, and was credited with the same time as Bettini.
Armstrong finished one spot ahead of Germany’s Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour champion and the rider that the Texan’s U.S. Postal team sees as the biggest threat to a repeat victory.
Armstrong remained 16th overall, 43 seconds ahead of Ullrich and 5 minutes 12 seconds clear of 1998 winner Marco Pantani heading into the first mountain stage today.
Alberto Elli, Ullrich’s teammate with Deutsche Telekom, retained the yellow jersey and will wear it for a fourth day, but he knows it will probably be his last.
Bettini won the flat, 112-mile route from Agen to Dax in the southwestern corner of France in 4:29:06.
U.S. Postal was looking ahead to the 10th stage, a 127-mile climb from Dax to Lourdes-Hautacam. Armstrong, Kevin Livingston and Tyler Hamilton all rode the bicycles they plan to use today.
The bicycles, specially designed for the mountain stages at this year’s Tour de France, are lighter and sturdier than the ones used so far and had only been used once in competition, by Armstrong at last month’s Dauphine Libere race.
Team officials said Armstrong wanted to get a feel for the bicycle on Sunday’s relatively comfortable flat stage rather than use it for the first time on the tough trek to Lourdes-Hautacam.
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Tour de France at a Glance
Sunday’s ninth stage:
* STAGE: A mostly flat 112-mile route from Agen to Dax in southwest France.
* STAGE WINNER: Italy’s Paolo Bettini, of Mapei Quick Step, in 4 hours 29 minutes 6 seconds.
* HOW OTHERS FARED: Defending champion Lance Armstrong finished 47th, with the same time as Bettini. France’s Laurent Jalabert, in 49th, and Jan Ullrich, 48th, posted the same times.
* QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The real race starts on Monday.†--U.S. Postal team manager Mark Gorski.
* NEXT STAGE: Today’s 10th stage is a mountainous 127-mile climb from Dax to Lourdes-Hautacam.
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