Weary Armstrong’s Lead Is Cut in Mountainous Climb

MORZINE, France — It was a rare sight: Lance Armstrong struggling through the mountains, unable to summon an extra burst of energy to stay with his rivals on a climb.

Armstrong just couldn’t keep up late in Tuesday’s 16th stage of the Tour de France and wound up staggering across the finish line in eighth place. He was 2 minutes 1 second behind stage winner Richard Virenque and 1:37 behind Jan Ullrich, Armstrong’s only serious challenger for the title.

Armstrong, though, had plenty of time to spare, and rode well enough to maintain an overall lead that should hold up with five stages left in the cycling marathon.

“Today was the hardest day of my life on a bike,” a winded Armstrong said.

His lead over Ullrich, the 1997 champion, was cut from 7:26 to 5:37, but with all five of the decisive mountain stages over, he should have few problems retaining the yellow jersey to the end.

“I had a problem on the last climb. I had no energy left,” Armstrong said. “I am lucky that this race goes on for three weeks and that I had a lead of 7 1/2 minutes.”

He said he didn’t eat properly before the race and was lacking sugar.

The day’s route of 122 miles passed near the spectacular cable cars that run to the 10,560-foot summit of Carron from Val-Thorens, the highest ski resort in Europe.

The three-week race, which ends Sunday in Paris, continues today with a hilly, 93-mile course from Evian-les-Bains to Lausanne, Switzerland.

Organizers said they are cutting the number of cars allowed on the route from 1,000 to 500 because a 12-year-old boy died last week after being hit by a publicity car. Riders stopped at the start of the 16th stage for a moment of silence in memory of the boy.

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Tour de France Glance

A look at 16th stage:

* STAGE--A mountainous 122-mile route from Courchevel to Morzine.

* STAGE WINNER--Richard Virenque of France in 5 hours 32 minutes 20 seconds.

* HOW OTHERS FARED--Defending champion Lance Armstrong finished eighth, 2:01 behind Virenque. Jan Ullrich was second, 24 seconds behind the winner.

* QUOTE OF THE DAY--”Today was the hardest day of my life on a bike.”

--Lance Armstrong

* NEXT STAGE--Today’s 93-mile course from Evian-les-Bains to Lausanne, Switzerland.