Paris Spree Is All That Remains for Armstrong

Only 85.2 miles of hard pedaling to go, and Lance Armstrong of the United States, demonstrably the world’s finest performer on a bicycle, should win his second Tour de France in a row today.

Barring a crash or other unforeseen disaster, Armstrong should still be clad in the leader’s yellow jersey when the last of the Tour’s 21 days of racing ends on the tree-lined streets and boulevards of Paris. Since the cycling classic’s 10th stage in the peaks of the Pyrenees near Spain, Armstrong has had a virtual lock on the jersey, and he kept it Saturday during the single longest daily trek of this year’s Tour, 158 miles between the eastern French cities of Belfort and Troyes. Armstrong finished 27th in the stage, which was won by Erik Zabel of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom team in 6 hours 14 minutes 13 seconds.

Armstrong now enjoys more than a six-minute cumulative lead over the second-place rider,Jan Ullrich, also of Deutsche Telekom, a difference that would take a cycling miracle for the German to erase on the Paris cobblestones.

As he nears his second victory in what may be the most exhausting sports contest in the world, Armstrong is a celebrity and hero in the United States--an inspirational figure who successfully fought spreading testicular cancer to return three years later to the Tour, in 1999, and win it.

A lot of the French, however, still don’t seem to know what to make of this 28-year-old Texan who doesn’t smile much, is sometimes taciturn and is admittedly wary of dealing with the French media. They remember with fondness another American, three-time Tour champion Greg LeMond, who virtually exploded with joy in 1989 when he won the greatest cliffhanger in the race’s history by a scant eight seconds on the final day.

France, after all, is a country where “passion” in all things, from sports to relations between the sexes, is prized above all. So when Le Parisien, a tabloid daily, performed an informal roadside poll of people watching the Tour in Mulhouse, eastern France, it found that the feelings expressed about Armstrong ranged from “admiration” to “disdain.”

“I respect him for what he’s gone through, but other than that, no,” one French cycling fan told the newspaper in remarks reported Saturday. “He’s bland. He doesn’t speak very much, it’s annoying. What made him popular was his disease. That’s very American.”

“You can feel that he is suspicious,” another Frenchman told Le Parisien. “But on the bike, he knows what to do. He’s a pro.”

Jean-Marie Leblanc, director of the Tour, has suggested that Armstrong would be much more popular in this country if he spoke French. But the star of the U.S. Postal Service team, who owns a home on the French Riviera and understands the language, has said he won’t do it. Last year, he explained, reporters took advantage of mistakes he made when speaking French to twist his words.

And besides, Armstrong said during a rest day on this year’s Tour, “this isn’t a popularity contest. It’s a bike race.” He did promise to try to learn more French in the coming year, however, and he went out of his way to say he now lives in France and loves it.

The dogged Texan, who performed awesomely in the Pyrenees and Alps but failed to finish first in any of the race’s individually timed daily stages, put his signature on this year’s edition of the Tour in dramatic fashion, during a solitary time trial Friday.

Racing across the Rhine, against the clock, and in hot weather, Armstrong covered a 36-mile course from Fribourg, Germany, to the Alsatian town of Mulhouse in 1 hour 5 minutes 1 second. The only rider who came close was Ullrich, who needed 25 seconds more than Armstrong.

In the process, the American set a Tour speed record for a time trial in excess of 31 miles.

“It was a big fight,” he said. “Jan is a big engine. I went all out, as the yellow jersey is supposed to do. This was nice to win.”

Earlier in the Tour, Armstrong had said he was riding to achieve overall victory in Paris, and not to be the fastest on any given day. In one stage, up the fabled Mont Ventoux of Provence, he later admitted he let Italy’s supreme climber Marco Pantani edge past him at the finish line, and that he regretted it.

That was more like the pre-cancer Armstrong, who says he used to break away from the pack because of his intense competitive spirit, even when it made no strategic sense.

“I had an empty feeling up until now. And now it’s complete,” Armstrong said after winning Friday’s time trial. His wife, Kristin, was at the finish line to hug him.

As usual, Armstrong was his frank self, whatever the citizenry of the country that hosts the Tour might think. He wouldn’t be toasting his victory with champagne, one of France’s most celebrated products and symbol of its savoir-vivre, he said. “I’m not a big champagne guy,” he confided.

Pantani, who developed diarrhea after swigging too much cold water, abandoned the race July 19, as did last year’s runner-up, Alex Zuelle of Switzerland. As the Tour begins its final day today, only 128 of the 180 riders who set off July 1 will still be in their saddles.

On one rigorous day in the Alps, between Courchevel and Morzine, Armstrong himself endured what he called “the hardest day of my cycling life.” According to the Tour’s official timekeepers, it was the only time in the past two editions of the race that Armstrong lost time to his overall riders.

“I didn’t eat enough through the stage,” Armstrong said. “I had no sugar, no energy, and I hit the bonk [cycling jargon for a sudden lack of energy].” It was, he said, the mistake “of an amateur.”

Richard Virenque of France, winner of five “king of the mountains” titles as the Tour’s top climber, was the best that day.

Armstrong’s 1999 Tour victory was regarded by some on this side of the Atlantic as a fluke, since the field was devoid of previous champions. He won four daily stages, versus one this year. Pantani, in comparison, won two before giving up.

But over this year’s Tour, on the country roads and mountain passes of France, Germany and Switzerland, Armstrong progressively ground his rivals into the asphalt, including past winners Pantani and Ullrich.

“One knows who is going to win this race. No one can take it from Armstrong,” Walter Godefroot, sports director for the Telekom team, predicted after Armstrong donned the yellow jersey for the first time July 10 in the Pyrenees.

The year 2000 Tour, Armstrong said, is “total vindication. It’s been sweet.”

Already, he is bracing for what is to come next--the Sydney Olympics. A gold medal there could make him an American sports superstar.

Unlike the Tour, “everybody watches the Olympics,” Armstrong said in remarks quoted by Associated Press. Jokingly, he said that if he doesn’t win a medal, TV viewers might conclude, “This guy’s terrible--that Tour de France must be pretty second-rate.”

Instead, Armstrong said, it’s the other way around. “In the Tour de France, the strongest man wins. The Olympic road race--I’m sorry, but it’s a lottery. It will be much smarter for me to concentrate my training on the Olympic time trial, which I think I have a good chance to win.”

Back-to-back victories in the Tour for Armstrong would be a first since Spaniard Miguel Indurain’s string of five wins from 1991 to 1995. LeMond, the only other American Tour laureate, also won two in a row, in 1989 and 1990.

Today’s Paris stage will be the first since the Tour’s creation in 1903 to take place entirely within the city. After the riders arrive from Troyes on the Orient Express of Agatha Christie fame, they will mount their bikes at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

They will then race by some of the French’s capital’s most celebrated sights, including the Louvre museum, the Place de la Bastille and the Arc de Triomphe, before the final laps on the Champs-Elysees.

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HOW THEY STAND

Leaders in the Tour de France with time others trail leader Lance Armstrong of the United States:

1. Armstrong

2. Ullrich: 6:02

3. Beloki: 10:04

4. Moreau: 10:34

5. Heras: 11:50

SATURDAY

Erik Zabel wins the 158-mile route--the longest of the three-week competition.

TODAY

Race concludes with an 85.2-mile stage.

Tour de France at a Glance

Saturday’s 20th stage:

* STAGE: A 158-mile route--the longest of the three-week competition, but with only three minor climbs--from the fortress town of Belfort west to Troyes, a hub of France’s famed Champagne region.

* WINNER: Erik Zabel, the star sprinter of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom team. He had two second-place stage finishes this year but hadn’t won a stage since 1997.

* HOW OTHERS FARED: More than 100 of the 128 riders still in the field finished in a clump and were awarded Zabel’s finishing time of 6 hours 14 minutes 13 seconds. Defending champion Lance Armstrong came in 27th, three places behind Jan Ullrich, No. 2 overall.

* QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I can’t explain why it’s been three years without a win. I’ve been second and third something like 15 times. I’ve had a hard time on that front. For me, personally, this is a great moment”--Zabel.

* NEXT STAGE: Today’s concluding 85.2-mile stage goes through Paris, starting at the Eiffel Tower, traveling along the banks of the River Seine and concluding down the Champs-Elysees.