Climb Goes On in the Tour

Gray noontime clouds and damp air left over from morning rains greeted the first Tour de France riders to roll down the start ramp.

By the time the favorites reached the crest of this Alpine hamlet, however, Lance Armstrong could see his own shadow and the handful of men ahead of him could feel his breath.

Armstrong dominated the race for the second consecutive day, finishing its 11th stage a full minute ahead of his main rival, Jan Ullrich. Ullrich, who won the Tour in 1997, thus far looks destined to reprise a more familiar role as groomsman on the final podium. The Deutsch Telekom team leader has been the runner-up three times, most recently last year, to Armstrong.

“Ullrich is in his best-ever form, but now Lance Armstrong is flying above us,” Telekom team director Rudy Pevenage said.

“We have to hope for a bad day from Armstrong. Probably his only bad day will be in Paris after the finish,” he said, intimating that there might be a bit of a party if Armstrong wins his third consecutive Tour.

The 19.84-mile stage compelled riders to climb from 1,419 feet in altitude to 5,709 feet over the final 11 miles. Pedaling at high cadence, a cross and a Texas pendant banging with the regularity of a metronome against his chest, Armstrong conquered the serpentine course in 1 hour 7 minutes 27 seconds, one minute faster than Ullrich.

Francois Simon of the French-based Bonjour team held onto the overall leader’s yellow jersey, but somewhat in the manner of a man beginning to lose his grip on a window ledge. Armstrong moved from fourth place to third but sliced seven minutes from Simon’s lead, reducing the gap to 13:07.

Simon, the youngest of four brothers who have competed in the Tour, is not considered to have the climbing skills to stay with Armstrong or Ullrich in the upcoming Pyrenees stages. Andrei Kivilev of Kazakhstan, a climbing specialist who began the day in second place, finished a deflating six minutes off Armstrong’s pace and is less than two minutes ahead of him.

Armstrong said he was surprised and elated by his margin. But he reminded reporters that extraordinary days such as the last two often are followed at some point by dangerous backsliding.

“You can only do an effort like that so many times in a three-week race,” he said. “At some point in both [the 1999 and 2000] Tours, I paid the price. From now on I will be very careful with my efforts.”

Today is a rest day in which the riders will travel by plane to Perpignan, a Mediterranean coastal city that will be the gateway to a three-day assault on the Pyrenees. Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service teammates generally took it easy in the time trial, starting to conserve strength for the remaining mountain-top finishes.

Armstrong told a French television station that he and his wife, Kristin, planned to open an envelope Wednesday night that will reveal the gender of the twins she is carrying.

Kristin Armstrong, who is four months pregnant, underwent an ultrasound this week but did not want to get the news without her husband present, so she asked that the results be sealed.

The Armstrongs have a 21-month-old son, Luke.

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Tour de France at a Glance

A look at Wednesday’s 11th stage:

Stage--A 19.87-mile mountain time trial from Grenoble to Chamrousse, an Alpine ski station, featuring a 5,019-foot climb.

Winner--Two-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, in 1 hour 7 minutes 27 seconds.

How others fared--1997 champion Jan Ullrich was second, one minute behind Armstrong. Francois Simon of France held on to the leader’s yellow jersey for a second day.

Quote of the day--”I still believe that there’s another level of Lance Armstrong.” -- Armstrong.

Next stage--Today is a rest day. Friday’s 12th stage is a 103.4-mile mountainous stretch from Perpignan to Ax-les-Thermes.