Armstrong Is Feeling the Heat From Ullrich

Jan Ullrich is the favorite now. So says Lance Armstrong.

The Tour de France should belong to Ullrich, a supremely talented 29-year-old German who destroyed the field, Armstrong included, in Friday’s individual time trial.

It will be up to Ullrich to set a pace, to drive up and up and up the Pyrenees faster and with more confidence than he has ever shown in the mountains.

That’s what Armstrong says. Armstrong says he thinks he can counter the German who rides for a new team, Bianchi, because his old team, Coast, went bankrupt a few weeks before the 2003 Tour. But Armstrong says he also is impressed by how Ullrich kept his rhythm and enjoyed the brutal heat and pulverized the 29-mile rolling time trial course.

Now, Armstrong says, let’s see what Ullrich has left for the big hills.

Ullrich cut 1 minute 36 seconds off his deficit to Armstrong and moved from sixth place into second overall -- 34 seconds behind the American -- with his ride Friday. Ullrich never slowed down in finishing the course in 58 minutes 32 seconds, an average of 30 mph. Armstrong finished second in the stage.

Alexandre Vinokourov, the Kazakh who had been second, is third, 51 seconds behind Armstrong. Tyler Hamilton, the American who has been riding with a broken collarbone, moved from fifth to fourth place but lost time to both Armstrong and Ullrich.

Armstrong and his United States Postal Service team, which has been put together expressly for what happens in the next five days in the hot, high mountains of southwestern France, face their toughest challenge since Armstrong made his miraculous comeback from near-fatal cancer and won the first of his four consecutive Tours in 1999.

There was glee all around the outdoor amusement park made out of an abandoned mine when Ullrich beat Armstrong in Friday’s 12th stage.

The last week of this Tour will be a real competition now and not another Armstrong coronation.

If Armstrong, the 31-year-old from Austin, Texas, is to tie Spaniard Miguel Indurain’s record of five straight wins, he will have to find his advantage in the mountains.

His trainer, Chris Carmichael, says Armstrong needs to build a solid two-minute or more lead over Ullrich in the last mountain stages before the Tour’s final time trial on the next-to-last day of the 23-day event.

Armstrong says if he has the same 34-second lead he has now over Ullrich for that time trial, “I will not lose sleep.”

The first Pyrenees climbs begin today, when the Tour turns south out of Toulouse and heads 122.5 miles up to Ax 3 Domaines, a mountain resort town near Andorra. Among the toughest hauls will be the 6,603-foot ride to the Port de Pailheres.

Sunday, with four climbs more than 4,000 feet, may be the most telling. The stage travels into Spain and back to France and it will be a chance for Armstrong to pick up those extra minutes Carmichael says he needs.

While Armstrong made his biggest splash with his stage win at the L’Alpe d’Huez in 2001 when he gave Ullrich a backward stare, then left Ullrich in his wake, the American has had better overall results in the Pyrenees the last two years.

As much as Armstrong had touted Ullrich as his main competition this year, it was still a surprise to see the 1997 Tour winner dominate.

Ullrich missed almost 14 months -- and last year’s Tour -- after knee surgery and a suspension for testing positive for Ecstasy, a recreational drug he said he used in a nightclub while recovering from his surgery.

Reports that Ullrich gained substantial weight during his recovery and the drug suspension led to speculation that the young man who had once been considered the most promising athlete on the Tour and the one most likely to challenge Indurain’s record would not have the grit to make a comeback.

Even Ullrich said he was riding this year’s Tour only as preparation to make a real challenge in 2004.

“From the start,” Ullrich said, “I never thought I could win this time trial. But all of a sudden, I got my old rhythm back. I didn’t expect this myself.”

Armstrong, who said it was “a tough day,” when temperatures were recorded as high as 104 degrees over the course, also said he miscalculated how much water he needed.

“I had an incredible crisis,” Armstrong said. “I felt like I was pedaling backward. I ran out of water. That was the thirstiest I’ve ever been in a time trial.”

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At a Glance

*--* Highlights from 12th stage: * Stage: Gaillac to Cap’ Decouverte. A crucial 29-mile individual time trial with riders racing against the clock * Winner: Jan Ullrich of Germany in 58 minutes 32 seconds. Ullrich, the Tour’s 1997 winner, closed within 34 seconds of overall leader Lance Armstrong * How others fared: Armstrong, in his favorite discipline, finished second; Kazakhstan rider Alexandre Vinokourov was third; American Tyler Hamilton, competing with a broken collarbone, finished fifth; Spain’s Iban Mayo was 12th * Yellow jersey: Armstrong retains overall lead of 34 seconds over Ullrich * Overall leaders: 1. Armstrong, 50 hours 16 minutes 45 seconds. 2. Ullrich, 34 seconds behind. 3. Vinokourov, 51. 4. Hamilton, 2 minutes 59 seconds behind. 5. Haimar Zubeldia, 4:29 * Next stage: Today’s 13th stage has the riders returning to the mountains, with a 122.5-mile run through the Pyrenees from Toulouse to Ax 3 Domaines. The stage features a climb of 6,603 feet, called Port de Pailheres * On the Web: For live updates of each day’s Tour de France stage, complete standings, cyclist profiles and course information, go to latimes.com/tour

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