Today Is a Pivotal Stage in Armstrong’s Pursuit

Serenity has settled onto the shoulders of Lance Armstrong. Peaceful confidence filled his words Sunday. His riding was smoother and easier. He needed no desperate, frenzied pursuit to keep his yellow jersey and his lead at the Tour de France.

Today is going to be the big day, Armstrong said. The crucial day. His 15-second lead over tough, strong Jan Ullrich, the 29-year-old German who is gaining attitude along with altitude, will not be enough when the final time trial comes on the second to last day of racing Saturday.

“This will be the last chance I have to gain a cushion,” Armstrong said. “What happens next is going to be important, crucial.”

Armstrong spoke with a steadiness and a tone of certainty that had been missing over the previous two days.

Stunned by Ullrich’s magnificent effort in Friday’s time trial and left 10 pounds lighter by dehydration, Armstrong could only cling to his lead Saturday with a furious push to keep Ullrich in his sight.

Sunday, in the dizzying 14th stage of up-and-down pedaling, Armstrong held his 15-second advantage over Ullrich, who had claimed Saturday he hoped to take the yellow jersey.

And the two favorites were not fazed by the breakaway of Alexandre Vinokourov, who put on a push up Sunday’s final climb and drew within 18 seconds of Armstrong. Neither Armstrong nor Ullrich wanted to waste himself Sunday.

Gilberto Simoni, the Italian who had won the Giro d’Italia and bragged he would be the one to beat Armstrong this year, salvaged his disappointing Tour de France by winning the 119-mile 14th stage that featured six climbs of more than 3,300 feet.

Today’s stage is shorter (99 miles) but physically taxing in a different way.

The final part of the stage is a 5,659.5-foot climb up to the finish at Luz-Ardiden. This test provides the tantalizing chance for a man to make this Tour his own.

“If I’m feeling good,” Armstrong said, “I may attack.”

It’s that simple. It’s that amazingly complicated, exhausting, debilitating, bold and demanding.

A little breeze ruffled the Basque flags that bloomed in the Pyrenees Sunday. They were held by proud mountain fans in both France and Spain who stood shoulder to shoulder on the narrow ridges that surrounded the curvy roads.

They saw a more powerful, less wasted Armstrong. After the two days of feeling, he said, “that I was going backward,” Armstrong looked less gaunt and less desperate Sunday.

It’s no secret, Armstrong said, that his performance has not been to the standard to which the world has become accustomed. As the 31-year-old cancer survivor from Austin, Texas, set about winning the last four Tours, he also had stamped out the hopes of everybody by the time the Tour reached its final week.

“Something’s not going exactly right,” Armstrong said. “I can’t do anything about it now. If I lose this Tour by a second, I’ll just go home, have a cold beer and come back next year. No sense whining or crying. All I can do is my best.”

As Chris Carmichael, Armstrong’s trainer, pointed out, that form “still has Lance wearing the yellow jersey.”

“With the yellow jersey on, Lance is still in control of the race,” Carmichael said.

In today’s 15th stage, there are two backbreaking climbs -- Col d’Aspin (4,913.7 feet) and Col du Tourmalet (6,976.2 feet). Those merely set up the finish, a race up the Luz-Ardiden. It is here, Carmichael said, that the final decision on Armstrong’s form will be made.

“It’s the perfect place to attack,” Carmichael said, “and the last really good chance to attack.”

The three cyclists within 18 seconds of the lead all have emotional motives to burst up Luz-Ardiden.

Armstrong, against any predictions of even the most avid believer in miracles, is trying to join Spain’s Miguel Indurain in being the only men to win the Tour five consecutive times. When Armstrong nearly died of cancer six years ago, riding a bike around the block was beyond his comprehension.

Ullrich, winner of the 1997 Tour, has chased away his own demons.

Prone to weight gains and a happy participant in too many late-night parties, Ullrich missed 14 months and the 2002 Tour after needing knee surgery, having plowed his car into a tree in a drunk-driving accident and finally failing a drug test for the recreational drug Ecstasy.

After admitting he took the Ecstasy tablets at a nightclub, Ullrich served his suspension from cycling, rehabbed his knee, became a father and generally grew up.

He began this competition hoping simply to begin getting into shape for winning a year from now.

“My hopes have changed,” Ullrich said after drilling the field in last Friday’s first time trial.

Vinokourov, from Kazakhstan, has been riding with a special purpose because his countryman and best friend, Andrei Kivilev, was killed in a competition last spring. Vinokourov has dedicated this Tour to Kivilev.

“I knew, even if others didn’t, that this Tour was going to be close,” Armstrong said. “But I probably didn’t expect it to come down to the last few stages. That’s what everybody wants, though, right? A close race.”

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At a Glance

*--* Highlights of the 14th stage: * Stage: Saint-Girons to Loudenvielle-Le Louron. A 119-mile grind that includes six 3,300-foot climbs in the Pyrenees * Winner: Italian rider Gilberto Simoni in 5 hours 31 minutes 52 seconds. Simoni, this year’s Giro d’Italia winner, almost dropped out of the race Saturday because he had flu * How others fared: Alexandre Vinokourov placed sixth, Lance Armstrong 11th and Jan Ullrich 12th * Yellow jersey: Armstrong retains an overall lead of 15 seconds over Ullrich * Leaders: 1. Armstrong, 61 hours 7 minutes 17 seconds; 2. Ullrich, 15 seconds behind; 3. Vinokourov, 18 seconds behind; 4. Haimar Zubeldia, 4:16 behind; 5. Iban Mayo, 4:37 behind * Quote of the day: “Something’s not going exactly right. I can’t do anything about it now. All I can do is wake up every morning and do my best.” -- Armstrong * Next stage: Today’s 15th stage puts the riders deeper into the Pyrenees, with a 98.9-mile trek from Bagneres-de-Bigorre to Luz-Ardiden. The stage features a final climb of 5,659.5 feet * 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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