Armstrong Vents Some Anger

As far as the race goes, Lance Armstrong is confident.

As far as the drug talk goes, Armstrong is spitting mad.

On a day when the temperature climbed to near 100 degrees by the end of Stage 11, Armstrong stood near the finish line and spoke optimistically about the upcoming mountain climbs in the looming Pyrenees and angrily about a two-pronged attack against his reputation.

A furious Armstrong, trying to become the first man in the history of the Tour de France to win the three-week endurance test six times in a row, accused a French television journalist of stalking his hotel room and wearily shook his head at harsh words from Greg LeMond, the first American cyclist to win the Tour.

Armstrong was feeling assailed when he and fellow American Tyler Hamilton were tapped at the end of Stage 10 for drug testing. Making him madder, Armstrong said, was the sight of France 3 TV investigative reporter Hugues Huet at the U.S. Postal Service team hotel Thursday morning.

“After we left [the hotel], the [television] crew went to the hotel, to the reception, to the owner of the hotel, asking for our room list, trying to get in our rooms,” Armstrong said. “They show up at the press conference and ask sporting questions to our face but as soon as we leave, they’re looking, digging in the rooms, looking for dirt. If you left a B vitamin sitting there, that would be on TV and that would be a scandal.

“This particular guy [Huet] has been following us for months. The scary thing is that if they don’t find anything and they get frustrated after a couple of months, well, who’s to say they don’t put something there and film it and say, ‘Look what we’ve found.’ That’s what we have to deal with.”

A France 3 spokesman said the crew had gone to the hotel only to interview U.S. Postal trainers and assistants to assess the physical state of Armstrong and his teammates before the start of mountain climbing. And Huet told Associated Press: “We do have ethics and we don’t do just anything. If I played around by searching his room like that, I would be breaking the limits.”

It is not a secret where teams stay. A Tour book lists each team’s hotel for each night. But it is unusual for riders to give interviews at the hotel on the morning before the stage begins.

Also Thursday, an article in the French newspaper Le Monde quoted LeMond as strongly criticizing Armstrong’s denials of drug use.

“The problem with Lance is that you’re either a liar or you’re out to destroy cycling,” LeMond was quoted as saying. “Lance is ready to do anything to keep his secret but I don’t know how long he can convince everybody of his innocence.”

Armstrong has had a contentious relationship with the French press in the past. Two years ago, he held an emotional news conference in the middle of the Tour denying doping allegations, expressing sadness that French fans were yelling “Dope” at him and defending his relationship with Italian physician Michele Ferrari, who has been the target of Italian investigations into doping.

And LeMond and Armstrong have had an uneasy relationship since Armstrong won his first Tour in 1999. In 2001, when a London Times writer revealed Armstrong’s relationship with Ferrari, LeMond was quoted extensively as being critical of Armstrong and doubting Armstrong’s victories.

While neither Armstrong nor other members of the U.S. Postal team responded publicly to LeMond’s quotes, Chris Carmichael, Armstrong’s trainer, said there was a sense of frustration about the continual percolating of the doping rumors.

“It’s disappointing,” Carmichael said. “How is Lance supposed to react? He takes every drug test, he’s never failed one, guys have been trying for years to catch him, they can’t. How do you prove you haven’t taken anything other than passing the drug tests?

“It’s not a great situation but what happened today isn’t a surprise. Lance doesn’t expect it to go away, he can only respond.”

When it came to talking about his position in the race -- still in sixth place, still 9 minutes 35 seconds behind overall leader Thomas Voeckler of France, still at least 47 seconds ahead of his strongest challengers -- Armstrong was content.

He also said he was looking forward both to today’s stage -- 122.5 miles from Castelsarrasin to La Mongie that finishes with a daunting eight-mile climb to the finish -- and even more to Saturday’s 13th stage that finishes high up in the mountains at Plateau de Beille.

In 2002, Armstrong won stages that finished in La Mongie and Plateau de Beille.

French fans cheered again Thursday. For the first time in a decade, French riders have won back-to-back stages with David Moncoutie of Cofidis finishing alone at the end of the undulating, 102-mile trip. A day earlier, climber Richard Virenque won the first climbing stage.

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Stage 11 at a Glance

* Stage: A relatively short ride from Saint-Flour to Figeac over 102 miles of hilly roads with one notable climb.

* Winner: David Moncoutie of France in 3 hours 54 minutes 58 seconds.

* How others fared: Lance Armstrong, U.S., placed ninth, 5:58 behind. Jan Ullrich, Germany, placed 13th in the same time

* Yellow jersey: Thomas Voeckler of France keeps the lead.

* Quote of the Day: “We’re tired and really cooked.” -- Lance Armstrong.

OVERALL LEADERS

N. RIDER Country Time

1. THOMAS VOECKLER France 46:43:10

2. STUART O’GRADY Australia 3:00 behind

3. SANDY CASAR France 4:13 behind

4. RICHARD VIRENQUE France 6:52 behind

5. JAKOB PIIL Denmark 7:43 behind

6. LANCE ARMSTRONG U.S. 9:35 behind