Armstrong Is Mountain of Strength

Lance Armstrong is wearing yellow again and talking as if he wants to keep the famous jersey for good this time.

The Tour de France hit the high Alps on Tuesday. It is where Armstrong historically has ridden his best, and where he loves to leave his challengers behind -- which is exactly what the six-time defending champion did.

The 33-year-old Texan, hoping to win one final Tour before he retires, finished second in Stage 10 to reclaim first place overall.

Armstrong finished less than a wheel behind Alejandro Valverde, a 25-year-old Spaniard tabbed by many as cycling’s next charismatic star. Both covered the 111-mile ride in 4 hours 50 minutes 35 seconds.

Overall, Armstrong leads Denmark’s Mickael Rasmussen by 38 seconds. Ivan Basso, last year’s third-place finisher, is third again, 2:40 behind. Frenchman Christophe Moreau is fourth, 2:42 behind.

Meanwhile, Armstrong’s top challengers, men who had proclaimed themselves ready and eager to take Armstrong’s yellow jersey while the retiring American was still racing, have fallen far behind.

Jan Ullrich, the 1997 champion and a five-time runner-up, is eighth, 4:02 behind. His T-Mobile teammate, Andreas Kloden, who was runner-up last year, is ninth, 4:16 back. Alexandre Vinokourov, a third-place finisher two years ago who was suggesting he should be the T-Mobile team leader, came in 6:32 behind Armstrong and is in 16th place. He had been fifth after nine stages.

By the time Armstrong and Valverde roared through the snaking roads of this ski station at an altitude of more than 6,000 feet, the most danger came from uncontrollable fans running into the road and hindering the riders with their flags. Rasmussen shoved one of them aside.

“Today I had good legs,” Armstrong said. “We’re in a good position now with regard to the main rivals so maybe we’ll have to protect that. It might mean protecting the [yellow] jersey and hopefully retiring it. We’ll see.”

Armstrong certainly seems in shape to keep the jersey until the end.

First, he dropped Vinokourov and Bobby Julich, who had been fifth and sixth before Tuesday’s racing. At the beginning of the last 13.8-mile climb, Julich, from Glenwood, Colo., and Vinokourov, from Kazakhstan, began riding as if they were carrying logs on their backs.

Ullrich had rivulets of sweat hanging from his lip and looked glassy-eyed while staring at nothing but Armstrong’s back. His legs were pumping, but his bike barely moved. Kloden couldn’t raise his head. He just followed Ullrich.

“We were really looking forward to today’s stage,” Ullrich said. “But it was too much for my legs.” Ullrich said his ribs hurt from a crash Sunday. “But it didn’t matter. I would have lost two minutes anyway.”

Jens Voigt, who held the yellow jersey at the start of the stage, fell five minutes behind, then 10, 15, 17....The more Voigt pedaled, the longer the road seemed to grow. He’s in 72nd place, 29:23 behind Armstrong.

Basso, the Italian from CSC whose team director, Bjarn Riis, had engaged in some gamesmanship over the first week of the Tour, was on Armstrong’s back for a while. But in the final pull, Basso dropped away too.

The only men left with Armstrong in the last few miles were former mountain bike champion Rasmussen, who won Saturday’s stage, and two Spaniards from the Iles Balears team, Valverde and Francisco Mancebo.

Armstrong said the hard work had been done earlier by his hard-riding and maligned Discovery Channel teammates. After Saturday’s stage, when Armstrong found himself unprotected on an ending climb, whispers had begun. Maybe the lieutenants had lost their fight.

Riis suggested Discovery Channel had also benefited from good luck, especially when CSC’s David Zabriskie crashed during the final moments of the team time trial July 5.

“We’re not the team that says a guy that has won the Tour de France six times is lucky again to take the yellow jersey,” Armstrong said. “How can you say those things? At the end of the day we have to race against the riders, not the director, and the riders are some of the classiest guys in the peloton when you talk about Voigt, Julich, Basso ... great guys.

“But for sure, I can’t lie. I saved that one on the hard drive when I read it.”

Armstrong also praised his youngest teammate, 25-year-old Yaroslav Popovych.

Popovych had crashed on a big descent Tuesday, but it was Popovych who was the last Discovery Channel rider escorting Armstrong.

The U.S. team led the peloton almost all day. Pavel Padrnos, Manuel Beltran and Benjamin Noval took turns up front before peeling off. Jose Luis Rubiera and Paolo Savoldelli moved up, worked hard and moved back. Jose Azevedo came next, and when he tired, George Hincapie jumped up. Finally, only Popovych was left.

With about seven miles left, Armstrong leaned over and spoke to Popovych. “I told him to go hard,” Armstrong said. “And he did. Almost too fast. It was almost a sprint.”

It was that move that dropped all but six riders, including Armstrong.

When Basso couldn’t keep up, Armstrong talked to the three riders left.

“I was trying to get everybody to keep riding because I had heard the time gaps between Jan and certain other guys, Basso,” Armstrong said. “I told them anybody who is in the front of this climb today has to be considered a contender so it was in their interest to ride as hard as they could, to put as much time into Ullrich as possible because he’s going to catch them in the Pyrenees and the final time trial.

“I was trying everything. I used all the best [stuff] I had to get them to ride.”

Typical Armstrong, thinking ahead. He was relentless. Get the minutes today. Get some more tomorrow.

After Armstrong called Valverde a great hope for the future, Valverde gave a teary thumbs up to the afternoon.

“I had a dream to win a stage,” Valverde said, “and I did. Now I stand with the guy who won the race six times and that’s another dream.”

When Armstrong won his first Tour in 1999 it was his stage win up to Sestriere in the Alps that cemented his hold on the yellow jersey he’d won the day before in a time trial.

In 2000, he raced up Hautacam in a breathtaking display of strength that has become famous.

The next year, Armstrong and his team director, Johan Bruyneel, concocted the “possum play” -- where Armstrong acted as if he was struggling up l’Alpe d’Huez, until Ullrich thought the stage was won. That’s when Armstrong shot ahead and gave one last look over his shoulder to the stunned and beaten Ullrich.

“It’s not over,” Armstrong said Tuesday. “Still a long way to go.”

It seems very much longer for everybody but Armstrong.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Right to the top

Lance Armstrong regained the yellow jersey Tuesday after finishing second in the first trip to the Alps. A look at Armstrong’s standing in years he won before and after the mountain stages:

1999

* Going in: First, leading by 2:20

* Coming out: First, leading by 6:15

2000

* Going in: 16th, trailing by 5:54

* Coming out: First, leading by 5:37

2001

* Going in: 15th, trailing by 1:53

* Coming out: First, leading by 5:05

2002

* Going in: Second, trailing by :26

* Coming out: First, leading by 5:06

2003

* Going in: Second, trailing by :01

* Coming out: First, leading by 1:07

2004

* Going in: Sixth, trailing by 9:35

* Coming out: First, leading by 4:09

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Tracking heart rate through the mountains

In this year’s Tour, information on a rider’s heart rate is easy to acquire and analyze. How it’s gathered:

1. Chest strap records heart rate. Has two contact points and a radio transmitter.

2. GPS device tracks course altitude. Allows the heart rate data to be overlaid on elevation, crucial

for mountain stages.

3. Watch receives data from devices. Transmitters relay data to a computer- like watch, where it is stored. Some riders have a small screen on their handlebars to view data during the race.

4. Watch transmits data. Data can be downloaded for coaches, team doctors and riders, or e-mailed anywhere in the world.

Sources: Outdoor Life Network, Polar Electro

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STAGE 10 AT A GLANCE

* Stage: Tuesday’s first Alpine stage started just outside Grenoble and took riders on a 111-mile trek up to the ski station of Courchevel.

* Winner: Alejandro Valverde, Spain, Illes Balears, in 4 hours 50 minutes 35 seconds.

* How others fared: Lance Armstrong, United States, Discovery Channel, was second in the same time; Mickael Rasmussen, Denmark, Rabobank, was third, nine seconds back; Jan Ullrich, Germany, T-Mobile, was 13th, 2:14 back; Alexandre Vinokourov, Kazakhstan, T-Mobile, was 24th, 5:18 back.

* Yellow jersey: Armstrong reclaimed the yellow jersey from Team CSC rider Jens Voigt -- and established major time gaps on his main rivals.

* Quote of the day: “I gave everything I had. I attacked and couldn’t go any harder. I wanted the stage win because I haven’t won a race yet this year. I’m trying.” -- Armstrong on finishing second to Valverde.

* On the web: For more information on the Tour de France, including Diane Pucin’s blog, photo galleries and up-to-the-minute standings, please visit latimes.com/tour.

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OVERALL LEADERS

1. Lance Armstrong, U.S. 37:11:04

2. Mickael Rasmussen, Denmark :38 behind

3. Ivan Basso, Italy 2:40 behind

4. Christophe Moreau, France 2:42 behind

5. Alejandro Valverde, Spain 3:16 behind

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STAGE 10 RESULTS

1. Alejandro Valverde, Spain 4:50:35

2. Lance Armstrong, U.S. 4:50:35

3. Mickael Rasmussen, Denmark :09 behind

4. Francisco Mancebo, Spain :09 behind

5. Ivan Basso, Italy 1:02 behind