Armstrong’s Team Gets Better in Stages

For six years Lance Armstrong was the only member of his team to win a stage at the Tour de France.

Now in a matter of four days, two of Armstrong’s Discovery Channel teammates have crossed the finish line first.

Sunday, it was loyal lieutenant George Hincapie winning the toughest mountain stage of the 2005 race. And Wednesday it was Italian Paolo Savoldelli grabbing the lead with 100 meters to go and winning the longest stage of this Tour.

Savoldelli, 32, outsprinted Kurt-Afle Arvesen of Norway to win the 148.8-mile run from Pau. The route took the riders over four small climbs and Savoldelli finished in a time of 5 hours 41 minutes 19 seconds. Armstong’s lead remained at 2:46 over second-place rider Ivan Basso of Italy and 3:09 over third-place Mickael Rasmussen of Denmark. Jan Ullrich, considered Armstrong’s top challenger before the Tour, is still in fourth, 5:58 behind.

Ullrich’s T-Mobile teammate Alexandre Vinokourov, another pre-race favorite, moved from ninth to seventh place, passing Australian Cadel Evans and American Floyd Landis after announcing he would not renew his contract with T-Mobile. Another T-Mobile racer, 2004 runner-up Andreas Kloden, withdrew from the race after breaking his wrist Tuesday in a crash.

So relaxed is six-time defending champion Armstrong that he mugged for the television cameras several times during Wednesday’s stage.

Barring an unforeseen crash or illness, Armstrong is expected to win his seventh consecutive title Sunday in Paris before he retires to his home in Austin, Texas.

“I’m happy because my team was great again,” said Armstrong, who has yet to win an individual stage this year. “It couldn’t be better.”

Armstrong finished 22:28 behind the winner. He said he was pedaling along when he heard the news coming through his earpiece from team director Johan Bruyneel.

“It was surreal,” Armstrong said. “We all looked at each other and said, ‘Did he just say Paolo won the stage?’ ”

Savoldelli is the newest member of the Discovery Channel team.

He rode with Ullrich’s T-Mobile squad a year ago and did nothing spectacular while battling injuries the last two years.

In 2003, Savoldelli was in a crash and needed reconstructive facial surgery. Last year he broke his wrist, and in January at his first California training camp with Armstrong, Savoldelli crashed again and broke his collarbone.

Bruyneel, though, said he signed Savoldelli because he respected the Italian’s mountain climbing strength. When Landis defected from Armstrong’s team last fall, Bruyneel called Savoldelli.

In what he called his greatest season so far, Savoldelli won his second Giro d’Italia in May and now his first Tour de France stage.

“It’s a very lucky year for me,” Savoldelli said. “Everything is going OK from the beginning of the season. Now I’m very tired because I did a lot for the team in the mountains. At the finish, I knew I had the possibility of the win, and I’m so happy when it happened to me.”

Savoldelli was part of an early 17-man breakaway. Because it contained no contenders for the overall title, the general classification leaders contentedly stayed behind.

“I went with the break,” Savoldelli said, “and when none of the top guys were in it Lance said, ‘Just go.’ I have such a big emotion now. This was something that was missing from my professional career. Now I have won a stage in the biggest race in the world.”

Discovery Channel also has the leader in the young rider category -- 25-year-old Yaroslav Popovych of Ukraine. Discovery Channel also overtook T-Mobile Wednesday in the team competition.

“I think this says a lot about the future of the team,” Hincapie said. “It’s great for all of us.”

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STAGE 17 AT A GLANCE

* Stage: Wednesday’s 17th stage was the longest of the Tour, taking riders over 148.8 miles from Pau to Revel.

* Winner: Paolo Savoldelli, Italy, Discovery Channel, in 5 hours 41 minutes 19 seconds.

* How others fared: Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Norway, Team CSC, was second, also at 5:41:19. Simons Gerrens, Australia, AG2R Prevoyance, was third, 8 seconds behind. Jan Ullrich was 22nd, Lance Armstrong was 23rd. Both finished 22:28 behind Savoldelli.

* Yellow jersey: Six-time champion Armstrong keeps the yellow jersey.

* Quote of the day: “It keeps getting better.” -- Armstrong after another stage win for his Discovery Channel team.

* 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. 72:55:50

2. Ivan Basso, Italy 2:46 behind

3. Mickael Rasmussen, Denmark 3:09 behind

4. Jan Ullrich, Germany 5:58 behind

5. Francisco Mancebo, Spain 6:31 behind

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STAGE 16 RESULTS

1. Paolo Savoldelli, Italy 5:41:19

2. Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Norway 5:41:19

3. Simons Gerrens, Australia :08 behind

4. Sebastien Hinault, France :11 behind

5. Andriy Grivko, Ukraine :24 behind