Two Stages Left for Armstrong

Lance Armstrong is not the sentimental type. At least not yet.

“There’s one hour tomorrow and maybe four on Sunday,” Armstrong said Friday after Stage 19 at the Tour de France. “I fully realize that I have just five hours left as a professional cyclist. But there’s still work to be done, the attacks will come and we have to cover them. There’s still the time trial tomorrow. No one’s throwing a retirement party for me yet.”

That will come Sunday in Paris at the Ritz where Armstrong is planning a retirement shindig for 600 of his closest friends, fans and celebrities. Armstrong has won an unprecedented six consecutive Tours and is safely in the lead for his seventh victory before he retires Sunday and starts the party.

But there is still racing to be done.

Friday’s winner of the 95.4-mile stage from Issoire was wide-eyed 34-year-old veteran Giuseppe Guerini of Italy.

Riding for T-Mobile, Guerini finished the trip in 3 hours 33 minutes 4 seconds. Armstrong, who finished 56th, tucked away in the peloton and 4:31 behind the winner, kept his overall lead at 2:46 over another Italian, Ivan Basso. The only change in the top 10 came when Spain’s Oscar Pereiro slipped ahead of fading Frenchman Christophe Moreau.

This was Guerini’s second Tour stage win. His first came in 1999 on l’Alpe d’Huez and it was filled with drama. On the Tour’s most legendary climb with its 21 hairpin turns, Guerini was alone and riding toward the finish when a fan with a camera jumped onto the unbarricaded road. Guerini crashed into the man, fell, got up and still won the stage.

“It was easier today,” Guerini said. “This was special, too. But nothing was like l’Alpe d’Huez.”

Guerini was part of a four-man breakaway along roads under a bright sun that pushed temperatures to nearly 100 degrees. There were five small hills and melting pavement in some places, and most of the peloton was content to ride together and safely.

With about 23 miles to go, Guerini, Sandy Casar of France, Franco Pellizotti of Italy and Pereiro burst ahead for good and were cooperating with each other until Guerini attacked with about 1,300 meters left. Pereiro’s fourth-place finish lifted him from 13th overall to 10th.

Armstrong, who was awarded the leader’s yellow jersey for the 81st time, looked ahead briefly to today’s 34.5-mile time trial in Saint-Etienne before he hurried off to see his three children, who have come to see their father race in his final Tour.

“It’s going to be very hard and very long,” Armstrong said, “and there will be very big time differences. It’s a big day. I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”

In the time trial, riders race the clock. They start one at a time in one-minute intervals with the yellow jersey holder, Armstrong, going last.

Basso’s biggest weakness in the past has been in the time trial, but he won the event in the Giro d’Italia last spring and he was still working on the skill after Friday’s stage. He and American teammate Bobby Julich went out to drive the course.

“This time trial is the last big thing in the Tour,” said Basso, 27, who rides for CSC. “I’m very focused on showing that I deserve my place and maintaining my standing.”

While Danish climbing specialist Mickael Rasmussen is third, 3:46 behind Armstrong and a minute behind Basso, it is Germany’s Jan Ullrich who most worries Basso. Ullrich, in fourth place, 3:22 behind Basso, is a strong time trial rider and said, “I feel as if my legs are getting stronger.”

Even Armstrong said this week that he thought Ullrich should be the favorite today.

And Basso was bluntly honest about his chances of gaining over 2 1/2 minutes on Armstrong in the last competitive stage for the overall leaders. “It is Lance’s final stage in his final Tour,” Basso said. “That is not even a realistic thought to beat him.”

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

STAGE 19 AT A GLANCE

* Stage: Friday’s 19th stage took riders on a 95.4-mile trek from Issoire to Le Puy-en-Velay through central France.

* Winner: Giuseppe Guerini, Italy, T-Mobile, in 3 hours 33 minutes 4 seconds

* How others fared: Sandy Casar, France, Francaise des Jeux, was second, 10 seconds behind; Franco Pellizotti, Italy, Liquigas-Bianchi, was third, in the same time. Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso all finished in a group, 4:31 behind Guerini.

* Yellow jersey: Six-time champion Armstrong keeps the yellow jersey. He leads Basso by 2:46, Mickael Rasmussen by 3:46, and Ullrich by 5:58 before today’s time trial.

* Quote of the day: “It’s a big day. I’ll give it everything I’ve got.” -- Armstrong looks to go out in style in today’s time trial.

* 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.

OVERALL LEADERS

1. Lance Armstrong, U.S. 81:22:19

2. Ivan Basso, Italy 2:46 behind

3. Mickael Rasmussen, Denmark 3:46 behind

4. Jan Ullrich, Germany 5:58 behind

5. Francisco Mancebo, Spain 7:08 behind

STAGE 19 RESULTS

1. Giuseppe Guerini, Italy 3:33:04

2. Sandy Casar, France 10 sec. behind

3. Franco Pellizotti, Italy same time

4. Oscar Pereiro, Spain :12 sec. behind

5. Salvatore Commesso, Italy 2:43 behind