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Tour de France Capsules: Contador closer to Tour win; Armstrong now 4th
LE GRAND-BORNAND, France — Lance Armstrong couldn’t stay in the front during the final Alpine stage in the Tour de France, so he played faithful teammate for Alberto Contador instead.
When all was said and done in Wednesday’s Stage 17, the 26-year-old Spaniard further cemented his grip on the yellow jersey and Armstrong’s ambitions for a podium spot were dealt a setback.
Frank Schleck and his younger brother Andy bumped the Texan down to fourth place from second as they broke away with Contador at the end of the 105-mile stage. The elder Schleck won the stage.
Contador leads his closest challenger — Andy Schleck — by 2 minutes, 26 seconds, and seemingly only a major mishap could stop him from taking home the yellow shirt when the race ends Sunday.
Armstrong’s challenge for a spot on the podium on the Champs-Elysees rides on the question: Can he regain ground in the time-trial Thursday, and then hold on Saturday on the dreaded Mont Ventoux?
He says a second-place finish is still within his reach.
"Yes, it’s still my goal, I think it’s possible," Armstrong said. "I just need to work hard on the time-trial tomorrow... We still have two big days."
Frank Schleck is 3:25 behind Contador. Armstrong, who crossed the finish 2:18 after the leading trio, now trails by 3:55 — ending any hope that he will win the Tour, barring a miracle.
And Astana’s hopes of sweeping the final podium in Paris are also in trouble after another Contador attack, this time on the toughest mountain stage in this Tour, with five punishing ascents in succession.
The drama set in during the super-steep Colombiere pass.
When the 2007 Tour champion, teammate Andreas Kloeden and the Schlecks were alone in front on the Colombiere, the Spaniard surprisingly mounted his own attack on the two brothers, who had tried all day to shake the Spaniard.
Contador, too, couldn’t get rid of the Schlecks and instead dropped his teammate Kloeden, who lost significant time to the brothers and dropped to fifth overall. Kloeden started the day in fourth, trailing Contador by 2:17. At day’s end, he was 4:44 back from the leader and 1:19 behind third-place Frank Schleck.
The attack prompted much discussion after the stage.
Armstrong tweeted: "Getting lots of question why (Alberto Contador) attacked and dropped Kloeden. I still haven’t figured it out either. Oh well."
Contador said he discussed attacking the Schlecks with team manager Johan Bruyneel by radio, who then advised him to take it up with Kloeden.
"He told me, ‘Go for it,"’ Contador said later. "Andreas told me that he could attack without problem — but then the Schleck brothers surprised me a lot, and when I saw that it would be hard for me to make a gap I stopped.
"I’m not at all happy with what happened to Kloeden."
Earlier in the stage, Armstrong worked on Contador’s behalf to help him gain time on Bradley Wiggins, a time-trial specialist. Wiggins began the day in third overall, 1:46 behind the Spaniard and only 9 seconds back of Armstrong.
On the Colombiere, Armstrong couldn’t keep up when Contador got out front with Kloeden, and the Schlecks, both on the Saxo Bank team.
Instead, Armstrong stayed back alongside Wiggins to protect Contador. Had the Texan accelerated right away, it might have allowed Wiggins to close the gap behind Contador.
So Armstrong waited — for a while anyway. With about 8.7 miles remaining, the seven-time Tour champ stepped on the gas to leave Wiggins behind and cut his gap on the Schlecks, who are threatening his top-three ambitions.
"I couldn’t find my acceleration to go with the other guys," Armstrong said. "I was there stuck with Wiggins. I had to wait until it got steeper, when you knew you could definitely go away.
"I probably should have gone with the early acceleration."
On his Twitter feed, Armstrong wrote that the stage from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornand was "No fun!!" and that he "had some cramps at the end." He repeatedly shook out his 37-year-old thighs on the final downhill.
Alain Gallopin, a sporting director for Astana, praised Armstrong’s performance — one that could have jeopardized his podium hopes.
"Enormous teamwork from Lance — who had a good finish," Gallopin said. "He stuck with Wiggins. We didn’t want him to be close to Alberto."
Rain doused the pack on occasion during the day, and several riders crashed, including American George Hincapie, who hurt his collarbone, and Russia’s Denis Menchov — who went down twice. Both riders rejoined the race.
Norwegian sprint specialist Thor Hushovd pressed the pace most of the day with a solo breakaway, adding points for a stronger grip on the green jersey given to the race’s best sprinter.
On Thursday, riders will race against the clock in Annecy.
Armstrong, Kloeden and Wiggins are stronger time-trial riders than the Schlecks — and could make up ground during the 25.2-mile stage.
In the other individual time trial this Tour, the first stage in Monaco, Armstrong was 20 seconds faster than Andy Schleck and nearly a minute quicker than Frank Schleck. That stage was just 9.63 miles.
If the Schlecks perform poorly in the time trial, they believe they could recover Saturday on the uphill finish at the Mont Ventoux, which Armstrong calls the toughest climb in France.
"Tomorrow’s the time trial. It’s true we’re not great specialists," Andy Schleck said. "But I’m not afraid. It’s a good course, and we’re as motivated as we were today. We’ll go all out.".
Notebook: Vaughters inducted in wine-connoisseurs circle
PARIS — While Tour de France riders will be bracing themselves for a tortuous climb up the daunting Mont Ventoux on Saturday's penultimate stage, Garmin-Slipstream manager Jonathan Vaughters will be sipping fine wines and easing himself through a gourmet meal.
Vaughters, an American former climbing specialist on Lance Armstrong's U.S. Postal team in the late 1990s, will be officially inducted into the brotherhood of Chateauneuf-du-Pape — one of France's most famous wine regions — on Friday night while others sweat in anticipation of Saturday's climb.
"My favorite wines have always been from the southern Rhone, and Chateauneuf-du-Pape is the king of the southern Rhone wines," Vaughters told The Associated Press. "So, to be honored by this group is truly incredible. I can't express how appreciative I am of this."
While riders load up on bland-tasting pasta, rice and eggs before hitting their beds for an early night, Vaughters' evening will unfold something like this:
— Vaughters is welcomed into the brotherhood at the Domaine de Marcoux, has an aperitif, tastes the wine of some of the region's top vintners, and finally tucks into a gourmet dinner at The Verger des Papes restaurant perched right on the top of the Chateauneuf-du-Pape village.
Jealous?
"I'm sure it's going to be a great party," Vaughters said, without feeling a second's guilt for the Tour riders preparing to suffer. "I certainly won't be eating any rice or pasta."
Vaughters once held the record for the fastest climb up Ventoux. He won the stage there on the pre-Tour Dauphine Libere race in 1999 and 2000, and held the record for the fastest ascent until Iban Mayo of Spain broke it in 2004.
The Tour's grueling last week finishes with Saturday's huge climb up Ventoux, so tough it is known as 'hors categorie', or beyond classification.
"The reason Ventoux has such a huge reputation is that its one of the few climbs that doesn't have one little spot to rest on," Vaughters said. "It's long and very steep, of course, but what makes it different is that there isn't a single flat meter. If you push a bit too hard and need to recover and catch your breath, the only way to do it is to stop.
"The key to riding well up the Ventoux is just being steady. Never too little, never too much. And by the top being totally and completely empty."
SARKOZY IMPRESSED BY ARMSTRONG
French President Nicolas Sarkozy praised Lance Armstrong's new lease on life after following Wednesday's 17th stage in the race's director car.
"Armstrong has won seven Tours and he is coming back at 37 with the state of mind of a young man," Sarkozy told French TV after the stage. "He is coming back to make a good result, to enjoy it — and to fight for his foundation. And God knows how much we need to fight against cancer. It's giving hope to all the ill people."
A longtime admirer of Armstrong, Sarkozy repeated his commitment to the fight against doping and defended the Tour's efforts to eradicate it, such as with the biological passport based on a riders' body parameters and enhanced testing.
"I think that the Tour is a victim of doping and not guilty of it," Sarkozy said. "Authorities are doing their best to make sure that this Tour will be clean. We have to support them."
"We have to acknowledge that your sport has made a phenomenal effort with the biological passport and the doping tests," he added.
HUSHOVD GOING GREEN
Thor Hushovd of Norway is set to win a second green jersey as best sprinter.
The Cervelo rider, who won the shirt in 2005, joined a group of breakaway riders early in the 17th stage before racing into the lead and holding it for a long time.
Hushovd was in front at the two intermediate sprints and collected 12 points to raise his tally to 230 points overall in the best sprinter's classification.
Arguably the fastest sprinter in the bunch, Britain's Mark Cavendish lost precious points after being stripped of a 13th-place finish in last Saturday's stage. He is in second place, with 200 points — but there is only one stage left in the Tour that suits sprinters.
"My lead is sufficient if something (bad) happens in the coming days," Hushovd said. "If I win the green jersey with a 10-point lead, one could say that I built my lead at Le Grand-Bornand."
-- Jerome Pugmire
Van Hummel crashes at Tour, taken to hospital
LE GRAND-BORNAND, France — Last-placed rider Kenny Van Hummel crashed during Wednesday's 17th stage of the Tour de France and was taken to a hospital in an ambulance.
The Skil-Shimano team rider crashed at the 88 kilometers (54.7 miles) mark and picked up a knee injury, Tour organizers said.
Scans at the Sallanches hospital didn't reveal any fracture or bone lesion.
Van Hummel was 161th overall before the 169.5-kilometer (105.3-mile) ride from Bourg-Saint-Maurice and Le Grand-Bornand, 3 hours, 35 minutes, 54 seconds behind leader Alberto Contador.
Three riders withdrew form the race Wednesday and Van Hummel is replaced in last place by Yauheni Hutarovich of Belarus, who is 158th overall, 3:26.01 off the pace.
Armstrong’s return boosts Tour TV ratings in U.S.
NEW YORK — Each morning of the Tour de France, an average of more than half a million Americans are tuning in to watch.
Not surprisingly, Lance Armstrong’s return after missing the past three Tours has sent television ratings in the United States soaring. Average viewership was up 88 percent from last year through the first 15 stages, increasing from 265,581 to 500,051 for the live morning coverage on Versus.
Traffic on the network’s Web site is also up 114 percent. Videos had been viewed 12.1 million times through the 16th stage, compared with 6.5 million for the entire Tour last year.
Armstrong has contended throughout the Tour but his chances at victory appeared over after Wednesday’s 17th stage. The seven-time champion was in fourth place, trailing teammate Alberto Contador by nearly four minutes.
But Armstrong doesn’t seem to have quite the same drawing power he did when he won his last Tour title in 2005. Average viewership is up only 1 percent from that year, even though Versus is now available in 12 million more homes.
Armstrong plans to ride the Tour next year, but eventually he will retire again and test the popularity of a Lance-free Tour in the U.S.
Versus president Jamie Davis noted that the network renewed its contract to broadcast the Tour for another five years before it knew Armstrong was coming back in 2009.
"We believed in the Tour itself," he said.
Davis thinks Armstrong’s rivalry with Contador has helped boost ratings this year. This is also the first time Versus has shown the entire Tour in high definition.
For now, Armstrong’s presence is building interest in cycling that will carry over into his next retirement.
"What he has really done is brought in all the casual viewers," Davis said.
-- Rachel Cohen
A brief look at the 17th stage of the Tour
LE GRAND-BORNAND, France — A brief look at Wednesday's 17th stage of the Tour de France:
Stage: A 105.3-mile ride from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornand, featuring five climbs and regarded as the most difficult in the Alps this year.
Winner: Frank Schleck of Luxembourg, ahead of race leader Alberto Contador and brother Andy Schleck. They broke away in the Col de la Colombiere after a move from Contador.
Yellow Jersey: Contador, the 2007 winner, now leads Andy Schleck by 2 minutes and 26 seconds. Frank Schleck, Andy's elder brother, is in third place, 3 minutes and 25 seconds off the pace. Lance Armstrong dropped to fourth overall, 3:55 behind his Astana teammate.
Quote of the Day: "Getting lots of question why AC attacked and dropped (teammate Andreas) Kloeden. I still haven't figured it out either. Oh well" — Lance Armstrong on his Twitter feed, about Contador's move in Wednesday's final ascent.
Next stage: Thursday's 18th stage is a 25.2-mile individual time-trial around the Annecy Lake. The course is mainly flat but features a slight uphill 7.5 miles away from the finish.
Tour de France Results
1. Frank Schleck, Luxembourg, Team Saxo Bank, 4 hours, 53 minutes, 54 seconds.
2. Alberto Contador, Spain, Astana, same time.
3. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg, Team Saxo Bank, same time.
4. Vincenzo Nibali, Italy, Liquigas, 2 minutes, 18 seconds behind.
5. Lance Armstrong, United States, Astana, same time.
6. Andreas Kloeden, Germany, Astana, 2:27.
7. Bradley Wiggins, Britain, Garmin-Slipstream, 3:07.
8. Christophe Moreau, France, Agritubel, 4:09.
9. Christian Vande Velde, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, same time.
10. Remi Pauriol, France, Cofidis, 6:10.
11. Christophe Le Mevel, France, Francaise des Jeux, same time.
12. Maxime Monfort, France, Team Columbia-High Road, 6:12.
13. Roman Kreuziger, Czech Republic, Liquigas, same time.
14. Rinaldo Nocentini, Italy, AG2R-La Mondiale, same time.
15. Vladimir Karpets, Russia, Team Katusha, same time.
16. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Belgium, Silence-Lotto, same time.
17. Sandy Casar, France, Francaise des Jeux, same time.
18. Mikel Astarloza, Spain, Euskaltel-Euskadi, same time.
19. Stephane Goubert, France, AG2R-La Mondiale, 6:15.
20. Jose Luis Arrieta, Spain, AG2R-La Mondiale, 6:19.
Also
44. George Hincapie, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, 11:50.
58. David Zabriskie, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, 17:33.
112. Danny Pate, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, 29:43.
134. Tyler Farrar, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, 35:47.
Overall Standings (After 17 stages)
1. Alberto Contador, Spain, Astana, 72:27:09.
2. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg, Team Saxo Bank, 2:26.
3. Frank Schleck, Luxembourg, Team Saxo Bank, 3:25.
4. Lance Armstrong, United States, Astana, 3:35.
5. Andreas Kloeden, Germany, Astana, 4:44.
6. Bradley Wiggins, Britain, Garmin-Slipstream, 4:53.
7. Vincenzo Nibali, Italy, Liquigas, 5:09.
8. Christian Vande Velde, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, 8:08.
9. Christophe Le Mevel, France, Francaise des Jeux, 9:19.
10. Mikel Astarloza, Spain, Euskaltel-Euskadi, 10:50.
11. Roman Kreuziger, Czech Republic, Liquigas, 10:52.
12. Rinaldo Nocentini, Italy, AG2R-La Mondiale, 11:38.
13. Carlos Sastre, Spain, Cervelo Test Team, 11:39.
14. Sandy Casar, France, Francaise des Jeux, 11:52.
15. Vladimir Karpets, Russia, Team Katusha, 12:08.
16. Stephane Goubert, France, AG2R-La Mondiale, 15:29.
17. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Belgium, Silence-Lotto, 17:23.
18. Alexandre Botcharov, Russia, Team Katusha, 19:20.
19. Brice Feillu, France, Agritubel, 21:50.
20. Christian Knees, Germany, Team Milram, 24:15.
Also
22. George Hincapie, United States, Team Columbia-High Road, 25:38.
62. David Zabriskie, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, 1:17:20.
138. Danny Pate, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, 2:47:05.
154. Tyler Farrar, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, 3:02:00.
Tour de France Stages-Winners
July 4 — First Stage, Monaco_Monaco, individual time trial, 15.5 kilometers (9.6 miles) (stage: Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland; yellow jersey: Cancellara)
July 5 — Second Stage, Monaco_Brignoles, plain, 187 km (116.2) (Mark Cavendish, Britain; Cancellara)
July 6 — Third Stage, Marseille_La Grande-Motte, plain, 196.5 km (122.1) (Cavendish; Cancellara)
July 7 — Fourth Stage, Montpellier_Montpellier, team time trial, 39 km (24.2) (Astana; Cancellara)
July 8 — Fifth Stage, Le Cap d'Agde_Perpignan, plain, 196.5 km (122.1) (Thomas Voeckler, France; Cancellara)
July 9 — Sixth Stage, Gerona, Spain_Barcelona, plain, 181.5 km (112.8) (Thor Hushovd, Norway; Cancellara)
July 10 — Seventh Stage, Barcelona_Arcalis, Andorra, high mountain, 224 km (139.2) (Brice Feillu, France; Rinaldo Nocentini, Italy)
July 11 — Eighth Stage, La Vella, Andorra_Saint-Girons, France, high mountain, 176.5 km (109.7) (Luis Leon Sanchez, Spain; Nocentini)
July 12 — Ninth Stage, Saint-Gaudens_Tarbes, high mountain, 160.5 km (99.7) (Pierrick Fedrigo, France; Nocentini)
July 13 — Rest Day, Limoges
July 14 — 10th Stage, Limoges_Issoudun, plain, 194.5 km (120.9) (Cavendish; Nocentini)
July 15 — 11th Stage, Vatan_Saint-Fargeau, plain, 192 km (119.3) (Cavendish; Nocentini)
July 16 — 12th Stage, Tonnerre_Vittel, plain, 211.5 km (131.4) (Nicki Sorensen, Denmark; Nocentini)
July 17 — 13th Stage, Vittel_Colmar, medium mountain, 200 km (124.3) (Heinrich Haussler, Germany; Nocentini)
July 18 — 14th Stage, Colmar_Besancon, plain, 199 km (123.7) (Serguei Ivanov, Russia; Nocentini)
July 19 — 15th Stage, Pontarlier_Verbier, Switzerland, high mountain, 207.5 km (128.9) (Alberto Contador, Spain; Contador)
July 20 — Rest Day, Verbier
July 21 — 16th Stage, Martigny, Switzerland_Bourg-Saint-Maurice, France, high mountain, 159 km (98.8) (Mikel Astarloza, Spain; Contador)
July 22 — 17th Stage, Bourg-Saint-Maurice_Le Grand-Bornand, high mountain, 169.5 km (105.3) (Frank Schleck, Luxembourg; Contador)
July 23 — 18th Stage, Annecy_Annecy, individual time trial, 40.5 km (25.2)
July 24 — 19th Stage, Bourgoin-Jallieu_Aubenas, plain, 178 km (110.6)
July 25 — 20th Stage, Montelimar_Mont Ventoux, high mountain, 167 km (103.8)
July 26 — 21st Stage, Montereau-Fault-Yonne_Paris-Champs-Elysees, plain, 164 km (101.9)
Total: 3,459 kms (2,149.5 miles)
Elsewhere
Di Luca suspended after positive doping test
AIGLE, Switzerland — Cycling’s governing body suspended former Giro d’Italia winner Danilo Di Luca on Wednesday after he tested positive for the banned blood-booster CERA.
The International Cycling Union told the Italian rider he was provisionally banned until his national federation can have a disciplinary hearing.
The UCI said Di Luca tested positive in blood samples taken May 20 and May 28 during this year’s Giro, where he won two stages and finished second.
The 33-year-old rider, who won the 2007 race, was targeted for testing because of suspicious results from previous blood and urine samples.
"These adverse findings were a direct result of a targeted test program conducted on Di Luca using information from his biological passport’s blood profile, previous test results and his race schedule," the UCI said.
Di Luca is the latest Italian cyclist to test positive for CERA, the newest version of the endurance-boosting hormone EPO. It stimulates the production of red blood cells to provide more oxygen to muscles.
Since coming on to the market last year, CERA has been traced in blood samples taken from Riccardo Ricco, Leonard Piepoli and Davide Rebellin.
Ricco and Piepoli were caught after winning stages at the 2008 Tour de France. Ricco is serving a 20-month ban and Piepoli is suspended for two years.
Rebellin was caught after finishing runner-up in the Beijing Olympics road race and could be stripped of his silver medal after an IOC disciplinary hearing next week.
Di Luca, whose LPR Brakes team is not competing in the current Tour, won the 2007 Giro when he returned abnormal hormone levels in tests.
He later served a three-month ban imposed by Italy’s Olympic committee for visiting a doctor suspected of supplying athletes with banned drugs.
Di Luca lost an appeal against that ban at the Court of Arbitration of Sport last year.
Earlier in his career, Di Luca won several one-day classics, including the Amstel Gold and Fleche Wallonne races in 2005 and Liege-Bastogne-Liege two years later.
