Armstrong edges Basso; Voeckler stays in yellow

This report filed July 17, 2004

by Graham Watson

Armstrong gets his first stage this year

American Lance Armstrong further stamped his authority on the Tour de France after winning the tough 13th stage over 205.5km from Lannemezan to Plateau de Beille Saturday ahead of Italy’s Ivan Basso.

A day after stunning Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) and Tyler Hamilton (Phonak)
on the first of the two Pyrenean stages, the U.S. Postal Service
champion took another step to a record sixth yellow jersey after
sprinting to the finish line ahead of CSC’s Basso, the winner of
Friday’s stage, who accompanied Armstrong in the final kilometers.

Frenchman Thomas Voeckler (Brioches la Boulangere) had to fight again to retain the race leader’s yellow jersey on a day that saw a number of big names – including Hamilton – abandon the Tour.

by Graham Watson

Voeckler was valiant in defense of his jersey

Voeckler saw his lead of 5:24 over Armstrong slashed to just 22 seconds, and seems likely to lose the jersey once the race hits the Alps in a few days. Basso, who won Friday’s stage ahead of Armstrong, is third overall at 1:39, and Ullrich’s T-Mobile teammate Andreas Kloden is
fourth at 3:08.

Still, the 24-year-old Frenchman was proud of his struggle to retain the leader’s jersey. “Not a lot of people were counting on me today, even me,” said Voeckler, who was born in Alsace but brought up on the Caribbean island of Martinique.

by Graham Watson

Chavanel and Voight got things rolling early

“It was a terrible stage, and I had to really fight all the way. I was so
happy when I crossed the finish line and saw there was less than five
minutes on the clock.”
Armstrong’s first stage win this year was his 17th overall, and it turned into a display of pure power as he drove main rival Ullrich still further down the general classification, to just over seven minutes behind.

“It’s the hardest stage on the race this year, really difficult,” said
Armstrong. “The Tour’s not finished yet – there’s still the Alps to
come and a lot of dangerous stages.”

Asked about Voeckler, the 32-year-old U.S. Postal leader said: “For me he’s
very impressive. He’s still got the jersey because he deserves it.”
With seven climbs in total, including two first-category and the
unclassified climb to the summit finish here, everyone knew the second
Pyrenean stage would do some damage.

by Graham Watson

Once again, Postal put the big hammer down

Hamilton abandoned after only 79km, having complained of back pains since his crash in the first week of mainly flat racing in northern France and Belgium. Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi) also abandoned early on, as as did Russian climber Denis Menchov (Illes Baleares), who had been
suffering from a knee injury.

Spaniard Iban Mayo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) came close to retiring on the difficult climb of the Col d’Agnes, a first-category 9.5km ascent at an average gradient of 8.4 percent, before being coaxed back on his bike. His Tour chances, however, are over.

Voight, Chavanel launch early charge
The stage was first kicked into life by an early breakaway from Jens Voigt
(CSC) and Sylvain Chavanel (Brioches la Boulangere). Mickael Rasmussen
(Rabobank) followed and eventually caught the leading duo just before
the summit of the second climb of the day, at Portet d’Aspet. Together,
the trio went on to build a five-minute lead on the peloton.

by Graham Watson

Mayo had a really bad day, nearly abandoning

On the descent of the Aspet climb, Tom Boonen (Quick Step) crashed,
apparently when his bike frame snapped; the Belgian was unhurt and
managed to ride on.

Moments later Fabian Wegemann (Gerolsteiner) abandoned, while Voeckler began showing the first signs of fatigue that would plague him throughout the day.

Another pre-race contender, Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros), also crashed, on the descent of the Col de la Core, the third climb of the day; like Boonen, however, the Spaniard managed to ride on to finish well down the standings and out of the hunt for the overall.

by Graham Watson

And on the final climb, it was down to Armstrong and Basso

After a relatively incident-free climb and descent of the Col de Latrape,
save for Mayo beginning to show the first signs of trouble, the Col
d’Agnes exacted a heavy toll on the peloton.

After Chavanel was dropped by Rasmussen and Voigt, Mayo – who arrived nearly seven minutes later – began to struggle, at one point getting off his bike, then being coaxed back on by his team directors and even a few
other riders. However, by the summit, Mayo was more than 14 minutes
behind Rasmussen, and eight minutes behind Armstrong.

by Graham Watson

The American, led by teammate Jose Azevedo, upped the pace early on the ascent of the Plateau de Beille, the first unclassified climb of the race, which ascends 15.9km at an average gradient of 6.4 percent. Rasmussen was soon overtaken, and as Azevedo set a furious pace,
Ullrich and all the rest dropped off the back. Only Basso managed to
follow, and the two – who are good friends off the bike – worked to
increase their advantage.

by Graham Watson

“We decided to join forces because the other riders were losing ground,” said Armstrong.

The two best riders in this Tour were seen chatting in the final kilometer before launching their dash to the line, and Basso now looks a safe bet
for a podium finish in Paris.

“It
was one of the most difficult stages in the Tour de France,” said
Armstrong. “Ivan is very strong, it was not possible to drop him today. But as I always say, the Tour finishes in Paris. And Ivan is very, very strong. I’m impressed.” -Reuters contributed to this report.

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