Posted on 07/17/2002 12:56:41 PM PDT by concentric circles
French rider Halgand wins stage Galdeano, Armstrong still pace overall standings as mountains loom next
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wednesday, July 17, 2002
PAU, France French rider Patrice Halgand won Wednesday's 10th stage of the Tour de France, while three-time champion Lance Armstrong and overall leader Igor Gonzalez Galdeano finished in the main pack with the same time.
Armstrong was 40th, nearly 4 minutes off Halgand's pace, and remained in second place in the standings, 26 seconds behind Gonzalez Galdeano.
It was disclosed Wednesday that Gonzalez Galdeano tested positive for salbutamol last week, but organizers said he is cleared to use the restricted substance. Salbutamol treats asthma and is banned unless athletes have a prescription.
Traces were found in a July 12 test at the end of the stage from Forges-les-Eaux to Alencon, Tour spokesman Philippe Sudres said.
UCI, world cycling's governing body, "has long had a medical justification for this rider" to use salbutamol, Tour de France deputy director Daniel Baal said.
Halgand, who rides for the Jean Delatour team, surged in the final climb of the relatively flat 91-mile leg from Bazas to Pau in southwestern France for his first Tour stage victory.
He attacked in the final 3 1/2 miles, and beat countryman Jerome Pineau by 27 seconds. Halgand finished in 3 hours, 15 seconds.
Gonzalez Galdeano has held the yellow jersey worn by the race leader for six stages, and will wear it in Thursday's opening mountain leg from Pau to La Mongie, high in the Pyrenees.
The 98-mile ride features two difficult climbs and should see Armstrong make his first serious bid for the race lead.
Gonzalez Galdeano has been the talk of the Tour, suddenly touted as Armstrong's next big rival.
Armstrong is a little puzzled.
"I never feel safe," the Texan said Tuesday. "But I wonder sometimes where such confidence comes from, when there's been no precedent, or rather, where the buzz comes from."
While undeniably talented, Galdeano did not come close to scaring Armstrong in the Tour's key mountain stages last year.
He lost 4:03 to the U.S. Postal Service rider in the opening mountain stretch from Aix-Les-Bains to L'Alpe d'Huez. By the end of the 2001 Tour, he trailed by 13:28.
"I was reading all of this stuff this is such a big war between Armstrong and Galdeano," Armstrong said. "And I thought, I've got to look at the Tour last year.
"I looked at L'Alpe d'Huez: four minutes. I looked at the final: 13 minutes. These are big chunks of time."
Riders face one exceptionally difficult climb up the Col d'Aubisque mountain pass on Thursday. The day's other major challenge is the ride to the La Mongie ski station on the Tourmalet, one of the Tour's toughest climbs.
Because of his traditional strength in the mountains, Armstrong remains the favorite to win the Tour for the fourth straight year, but he is still not completely comfortable.
"Sometimes I feel like such a momentum rider," the Texan said. "You get the momentum going, you feel good, you win a stage, you get the jersey, and all of a sudden you feel great.
"We don't have that. It's not that we're going backward, but we don't have any momentum."
Asked if that worried him, Armstrong replied: "No. Not yet."
I would agree, to a certain point, that no rider can do it alone. However, I believe last year during a climb, a breakaway killed Lance's team, and he had to do it alone...and he did. Of course, this would be why he is the featured rider on the team.
Botero took 3rd the last 2 years behind Lance & Ulrich, and is only 1'55" back.
I expect Lance to put some hurt on some people in the first few mountain stages, but my guess is he'll let the polka dot goats play, and settle for time over Galdeano & Botero. My only real concerns are that 1) - Lance is a momentum rider, and the 'fall' (first since he rturned to the Tour) might have taken a little edge off, and 2) - he's lost his two top domestiques to other teams.
RetiredArmy sayeth:
This Gonzalez guy was not even in the pre-race favorites.....
1) - has anyone won in their first Tour?
2) - has anyone ever taken all 3 jerseys (yellow / green / pola dot) in the same Tour?
Try this game out and see how you do.
HTH sayeth:
However, if Galdeano shows any strength in the mountains tomorrow, Lance may rise up just long enough to put him in his place.
Hinault is the only rider to take 2 since Merckx:
1969 Eddy Merckx - Overall, mountains and points
1970 Eddy Merckx - Overall and mountains
1971 Eddy Merckx - Overall and points
1972 Eddy Merckx - Overall and points
1979 Bernard Hinault - Overall and points
Kinda shows why Eddie is considered the greatest Tour rider ever, plus he still leads in total stage wins w/ 33.
Clearly the strategy of the Tour has changed over the years, with stage wins & the other jerseys taking a back seat to the yellow.
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