Ruthless Armstrong Wins 17th Stage

LE GRAND BORNAND, France (Reuters) - A ruthless Lance Armstrong refused to allow his rivals a consolation stage victory as he came from behind to outsprint German Andreas Kloeden in the last few meters of the 127-mile 17th stage of the Tour de France Thursday.

Armstrong's fourth win in the five mountain stages of this year's Tour -- he finished second in the other one -- underlined his dominance over his closest rivals as he seeks an unprecedented sixth successive Tour victory.

Germany's Jan Ullrich finished the stage third while Italian Ivan Basso, who beat Armstrong on the 12th stage, finished fourth and remains second overall, four minutes and nine seconds behind Armstrong with three days to go.

The U.S. Postal team leader, impressive in his time-trial at l'Alpe d'Huez Wednesday, could have been expected to let his rivals grab a consolation victory in the race's last mountain stage.

However, he refused to allow them the satisfaction and rode down Kloeden in the final meters to seal the 20th individual stage victory of his career, adding to two team time trial victories.

"No gifts this year for stage wins," said the American. "The Tour is too special for me. My condition is super and like everybody saw, the team was unbelievable today, they controlled everything. I had no problems," he added.

The last rider to have won three stages in the Alps in the same Tour was Italy's Gino Bartali in 1948.

The only other rider left with a chance to shine Thursday was France's Richard Virenque, who took advantage of the five climbs to secure a record seventh King of the Mountains jersey.

The last climb, the Croix de Fry, looked like a lap of honor for the 2004 Tour, with the top-four riders overall -- Armstrong, Basso, Kloeden and Ullrich -- in front, with Armstrong's team mate Floyd Landis opening the way for them.

Armstrong obviously wanted Landis to win but they were taken off guard when Kloeden surged in the last 1,968 feet but Armstrong refused to allow the German the victory and mercilessly rode him down in the final few meters.

Virenque, who won the 10th stage to St Flour, collected more than 50 points in Thursday's climbs and can not be beaten for the best climber's classification.

With seven polka-dot jerseys, the Quick Step team leader has now eclipsed Spaniard Federico Bahamontes, who won the Tour in 1959, and Belgian Lucien Van Impe, the Tour champion in 1976.

"It was important to score points today and I went for them with my guts," said Virenque. "Now I left my mark on the Tour de France.

Typical Reuters:

A ruthless Lance Armstrong refused to allow his rivals a consolation stage victory as he came from behind to outsprint German Andreas Kloeden in the last few meters of the 127-mile 17th stage of the Tour de France Thursday.

Here's what the official TdF site says:

Moments after Lance Armstrong claimed his fourth successive mountain stage win in the 2004 Tour de France he echoed the sentiment offered to him on the podium by Bernard Hinault. “Perfect! No gifts.” That’s what one of the five five-time Tour champions told the rider who is about to win a sixth title. The Texan had been asked if thought he deserved to inherit the moniker of ‘The Cannibal’, the nickname given to Eddy Merckx who had an insatiable appetite for victories. And Lance was quick to respond, “No.” But that doesn’t mean he’s prepared to offer any other riders the chance to win a stage that’s within his reach.
“I’ve given gifts in the Tour de France and very rarely has it ever come back to help me. This is the biggest bike race in the world,” said Armstrong. “And I want to win. No gifts.” One rider, however, was given the go-ahead to try as hard as he could to win the stage. Floyd Landis is the master’s apprentice. And today The Boss – as Armstrong has become known over the past five years – wanted the 28-year-old to enjoy the sweet taste of success at the Tour. Even if Floyd was able to achieve that, it could not have been called a gift.
Since joining the US Postal team at the start of 2002 Landis has demonstrated that he’s a capable team player. He’s usually strong on the early sections of the high mountains and is then content to get to the finish as best he can. His job description isn’t to be in front at the top of vicious climbs like the Col de la Forclaz or the Col de la Croix-Fry – the two which were tackled by the peloton in the final 50km of stage 17 – but that’s where Floyd was. As he led an elite group of five over the final summit, Armstrong turned to Landis and asked, “How bad do you want to win a stage of the Tour de France?
“Real bad,” came Floyd’s reply.
“How fast can you go down a hill?
“Real fast!
“So,” concluded Armstrong, “run like you stole something!
Landis didn’t need any more prompting. Like a bullet out of a gun he was gone. Real fast was no exaggeration. But, alas poor Floyd, he’s not the only one who had the nerves and the energy to ride that way. On a day that concluded with a 13 kilometer descent Jan Ullrich was another man who doesn’t believe that there’s any place for gifts in the Tour. The German was part of the five man crew that crested the Croix-Fry climb ahead of a peloton that had been shredded from the first of the five mountains in the 204.5km stage. Floyd had never stolen anything. And in the end it was Ullrich’s compatriot and team-mate, Andreas Kloden, who did attempt to pinch the victory. Sprinting ahead of Armstrong, Landis, Ullrich and Ivan Basso in the final kilometer the German champion held a solid lead with 100m to go. But Lance chased down that bullet and, with a matter of meters remaining, shot past Kloden to win a fine sprint.
Stage 14 might not have finished at the top of a climb, but it was certainly a tough day in the mountains. Armstrong’s might have beaten Kloden may have been in a sprint but the victory set up on the cols of the Savoie. These factors are important to recognize because it means that Lance Armstrong has become the first rider in the history of the Tour to win four successive mountain stages. The Cannibal is a title he may deserve, but he can’t take that from Merckx. Anyway, The Boss suits Armstrong. He dictates terms in the race he loves and the rest the peloton can sort out the minor prizes between them.

I think Jan (when he talked to Lance and Lance gestured ahead) asked/told Lance to extend a gift to him for a stage win. I'm certain that Lance told him if he wanted it he would have to win it. But Lance also knew that Kloden had to be tired of carrying Jan's fat ass up the Alps and this time was personal. Kloden broke and that's when it became a race.

Jan's overrated extacy fueled celebrity just met Texas grit and training. F him and f the German fans that spit on Lance. History will remember Lance while Jan is selling used cars.

Suck it up race fans, The Boss just said, "You're fired," to the Keiser.

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