As Stage 8 of the Tour de Suisse drew to a close with a final climb on Saturday, Lance Armstrong attacked a group that was chasing a six-man break up the road.
The General Classification contenders reeled him back, but Armstrong proved that there's still plenty of life in his legs.
Then he emphasized that point on the final stage Sunday with a decent finish in the individual time trial that catapulted him into second place overall, just 12 seconds behind Tour de Suisse champion Frank Schleck. Aussie Tony Martin (HTC Columbia) won the ITT, and defending champ Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) trailed by 17 seconds.
Armstrong, riding for Team RadioShack, finished 11th at 1:09 behind. He reported to his Tweet followers:
“Just finished Tour de Suisse. Moved up to 2nd on the GC which I'm pleased with. Form is progressing, will be ready for the TdF.”
Time trial
The 17-mile individual time trial around Liestal marked the end of the 9-stage Tour of Switzerland. From the opening prologue through the climbs on Saturday, Armstrong has remained within a minute of the overall leaders all week.
He rose from 21st to 7th overall in the bike race's most difficult Stage 6 on Thursday by finishing in 5th place behind that day's winner Robert Gesink. The Rabobank rider went on to lead the race until the final stage.
After Thursday's ride, Armstrong Tweeted:
Tough day here in #tds. I felt pretty good I must say. @LeviLeipheimer and @andykloedi also strong. @TeamRadioShack ready for the TdF.
Injury and illness
Armstrong entered the Tour de Suisse after crashing out at the Tour of California in May. He had earlier suffered some bouts of sickness that had put his off his training regimen in some bike races earlier in the spring.
Saturday's Stage 8 was a 106-mile bike race featuring four Category 3 climbs before the finish in Liestal.
US cyclist Tom Danielson of Garmin-Transitions was among nine men in a breakaway that escaped early; six stayed out in the front of the race all day. Rui da Costa of Caisse d'Epargne won the stage, with Danielson crossing the finish 39 seconds later.
Armstrong was in the yellow jersey group with Tour de Suisse winner Gesink that finished 1:16 later. Armstrong's RadioShack teammates Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloden were also in that group.
Top 10 overall
1. Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank)
2. Lance Armstrong (RadioShack) – 12 seconds behind
3. Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank) – 17 seconds
4. Steve Morabito (BMC) – 23 seconds
5. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) – 27 seconds
6. Tony Martin (HTC Columbia) – 27 seconds
7. Rigoberto Uran (Caisse d'Epargne) – 33 seconds
8. Andreas Kloden (RadioShack) – 48 seconds
9. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) – 1:09
10. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) – 1:14
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