Lance Armstrong battled in the deciding breakaway on Stage 16 of the Tour de France all day on Tuesday only to bested in a 9-man sprint by stage winner Pierrick Fedrigo.
The 120-mile race over four major mountains came down to a sprint in the town of Pau as the overall race leaders struggled to stay together on the Col de Peyresourde, Col d'Aspin, Col du Tourmalet and Col d'Aubisque.
Although Andy Schleck wanted revenge on race leader Alberto Contador for winning the yellow jersey as he wrestled with a dropped chain on Monday, nothing came of that threat as Contador retained his 8-second lead.
This might have been Armstrong's swan song of the Tour de France. After winning seven championships and 22 stages over his career, the 38-year-old Texan could not eke out the speed to get just one more.
In a post-race interview on Versus, Armstrong said:
“It was a tough day… I had no sprint at the end, but I tried. … It's been a while since I sprinted. We knew Fedrigo was the fastest and I was trying to catch his wheel.”
Saying that this stage had been “dog-eared” in the book for a possible win, but it was harder than expected. As for Armstrong's future at the Tour:
“Lance Armstrong is over in a about four or five days.”
Armstrong, the second oldest cyclist in the breakaway to 39-year-old Christophe Moreau, joined the 5 man break on the Peyresourde. The break eventually grew to nine cyclists. In addition to Armstrong (RadioShack), Fedrigo (Bbox) and Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne), the others were Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Ruben Plaza (Casse d'Epargne), Christopher Horner (RadioShack), Jurgen Van De Walle (QuickStep), Sandy Casar (FdJ) and Carlos Barredo (QuickStep).
While RadioShack fans had to be rooting for Americans Armstrong or Horner as they topped the last climb with a 28-mile downhill run to the finish, Barredo attacked and gained some 40 seconds on the rest of the breakaway.
The trailing eight finally pulled together and caught Barredo just 1 kilometer from the finish.
With Armstrong back in the pack, he attacked around the side and nearly caught Fedrigo, only to fade right at the finish to finished in 6th.
The peloton rests on Wednesday, only to return for another stage through the Pyrenees, including a reprise climb over the Col du Tourmalet.
Recent Comments