Gonzalez Takes 14th Tour Stage
After two torrid days in the Pyrenees and more pain lurking in the Alps, Lance Armstrong and other top riders caught their breath Sunday, allowing Aitor Gonzalez of Spain to win the flat 14th stage.
Armstrong finished in 39th place alongside overall leader Thomas Voeckler of France. They both had the same time, meaning Voeckler kept his 22-second lead on the five-time champion for at least another day.
Gonzalez was among 10 riders who were so far down in the overall standings that the main pack, which included Armstrong, did not chase the small group that surged ahead with about 55 miles left.
The stage win was Gonzalez's first in three Tours. The main pack was way back, still pedaling, when he Spaniard crossed the line in Nimes, the picturesque end of a 119.6-mile swing through southern France from the medieval fortified city of Carcassonne.
Armstrong cruised in 14 minutes, 12 seconds later. Germany's Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour winner who had two disastrous days in the Pyrenees, placed 21st, also in the same time as Voeckler and Armstrong. Ivan Basso, the last real threat to Armstrong for the Tour crown, also finished comfortably in 31st place — still 1:17 behind Armstrong overall.
Gonzalez, winner of the 2002 Tour of Spain, broke away from his small group with just more than 3 miles to go. The nine other cyclists in his escape group couldn't organize an effective chase, allowing Gonzalez to build a small lead that he held to the finish.
"I felt the ideal moment to attack and I gave everything I had," Gonzalez said.
The win was the third for his Fassa Bortolo team at this Tour.
"It's an enormous satisfaction for me," said Gonzalez, who has never completed a Tour. "Until now, things had not gone as I wanted. But today victory is here."
Two French riders, Nicolas Jalabert and Christophe Mengin, made a late but fruitless effort to catch Gonzalez. They rolled in second and third, respectively, 25 seconds after the Spaniard's time of 4 hours, 18 minutes, 32 seconds.
The first 60 miles of the stage were quick and tiring on legs already aching after two days of grueling climbs in the Pyrenees, where Armstrong overpowered other favorites, clearing his path to a record sixth Tour crown.
Because none of the 10 breakaway riders represented a threat to the Texan, Vockler and others, there was little point chasing them. The main pack, already looking forward to a rest day Monday, eased up as the escapees disappeared into the distance.
"It was a relief when they went away," Voeckler said.
"We started to unwind," added French rider Richard Virenque. "Some of the boys are exhausted."
Riders will use the day of rest to regroup, treat injuries and steel themselves physically and mentally for three days in the Alps.
The first Alpine stage Tuesday, 112 miles from Valreas to Villard-de-Lans, takes riders up seven climbs, including a steep 7½-mile ascent of the Col de l'Echarasson.