Cycling: Tour De France

This is looking to be another great year in France. Lance is looking good sitting in second place. With the alps coming up...and all of us know that is his strong point. Lance is going for his fifth tour de france...and he looks to be in great position. One other person won 5 straight...but nobody won 6.

Lance Armstrong remained in control of the Tour de France after a 10th stage where some of the less well-established names stole the limelight from the contenders for overall victory.

The 10th stage, a 219.5km run from Gap to Marseille, saw nine riders who were no threat to Armstrong or the other likely winners stage a marathon breakaway, with Jakob Piil of Denmark grabbing honours on the day in five hours nine minutes and 33 seconds.

Piil, of the CSC team, pipped Italy's Fabio Sacchi after the two had contested the last 5km alone having staged another breakaway from the other seven escapees.

Holland's Bram De Groot came in third but Armstrong and the rest of the peloton came in some 21 minutes and 23 seconds behind Piil as the centenary running of the race reached the Mediterranean city that had hosted a stage in the inaugural running back in 1903.

Armstrong, bidding for a record-equalling fifth victory in Le Tour, retains the leader's yellow jersey with a 21-second lead over Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan with Spain's Iban Mayo 1:02 off the pace.

Spain's Francisco Mancebo and gutsy American Tyler Hamilton, who is defying the pain of a fractured collarbone, are both within two minutes of the 31-year-old overall leader.

Armstrong's biggest rival and last year's runner-up Joseba Beloki had been flown home to Spain earlier on Tuesday for surgery on the injuries he sustained in Monday's ninth stage accident.

Jan Ullrich of Germany made further inroads into the overall leadership of Lance Armstrong in a centenary Tour de France which is shaping up to be one of the closest in history.

Ullrich had taken a minute and 36 seconds off the Texan's lead in his blistering victory in Friday's time-trial, and he pressed home the advantage in the 13th stage on Saturday, a 197.5km run from Toulouse to Ax in the Pyrenees.

In a stage won by Spain's Carlos Sastre, 1997 Tour champion Ullrich produced a devastating late sprint to put distance between himself and Armstrong and at one point threaten to take the leader's yellow jersey.

Armstrong trailed in fourth on the stage, behind Sastre, Ullrich and third-placed Haimar Zulbeldia of Spain, but he managed to cut his losses to the German to seven seconds plus the 12 bonus seconds Ullrich earned for finishing second on the day.

That means the Texan has a slender 15-second lead as he continues his bid for a record-equalling fifth Tour win with Ullrich looking to repeat his success which was achieved while the American was stricken with cancer.

Armstrong, whose run of wins began in 1999, made no attempt to disguise the fact that he is under real pressure.

German Jan Ullrich paid a heavy price for a tremendous act of sportsmanship as American yellow jersey rival Lance Armstrong survived a dramatic late fall to claim victory on stage 15 of the Tour de France.

The Texan, chasing a record equalling fifth tour win, was grounded when a cap or small bag held by a spectator caught on his brake lever, taking down Iban Mayo in the process.

And he looked to be in more trouble moments later when his left foot slipped off the pedal, but he just managed to stay upright.

While Armstrong tried to get back on the road, Ullrich and the other riders in the group slowed down to allow the American to rejoin them.

But his rivals were left to rue their decision, as the fall galvanised Armstrong and he had a rush of adrenaline which saw him head and then pull away from the group.

Cheered on by spectators lining the roadside, he soon caught long-time stage leader Sylvain Chavanel, who by then seemed to be in a state of near collapse, before cruising away to finish 40 seconds in front of Ullrich, Mayo, Haimar Zubeldia and Christophe Morea.

Ullrich, who had earlier suffered his own, albeit minor, setback with a flat tyre, is now one minute seven seconds behind the 31-year-old American with five stages remaining.

Lance Armstrong completed his fifth consecutive victory in the Tour de France on Sunday.

The American successfully made it to the finish line on the Champs Elysees in Paris to win the race by a minute and one second from Jan Ullrich.


Armstrong, who eased up to finish 15 seconds off the pace, becomes only the fifth man in the race's history to win it five times.


Jean-Patrick Nazon took the final stage victory, with Baden Cooke second, giving him the green jersey.

has anyone ever won 6.

No one in the history of the Tour has won 6 staright.... i had so much fun watching this tour especially on stage 15..when LAnce won the stage after a crash. Its going to be interesting to see if he will be able to win 6.

No one has won 6 straight Ben's right i think 2 others have won 5,so it would be great if he went for the sixth...

Lance Armstrong has warned his rivals he will not relax after claiming his fifth Tour de France victory and immediately set his sights on win number six.

The American became just the fifth man in history to win five Tour titles yesterday when he comfortably held off the challenge of German Jan Ullrich.

Armstrong said: "This is my fifth victory, this is like a dream. It's hard to think about it and find the right words.

"This was definitely my most difficult race out of the five. I am very, very happy because it is over and I am very tired.

"I have always loved cycling and I made it my job. Next year I will be back to try to win a sixth title."

The American, riding for the US Postal team, claimed his fifth Tour title to join an elite group of cyclists containing legends Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain who have achieved the feat.

However, the modest 31-year-old, who has dominated the Tour since 1999, preferred to acknowledge the efforts of the team behind him.

"This is a great day for me but above all for the US Postal team," Armstrong said. "I would not have managed to win the Tour for the fifth consecutive time without them.

"The fact that this win was so hard to clinch makes it even greater for me.

"I have great admiration for Merckx, Anquetil, Hinault and Indurain.

"They are the giants of cycling, and I don't consider myself like that which is why this is so weird for me."

The Tour De france was exciting this year. Many wierd things happened.