CYCLING: Armstrong turns tables on big rival.Byline: SCOTT DOUGAL DEFENDING champion defending champion n (SPORT) → defensor/a m/f del título defending champion n (Sport) → champion(ne) en titre Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France—cycling's most prestigious race—seven consecutive times, from 1999 to 2005. caught big rival Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (born December 2, 1973, in Rostock, East Germany) is a German professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to achieve five second place finishes, along with a fourth place (2004) and a third place finish (2005). with a sucker punch sucker punch n. Slang An unexpected punch or blow. suck  er-punch that Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali, pasha of EgyptMuhammad Ali, 1769?–1849, pasha of Egypt after 1805. He was a common soldier who rose to leadership by his military skill and political acumen. would have been proud of on the punishing slopes of L'Alpe d'Huez today. The blow left the German, and the rest of the serious rivals to Armstrong's bid for a third consecutive Tour title, reeling. Ullrich finished second but lost one minute 59 seconds to the Texan to drop 2mins 34secs behind overall, while ONCE's Joseba Beloki was 2mins 9secs off the pace. Last year's King of the Mountains The King of the Mountains (KoM) is the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race; usually and officially known as the Mountains classification. For women's cycle racing, a similar term, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. , Santiago Botero, was expected to announce his intention to challenge for the yellow jersey with an impressive ride today but the Kelme rider came in 5mins 7secs late. Francois Simon took the yellow jersey from Australian Stuart O'Grady, who nevertheless retains his lead in the sprinters classification, but it was Armstrong's performance that really caught the eye. The Texan looked to be struggling for most of the 209-kilometre stage and even dropped off the back of the peloton
The peloton (from French, literally meaning ball and related to the English word platoon), field, bunch or at one point to talk to US Postal Service Directeur Sportif Johan Bruyneel in the team car. Meanwhile, at the front of the chasing pack, Ullrich and his Telekom team-mates were dictating the pace, trying to stretch the apparently faltering American. But as the peloton embarked on the lower slopes of the infamous L'Alpe d'Huez, the final climb of the day and arguably the toughest of the whole Tour, Armstrong made his move. He coasted to the front of the peloton and, stealing ahead of Ullrich, pulled away. In that moment, Ullrich turned from a man holding all the cards to a busted flush and after the pain of today's exertions have faded, he could be left nursing the psychological bruises for a lot longer. Ullrich, his team-mates struggling after their earlier endeavours, persisted manfully man·ful adj. Having or showing the bravery and resoluteness considered characteristic of a man. See Synonyms at male. man ful·ly adv. but could not stop Armstrong from pulling out of
sight.
Armstrong then had stage leader Laurent Roux Roux , Pierre Paul Émile 1853-1933. French bacteriologist. His work with the diphtheria bacillus led to the development of antitoxins to neutralize pathogenic toxins. of Jean Delatour in his sights. The Frenchman had led a brave break from early in the race and must have thought that the stage win was his to take. But he was soon hunted down by Armstrong and could do little to resist his attack. The Texan, switching through the hairpin bends that snake up the mountain towards the finishing line, pushed himself to the limit in a bid to maximise his advantage over Ullrich. Roux fell behind and was also overtaken by Ullrich and Beloki, who finished third behind the German, as he did in the general classification last year. Armstrong is fourth overall, 20mins 7secs behind Simon but will be looking to erode the 8mins 13secs gap to second-placed Cofidis climber Andrei Kivilev in today's mountain time-trial. CAPTION(S): CALM BEFORE THE STORM: The riders head out for the 10th stage of the tour - dwarfed by the Alps in the backgound |
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