July 2001 Sport News Headlines

Thursday, July 19, 2001 - Web posted at 13:07:52 GMT

Armstrong bluffs his way to victory

L'ALPE D'HUEZ - Riding in the first mountain stage of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong grimaced in apparent pain, lagged at the back of the pack, and looked like his bid for a third title was starting to unravel.

That's exactly what he wanted.

"In cycling, everybody is watching, the (team) directors have TVs, the spectators at home have TVs, so sometimes you have to play that game a little bit," said Armstrong.

He won Tuesday's stage with a powerful surge at the foot of L'Alpe d'Huez that took his rivals - and observers - completely by surprise.

After the victory, he admitted that he exploited TV coverage of the race to bluff his competitors.

"I know that they (the team directors) are all sitting back there in the cars watching TV," said the Texan.

"I can hear when a motorcycle comes up with a TV camera on it."

"These are no secrets. I assumed that if I had to bluff, then they would ride even harder."

When Armstrong bid for the lead fewer than 20 kilometers from the end, his rivals were too exhausted to respond.

Germany's Jan Ullrich, who had led the pack for most of the race, watched helplessly as a revived Armstrong stormed past and disappeared up the mountain.

The victory was a severe blow to any riders hoping to challenge Armstrong for the title.

Ullrich, his main competitor, finished in second place one minute and 59 seconds off the pace.

He was dazed by his defeat.

"I don't know what I should do," said the 1997 champion.

"I did everything well - except for Lance. I'm in super shape, maybe he will have a breakdown."

"Armstrong was fourth in the rankings after the stage with a 2:34 lead over Ullrich.Armstrong was concerned that his effort at L'Alpe d'Huez might have worn him out."

"That was everything I had there," he said.

"I couldn't have gone any harder. And that's the bad news." - Nampa-Sapa-AP

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