After three weeks and 2033.4 miles of racing on some of the toughest climbs in the world, Lance Armstrong has done it again. This is the strategy Armstrong used during the final week to secure the Tour de France win.
SECOND REST DAY
After being shuttled 24 miles from Mount Ventoux to Vaison-la-Romaine, the riders are given a day of rest before the next four, hardest Alpine stages of the Tour.
STAGE 15
COURSE: 140.7 miles with one Category 1, two Category 2, four Category 3, two sprints and one feed zone.
WINNER: In the longest stage of the Tour, Colombian Santiago Botero rode through the mountains at an average speed 23.8 mph to the top of Le Deux-Alpes in a time of 5:55:16. Lance Armstrong placed ninth at 6:41 and finished right behind the rider in second overall, Once's Joseba Beloki of Spain. Lance's strategy was that he didn't kill himself to win the stage, but by finishing on the same time as second overall rider Joseba Beloki he still maintained his sizable, 4:21 overall time lead.
Mountain bike Olympian Miguel Martinez finished 54th at 10:44.
STAGE 16
COURSE: 111.5 miles with three Hors Categorie, above category climbs, two designated sprints and one feed zone.
WINNER: The Nederland's Michael Boogerd won the toughest stage of the Tour de France. Michael broke away from the peloton 18 miles into the race. The first rider to make a solo attempt to reel in Boogerd was Spain's Carlos Sastre. Tour leader Lance Armstrong and second overall rider Joseba Beloki hung back in the chase group. It wasn't until the final Hors Categorie climb that Lance broke free and chased after Sastre. Armstrong and Sastre finished together at 1:25 behind Boogerd. Beloki was unable to keep up with Armstrong and lost another 37 seconds to the American.
HOW DID LI'L MIG DO? Miguel Martinez finished 37th at 11:51 behind Boogerd.
STAGE 17
COURSE: 88.2 miles with three Category 1 and one Category 2 climbs, two sprints and one feed zone.
WINNER: In the final mountain stage of the Tour it was Italy's Dario Frigo who broke away mid race with a group that also contained the second and third place finishers. One hundred fifty feet from the finish Belgium rider Mario Aerts lead with Frigo in tow. With inches to spare, Frigo shot between Aerts and the barriers, ducked under a camera and crossed the line first. To earn his 4:02:27 finish Frigo had to average 21.8 mph through the mountains.
At 4:36 back, Lance Armstrong finished in the second chase group that also included American's Levy Leipheimer and Tyler Hamilton. They respectively finished 15th, 16th and 25th. Since second overall Joseba Beloki was in the same group as Lance he didn't gain any time on the American. Lance still leads by a whopping 5:06!
Miguel Martinez finished at 9:08 back in a group of five riders and was awarded 48th position.
STAGE 18
COURSE: 109.7 miles with one Category 1, one Category 2, two Category 3 and three Category 4 climbs, two sprints and one feed zone.
WINNER: Norway's Thor Hushovd finished the last "hard" day of racing in France by riding at an average speed of 24.5 mph to win in a time of 4:28:28. Lance finished right behind U.S. Postal Service teammate George Hincapie. Both were in the main chase group that finished at 11:42. George and Lance were awarded with 23rd and 24th place. Just ahead of the two Americans and finish on the same time was second overall rider Joseba Beloki. Again, Lance smartly rode just hard enough to maintain his substantial points lead. Miguel Martinez also finished in the same group at 11:42 and was awarded 102nd place.
STAGE 19: INDIVIDUAL TIME TRIAL
COURSE: 31.1 miles with one Category 3 climb, two short circuits and one feed zone.
WINNER: Lance Armstrong sealed the Tour victory with a time that was 0:53 faster than second place finisher Raimondas Rumsas of Lithuania. Miguel Martinez finished 131st at 8:43.
STAGE 20: THE FINAL STAGE
COURSE: 87 miles with one designated sprint and ten laps around the Champs-Elysees short circuit finish.
WINNER: The riders are given a short rest while traveling 185 miles by train from Macon to Melun for the afternoon start. The final stage turns into more of a show with the riders staying together in one huge pack until the sprint to the finish. Australian Robbie McEwen took the race in 3:30:47 and at an average speed of 25.5 mph. How close together are the riders in the final stage? There were 153 out of 189 riders still left in the race. One hundered fifty-two of those riders finished on the same time as the leader! Armstrong placed 43rd and Martinez finished 80th. Tyler Hamilton was the top American in 27th place.
FINAL TOUR THOUGHT
Not too long ago the legendary Eddy Merckx said that he didn't think much of Lance when he first saw him. Now Merckx thinks that Armstrong can win the Tour as many times as he wants to! After three weeks of racing Lance secured the Tour win by 7:17 over Joseba Beloki. Raimondas Rumsas finished third. American Levi Leipheimer's eight place overall finish made it two Americans in the top ten. Levi finished at 17:11 behind Lance. When the final points were tabulated it was Robbie McEwen in the green sprint jersey, Laurent Jalabert in the polka-dot climber's jersey, and Ivan Basso in the white, under 25-year old jersey. Jalabert also earned the Most Aggressive Rider award and Once - Eroski took the overall Team Challenge. The trophy goes to the team with the best total time of its top three riders. Lance's team, the U.S. Postal Service, finished in second at 22:49.
And what about Miguel Martinez, the sole mountain biker? In his first Tour, Li'l Mig finished 44th at 1:18:42 and his team -- Mapei-Quick step -- placed 16th. Miguel would have fared much better if he'd been on a stronger team. Maybe next year?
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