小旅行する de フラン: Armstrong takes the lead

Lance Armstrong's 勝利，勝つ in the 開始 mountain 行う／開催する／段階 of the 小旅行する de フラン wasn't the 素晴らしい victory 競争相手s have gotten used to.

The three-time 支持する／優勝者 （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 Spain's Joseba Beloki by just seven seconds in yesterday's 脚 from Pau to this ski 駅／配置する in the Pyrenees.

And although he moved into the 全体にわたる race lead, his 1:12 advantage over Beloki in the standings was unspectacular.

Armstrong, however, was happy.

"I'm very 満足させるd," he said after taking the 全体にわたる leader's yellow jersey from Spaniard Igor Gonzalez Galdeano.

For one thing, Armstrong 証明するd he remains the favorite to 勝利，勝つ the 小旅行する, silencing those who thought his 敗北・負かす in Monday's time 裁判，公判 showed he was weak.

Also, the Texan appeared to 勝利，勝つ the 158-キロメーター (97.96-mile) 行う／開催する／段階 without major 成果／努力, apart from the final sprint to the finish line.

That 示唆するd he may be saving energy for today's longer and tougher 脚. It ends with an exceptionally difficult climb, 類似の to those Armstrong has used in 最近の years to leave his 対抗者s 立ち往生させるd.

"The last three years I did attack" in the 開始 mountain 行う／開催する／段階, he said. "I didn't attack today. It just felt very different."

Although 需要・要求するing, Thursday's climb to La Mongie

wasn't hard enough to 妨げる 競争相手s, such as Beloki, keeping up with Armstrong most of the way.

It wasn't as difficult as the ride to L'Alpe d'Huez, which last year saw Armstrong open a 2:34 lead over his 最高の，を越す 挑戦者, Jan Ullrich. And it wasn't as grueling as Friday's final stretch to the 高原 de Beille, which should be a 最高潮の場面 of this year's 小旅行する.

Armstrong's U.S. 郵便の Service チーム仲間 Roberto Heras did most of the work on Thursday. He led Armstrong and Beloki in a break from the other race favorites, 含むing Gonzalez Galdeano, some 5 キロメーターs (3 miles) before the finish.

Heras, from Spain, 始める，決める a blistering pace and the trio soon overtook Frenchman Laurent Jalabert, who had b een in 前線 for the last 120 キロメーターs (74.4 miles).

Heras moved aside in the last few hundred メーターs (yards), 許すing Armstrong to sprint to the end, and clock 4 hours, 21 minutes and 57 seconds.

"For me, Roberto is the 行う／開催する／段階 勝利者," Armstrong said. "He sacrificed everything for me and the team, and I'm very 感謝する."

Heras finished the 行う／開催する／段階 in third place, 13 seconds behind his チーム仲間.

Gonzalez Galdeano, who was wearing the yellow jersey for the seventh 連続した day, flagged in the climb to La Mongie and placed 11th.

He fell to third place in the 全体にわたる standings, 1:48 behind Armstrong. Beloki, who like Gonzalez Galdeano rides for the Once team, was second 全体にわたる.

"Beloki's good," Armstrong said. "He's a 脅し, and we have to take all the time possible."

However, the American appeared relaxed during Thursday's race. He even had time to ちらりと見ること at a 小旅行する diagram he held in his 権利 手渡す, to gage the difficulty of the climbs ahead.

"I thought it would be more 積極的な, I thought there would be more attacks," he said after his 勝利，勝つ.

It was the second time Armstrong has taken the yellow jersey this year. He won the 小旅行する prologue in Luxembourg, but gave up the jersey in the 小旅行する's first 十分な 脚.

Before yesterday's 行う／開催する／段階 started, a minute's silence was 観察するd in memory of a seven-year-old boy who was 攻撃する，衝突する and killed by a car from the 小旅行する 軍用車隊 on Wednesday.

Today's 行う／開催する／段階 is a gruelling 199.5-kilometre (123.69-mile) stretch from Lannemezan to the 高原 de Beille.

It was to take riders up the Portet d'Aspet mountain pass, where Armstrong's Italian チーム仲間 Fabio Casartelli 衝突，墜落d fatally in the 1995 小旅行する.