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Inside The Tour Armstrong forced onto offensive in PyreneesPosted: Thursday July 25, 2002 5:50 AMLosing seconds because of a crash is one thing, but does losing the individual time trial on stage nine reveal a real dip in form for Tour favorite Lance Armstrong, asks Cycling Weekly magazine? AN unexpected defeat for Lance Armstrong by Santiago Botero in stage nine’s time trial has left fans rubbing their hands in anticipation at what could happen come the Pyrenees. For the first time since 1999, doubts are opening up about the Texan’s chances of taking a fourth consecutive Tour victory and, in the short-term, a battle royale for yellow between Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, Armstrong, Galdeano’s ONCE-Eroski teammate Joseba Beloki and rising Kelme star Botero seems very much on the cards. Meanwhile, UK rider David Millar was back in the white young rider’s jersey he first took at Luxembourg, and has now announced he will be fighting to keep the prestigious maillot. If he succeeds, it will be a first in the history of British cycling, although there are six mountain stages to come and -- as with the fighters for the maillot jaune -- it is hard to predict how the Scot will handle the climbs. Optimism rules Regarding Armstrong, Gonzalez de Galdeano -- still leading the race as it headed south by plane to Bordeaux and the Pyrenees -- said he felt fresh optimism: “Armstrong could blast off and destroy the field like he has done on so many other occasions, but then nobody expected me and Santiago Botero to achieve what we did on this time trial stage,” Gonzalez de Galdeano, second in the 1999 Vuelta and fifth in last year’s Tour, reasoned. “Anything is possible. I have always dreamed of wearing yellow in the Tour, and now I have made that dream come true. The next step is for me and Joseba to defend it as hard as we can. “The Tour has changed. Armstrong is the big favorite, he could hardly not be, but we have managed to show that he is beatable.” Armstrong was similarly upbeat about losing the time trial to Botero, and announced that he was far from being in danger of losing his morale. “We’ll have to see what happens, but from now on it’s attack until they crack,” he announced afterwards. Oscar Sevilla’s disastrous time trial -- he lost nearly three minutes -- had, U.S. Postal sources reasoned, at least eliminated one dangerous rival. But there could be no doubt that Armstrong was riding into the Pyrenees in the unusual position of needing to attack after one golden opportunity to take the maillot jaune had passed him by. Whether he succeeds or fails, the 2002 Tour has suddenly become the most exciting since Armstrong’s reign in yellow began way back in 1999.
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