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Yellow jersey pride Armstrong wins time trial, poised for Tour victoryPosted: Saturday July 27, 2002 11:33 AMUpdated: Saturday July 27, 2002 12:20 PM
MACON, France (AP) -- Lance Armstrong ensured his fourth straight Tour de France victory will be one of his biggest by winning Saturday's 19th stage, an individual time trial, and adding more than 2 minutes to his overall lead. After the win, his 15th in a Tour stage and fourth this year, Armstrong's lead over Spaniard Joseba Beloki grew from 5 minutes, 6 seconds to a whopping 7:17. The only time he had a bigger winning margin was in 1999, the year of his first Tour title, when he finished with a 7:37 advantage over Switzerland's Alex Zuelle. In 2000, he finished 6:02 ahead of Jan Ullrich, and beat the German by 6:44 last year. Saturday's win made up for Armstrong's defeat in the ninth-stage time trial, when he finished second behind Santiago Botero of Colombia. It was his first loss in a major Tour time trial since he first won the race in 1999. "After the first time trial, everyone said 'Armstrong isn't good at time trials,'" the U.S. Postal Service rider said. "Today, I was very motivated to come back with a win." Armstrong clocked a blistering 1:03:50 in the 50-kilometer (31-mile) stretch from Regnie-Durette to Macon in central France. He finished 53 seconds faster than second-placed Raimondas Rumsas of Lithuania. Rumsas remained third in the overall standings, 1 minute behind Beloki. Barring illness or injury, Armstrong is almost certain to win
the Tour when the race finishes on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday.
The final stage from Melun to Paris is expected to be little more
than a victory lap for the U.S. Postal Service rider.
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