Defending champion Lance Armstrong threw down the gauntlet to his Tour de France rivals with a brilliant performance to claim his second stage victory in a row today. The American conjured up a superb effort to blitz the 165-man field in the 11th stage mountain time trial, the US Postal star clocking an impressive 1hr 07min 27secs to relegate arch main rival Jan Ullrich to second place. Spaniard Joseba Beloki, who came third overall in the Tour last year, came third in 1:09:02.
Telekom rider Ullrich, who was also the loser after Armstrong blasted up the legendary Alpe d'Huez on Tuesday, came in a full minute behind at 1:08:27 after the 32km steady climb from Grenoble to Chamrousse. Frenchman Francois Simon of the Bonjour team held on to the yellow jersey he won on Tuesday as he came in among the latecomers, although his lead is not expected to last until after Friday's first Pyrenean stage.
Second-placed Kazakh Andrei Kivilev of Cofidis is 11:01 adrift of Simon, with Armstrong 13:07 off the pace. Ullrich is fifth overall, at 16:41, only 24secs behind Beloki.
Filed by Shane Murray
