"Jesus!" swore Lance Armstrong, still wearing his soaked socks and racing
shoes, as he walked from a Motorola team car to his hotel in the Alpine spa
town of Aix les Bains. "I've been sitting in these wet shorts for three
hours."
The American team's biggest hope for Tour de France success had slipped to
the back of the field on stage six's first climb, before slowing to a halt
shortly afterwards, having ridden just 44 of the day's 207 kilometers. The
Texan had complained of being "blocked" and of lacking form earlier in the
race, but few had expected his departure so soon, particularly as he had
targeted the transitionary stages in the Massif Central for a possible
stage win. So what was it that had so drastically and suddenly ended his
Tour?
"I don't know for sure, but I've got some physical problems," said
Armstrong. "Dr Testa thinks it may be bronchitis - last night I was awake a
lot, with breathing problems and a hacking cough - whatever, I just
couldn't keep up today when the pace picked up." With the Olympics looming
on the horizon and prominent among his season's objectives, many would be
forgiven for thinking that the appalling weather and his apparent lack of
form had forced a tactical withdrawal.
"No, no, it wasn't that at all," he protested. "I'd have abandoned today
with or without the Olympics. I mean, nobody likes riding in the rain, but
that's part of the race. Of course, if you're at all weak there's no time
to recover, especially this year, when the stages are finishing so late."
So where does the Texan go from here?
"Obviously we have to find out what's wrong and then I'll recover as fast
as I can and start training and racing again, maybe at the Hofbrau Cup
(17-21 July)," he said. "I guess it puts me under a little more pressure -
after all, you're only as good as your last race."