LE MONT VENTOUX, France, 10 June 2005 — Lance Armstrong will retire after the Tour de France next month with at least one regret, never winning a race at the top of the dreaded Mont Ventoux.
The six times Tour champion finished fourth in yesterday’s 182-km fourth stage of the Dauphine Libere, leaving the stage honors to Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov, one of his leading rivals next month on the roads of the Tour.
Since he returned from a near fatal cancer to win his first Tour de France in 1999, the American has tackled the Ventoux, cycling’s most notorious climb, several times.
Always close to victory, Armstrong never managed to beat the 1,909-meter-high “Giant of Provence”, fatal to Briton Tom Simpson in 1967.
But he said he had no regrets about the Ventoux. “My career has been successful enough, I can’t complain about what it’s given me, about what I have gained from cycling.”
Asked if he would return to the climb after his career is over, he said: “Yeah, to eat tapenade (olive cream, a speciality of the area).”
On the Tour, the Texan lost to Marco Pantani in 2000 and Richard Virenque in 2003. On the Dauphine Libere, Americans Jonathan Vaughters and Tyler Hamilton, Russian Denis Menchov, Spain’s Iban Mayo and now Vinokourov all conquered the mountain in recent years, but not Armstrong.
“I think I missed my chance (when Virenque won) and (the mountain) never forgave me. It held a grudge,” Armstrong said.
Yet the American can be more than satisfied with his fourth place on Thursday, if only because it brings him back to second in the overall standings, 21 seconds behind compatriot Levi Leipheimer.
Third in Wednesday’s 46.5-km individual time trial in Roanne, a morale-boosting performance one month before the Tour, the Discovery Channel team leader showed he had lost none of his climbing abilities either, finishing only 37 seconds behind Vinokourov while other favorites faltered.
Armstrong was especially impressive on the most difficult section of the climb, the last five kilometers, winding though barren fields of rock swept by heavy winds.
Within two days, the American, who hopes to retire with a record seventh Tour victory, was able to identify the riders who could stop him in his quest.
