PAU, France, 19 July 2005 — Six-time champion Lance Armstrong has made it to the bell with a comfortable lead over his rivals and is hoping the last week of his final Tour de France will be more of a lap of honor than a sprint to the line.

“The big opportunities for Lance’s rivals are gone,” the American’s Discovery Channel team manager Johan Bruyneel said yesterday’s rest day in Pau.

“We are going to do what we have to do, that is to protect him.

“Now there are stages left for riders out to win a stage, stages for the green jersey contenders, factors coming into the game that we can use to our advantage,” he added.

The riders bid farewell to the mountains today’s 16th stage between Mourenx and Pau with two last big climbs in the Pyrenees, Marie Blanque and Aubisque.

But Bruyneel was convinced they would not make a big difference to Armstrong’s position. He heads Italy’s Ivan Basso by two minutes and 46 seconds in the overall standings and Dane Michael Rasmussen by 3:09.

“We can even afford to lose a minute or two in tomorrow’s climbs.”

“A lead of 2:46 is enough to win. Every year it gets more and more difficult but Lance has a decent lead especially with a big time trial coming up,” Bruyneel said, referring to the 55.5-km solo effort in St. Etienne on Saturday, where Armstrong is expected to dominate.

“And maybe he’ll take a little more advantage,” he added.

Although the Belgian, like Armstrong a perfectionist, warned that mishaps could still befall the Texan, who has been spared any bad luck in his previous six wins.

Crashes, mechanical problems, illness and the unexpected were still possible said Bruyneel, citing the incident during Sunday’s stage to Pla d’Adet, when a television motorbike ran into a spectator standing in the middle of the road.

“We have seen a good example of the dangers to expect with the spectator and the television motorbike. It is difficult to barricade the whole way but fans can be out of control some times,” he said.

Even though his team has appeared a little less consistent than in previous Tours, Bruyneel said Armstrong would be able to count on them to protect him until the finish on the Champs Elysees.

“The team has been riding very well. We only had one big attack from T-Mobile which isolated Lance. Lance was isolated but T-Mobile also isolated themselves,” he said.

With his teammates by his side or alone, Armstrong has again been in a class of his own in the first two weeks of the Tour.