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Journalism of Courage
Lance Armstrong hopes his time trial expertise will put him firmly in charge of the Tour de France on Friday.
The American, bidding for a record-equalling fifth Tour victory, has not dominated this year’s race like he has the previous four, but he has only lost one time trial since he began him domination in 1999.
After finishing in 29th place in Thursday’s 11th stage to protect his overall lead, the 31-year-old was presented with the yellow jersey by Hollywood movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is in France to promote his new film Terminator 3.
Another trademark Armstrong attack on the 47 km test between Gaillac and the Cap Decouverte theme park on Friday could terminate the challenge of some of his closest challengers.
Despite losing to Santiago Botero of Colombia in Brittany in 2002, Armstrong will start as favourite for what he describes as the most important time trial he has ever ridden on the Tour de France. ‘‘I’ve worked more on my time trialing, using my special time trial bike in training,’’ Armstrong said after Thursday’s stage in which his slender 21-second advantage over Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan. (Reuters)
