Overall leader Lance Armstrong had former team mate Tyler Hamilton to thank for his victory on the 15th stage of the Tour de France today.Hamilton slowed down the favourites group, which included second-placed German Jan Ullrich, after the defending champion crashed on the climb to the finish.Armstrong had just counter-attacked behind Iban Mayo when he appeared to get a spectator’s bag snagged in his brake lever, bringing himself and the Basque rider crashing to the ground.“There’s an unwritten rule in cycling that when the yellow jersey crashes or has a mechanical (problem) you wait for him,” said Hamilton, who was Armstrong’s right-hand man at US Postal until he left the team at the end of 2001.“I didn’t feel like the riders were waiting and I felt a responsibility to go to the front and make a hand gesture to slow down.“Everyone respected it and it was only a few seconds later that Lance came back, but I think it was fair,” added the American CSC Tiscali Rider, who did a similar thing when Armstrong crashed in last month’s Dauphine Libere.“Whether it was Lance or somebody else I would have done the same thing. I know it was in the final climb but there was plenty of racing left.”Armstrong almost came to grief again when his foot slipped out of a cleat but he recovered to storm clear of his rivals and haul in long time leader Sylvain Chavanel for the win.“I could see today that Lance had very good legs and you’ve got to give him credit for fighting back,” Hamilton said.“A lot of people were doubting him this morning but he’s a fighter and I was happy to see him have good legs.”Hamilton, riding with a broken collarbone after crashing in stage one, finished seventh, one minute and 10 seconds behind Armstrong.“I’m lacking acceleration and power with my collar bone. It’s still really bothering me. I just couldn’t accelerate after one of those switchbacks. I did my best to minimise my losses and I think I did okay,” he said. (Reuters)
