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Sports See other Sports Articles Title: Rest of field racing for second now (Lance Armstrong, Tour De France) COURCHEVEL, FRANCE - Caution: falling hopes. One by one, the riders considered contenders to unseat six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong cracked on the climb to this ski resort Tuesday, littering the roadway behind him like loose rock. Three riders stayed with Armstrong in the final few miles, and his trademark acceleration in the final half-mile couldn't quite shake bright young Spanish star Alejandro Valverde, who won Stage 10. Few men with the talent or the team support to chase Armstrong remain within realistic striking distance, and the yellow jersey he pulled on again after a two-day break is most likely what he will wear for his curtain call on the Champs-Elysées in 11 days. In good position Armstrong won't say so, but the fiercest battling left in the race promises to be for the two other steps on the podium. "Now we're in a good position with regards to some of the main rivals," Armstrong said. "We'll have to protect that and protect the jersey. Hopefully I'll retire in it. "There's a lot of racing to go ... we'll try to race smart." His observations were distinctly understated, given the fact that the T-Mobile Net team's triple threat of Germans Jan Ullrich and Andreas Kloden and Kazakh rider Alexandre Vinokourov completely dissolved. CSC's Ivan Basso, a good climber but a so-so- time trialer, is now 2 minutes, 40 seconds behind Armstrong. The man closest to Armstrong is Danish rider Mickael Rasmussen of the Dutch Rabobank team, 38 seconds back. Rasmussen, who won Sunday's Stage 9 on a long solo breakaway, stayed with the final quartet of riders until Armstrong and the 25-year-old Valverde sprinted away near the finish. "This is a totally new situation for me," said Rasmussen, whose only goal going into the Tour was to win the polka-dot climber's jersey. He said he was ready to try to compete for the podium. But Rasmussen 's team doesn't have the depth to support him the way Discovery does Armstrong. In what must be a numbingly familiar scenario to Armstrong's opponents, Discovery Channel led the main pack of riders at hammer-and-tongs pace to the base of Courchevel. His teammates took their usual efficient turns setting the pace and then peeling off when they were out of gas. The last man left with Armstrong was promising Ukranian rider Yaroslav Popovych, 25, who may inherit the mantle of team leader next year despite his youth. Popovych crashed during the decsent of the Cormet de Roselend, the penultimate climb of the day, and had to have his rear wheel changed. Even so, he looked powerful as he accompanied Armstrong up to Courchevel. "I don't know if he's a future Tour de France winner, but he's definitely a very good bike rider," said Discovery director Johan Bruyneel. Top riders began crumbling early in the 13.7-mile ascent. Perhaps the most startling sight of the day was the usually composed Vinokourov suddenly laboring and falling off the lead group with his mouth and his jersey hanging open. Mountain gaps Vinokourov finished more than five minutes back and is 6:32 behind Armstrong overall. Teammates Ullrich and Kloden towed each other up the hill and are both more than four minutes off the pace. Some team leaders limited the damage and managed to maintain or improve their chances at the podium. Christophe Moreau of the Crédit Agricole team is now fourth, 2:42 behind Armstrong and striving to be the first French rider to finish in the top three since Richard Virenque (second in '97). Gerolsteiner leader Levi Leipheimer, who has talked openly about his podium ambitions, persevered to cross the line alone in sixth place, 1:15 behind Armstrong and Valverde, and is also in sixth place overall. Valverde vaulted to fifth in the standings and further brightened a resume that includes a silver medal and a fifth-place finish in the world championships. But he insisted he will ride for his teammate Francisco Mancebo, a dark horse podium candidate in many pre-Tour analyses who was also in the lead quartet on the last brutal climb. "Now we have to stick together as a team," Valverde said. "Lance demonstrated today that he is as strong as ever." Armstrong was surprised at Valverde's staying power. "I'm not blowing smoke — he could be the future of cycling," Armstrong said. "He's a complete rider, a smart rider, a patient rider on a good team surrounded by good people. ... "He'll have to work on in this race is his time trialing, and I expect he'll do that."
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