Sprinting to the Finish

Armstrong Wins Another Stage, Draws Closer to 6th Title

LE GRAND-BORNAND, France, July 22 -- A day after being spat on by German fans, Lance Armstrong was in no mood to concede a stage to a German rival.

With a stunning final dash of speed, Armstrong snatched victory from German Andreas Kloden at the end of the Tour's hardest Alpine stage, pedaling so furiously that his bicycle swung wildly beneath him.

The win Thursday was Armstrong's fourth stage victory this Tour -- matching his best in previous years when he also dominated -- and his third in three consecutive days, allowing him to all but lock up a record sixth straight crown.

It also was perhaps the most incredible. Even Armstrong seemed to find his sprint finish hard to believe. A big smile on his face, he jubilantly pumped his fists as he zoomed past Kloden, who seemed destined to win until Armstrong edged him at the line.

"No gifts this year," the five-time champion said. "I want to win."

Aside from satisfaction, the victory earned Armstrong 20 bonus seconds that helped extend his already sizable overall lead on Italian Ivan Basso to 4 minutes 9 seconds. Barring disaster, that is more than enough to carry the Texan through to the finish in Paris on Sunday to become the only six-time winner of the 101-year-old cycling marathon.

"Sweet," he told teammate Floyd Landis as they hugged at the finish.

"You're the man. Nice sprint. I'm glad you got it," Landis replied.

Armstrong's original plan had been to let Landis win. But in the end, he used the actions of German fans and the chance for a 20th career individual victory as inspiration.

At the top of the last of five climbs on the 126.8-mile trek through the Alps, Armstrong reached an arm over to Landis and told him to try for what would have been his first victory. The finish was eight miles away, at the end of a long, speedy descent to Le Grand-Bornand.

"I said, 'How bad do you want to win a stage in the Tour de France?' He said, 'Real bad,' " Armstrong recounted later. "I said, 'How fast can you go downhill?' and he said, 'I go downhill real fast.' He said, 'Can I do it?' And I said, 'Sure you can do it.' Then I told him, 'Run like you stole something, Floyd.' "

Landis zoomed away but was quickly caught by German Jan Ullrich, Armstrong's primary rival. Armstrong laid chase, followed by Basso and Kloden. Together, Ullrich, Basso and Kloden had been the only riders able to stay with the two Americans on the last climb up the Col de la Croix Fry.

Hurtling toward the finish, the five riders eyed each other and jostled for position. Armstrong, distinctive in his overall leader's yellow jersey, put his sunglasses back on and took a couple of sips from his drink bottle.

Just after they passed under a blue inflatable arch marking one-half mile to go, Kloden made his move, sprinting ahead to establish a slight lead through the final turns.