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Stage 16
Tour
leader Armstrong steals Etxebarria's show
By
Francois Thomazeau
David Etxebarria
of Spain wins the 192k 16th stage of the Tour de France
cycling race from Lannemezan to Pau, south western France July
21. Lance Armstrong of the USA retains his leader's yellow
jersey. cp/Photo by Charles Platiau REUTERS
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PAU, France, July 21 -
Spain's David Etxebarria won his second stage of the Tour de France
on Wednesday as the race left the Pyrenees but his performance was
eclipsed by overall leader Lance Armstrong.
Etxebarria, who will be 26
on Friday, was the first in action on the four classic climbs of the
192-kms 16th stage from Lannemezan to Pau and was strong enough to
outsprint his breakaway companions after five hours and 17 minutes.
The diminutive Basque,
winner of the 12th stage in St Flour on Friday, became the first
Spaniard since Miguel Indurain in 1995 to have won two stages in the
same Tour.
But despite the ONCE
rider's feat, Armstrong again provided the focus of the day.
Eleventh in the stage, the
Texan now leads Spanish climber Fernando Escartin by 6 minutes 15
seconds overall with Swiss Alex Zuelle third, 7:28 behind.
The favorite to win
Saturday's last individual time trial in the Futuroscope theme park
also looks set to become the first American to win the Tour since
Greg LeMond in 1990.
But his performance in
this Tour had been overshadowed in recent days by doping allegations
and innuendos in the French press.
The International Cycling
Union (UCI) confirmed reports in the influential Le Monde newspaper
that traces of banned corticoids had been found in the American's
urine during a control on July 4.
But UCI added that
Armstrong had a prescription to use a cream containing the banned
corticoid triamcinolone to cure a skin allergy.
Riders are allowed to use
corticoids to cure themselves with a medical prescription.
"I was using a cream,
which showed minute traces in my urine, so minute that they were not
there on day one," said Armstrong, who was also tested after
the prologue on July 3.
"If someone wants to
call it a doping story they can do it. But it's not a doping
story," he added.
Last year's Tour de France
was plunged into chaos by doping scandals, prompting local
authorities to adopt a tough stance on doping in the sport.
Armstrong was again
impressive on Wednesday, easily following Escartin when the
Spaniard, winner of the previous stage in Piau-Engaly, attacked
again.
But he said he had
suffered a lot in the Pyrenees after winning the prologue, the first
individual time trial and the first mountain stage of the Tour in
Sestriere, in the Alps.
"I suffered far more
in the Pyrenees than I did in the Alps because of the problems off
the bike," he said.
"Some journalists
wanted me to crack on the bike, but I was not ready to crack for
them."
Armstrong, whose career
looked to be over two years ago when he suffered a near-fatal
cancer, again checked his rivals in this last mountain stage which
went up some of the most famous passes in the Tour -- the Tourmalet,
Aubisque, Soulor and Aspin.
Etxebarria, Italian
Alberto Elli and Russian Pavel Tonkov, one of the most disappointing
riders in this Tour, had made the first move of the day in the
Tourmalet.
But they were quickly
caught in the Soulor when Escartin attacked in turn. Armstrong,
Zuelle and a dozen other riders managed to follow but other
favorites were dropped.
Spain's Abraham Olano,
last year's Vuelta winner, Frenchman Richard Virenque, the current
king of the mountains, and Swiss Laurent Dufaux lost ground and
finished nearly two minutes behind the American, losing their last
hopes of final victory.
But Virenque, who again
failed to give France its first stage victory this year, can be
content with being certain of winning the best climber's
classification for the fifth time in his career.
The Tour returns to the
valley for a 200 kms ride to Bordeaux on Thursday.
Tour de France 16th
stage placings/overall standings
PAU, France, July 21 - Leading
placings in the 16th stage of the Tour de France over 192 kms from
Lannemezan on Wednesday:
1. David Etxebarria (Spain) ONCE 5
hours 17 minutes 7 seconds
2. Carlos Contreras (Colombia) Kelme
3. Alberto Elli (Italy) Telekom
4. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kazakhstan) Casino
5. Jose-Luis Arrieta (Spain) Banesto all same time
6. Marcos Serrano (Spain) ONCE 5
seconds behind
7. Wladimir Belli (Italy) Festina 21
8. Pavel Tonkov (Russia) Mapei 9. Francisco Garcia (Spain) Vitalicio
Seguros
10. Alex Zuelle (Switzerland) Banesto
11. Lance Armstrong (U.S.) U.S.
Postal
12. Fernando Escartin (Spain) Kelme all same time
13. Frederic Bessy (France) Casino 2:13
14. Francois Simon (France) Credit Agricole
15. Mariano Piccoli (Italy) Lampre
16. Paolo Lanfranchi (Italy) Mapei
17. Angel Casero (Spain) Vitalicio Seguros
18. Laurent Madouas (France) Festina
19. Massimiliano Lelli (Italy) Cofidis
20. Daniele Nardello (Italy) Mapei all same time
Leading overall standings:
1. Armstrong 78 hours 2 minutes 53 seconds
2. Escartin 6 minutes 15 seconds behind
3. Zuelle 7:28
4. Laurent Dufaux (Switzerland) Saeco 10:30
5. Richard Virenque (France) Polti 11:40
6. Nardello 13:27
7. Casero 13:34
8. Abraham Olano (Spain) ONCE 14:29
9. Belli 15:14
10. Kurt van de Wouwer (Belgium) Lotto 18:35
11. Tonkov 19:26
12. Etxebarria 19:31
13. Andrea Peron (Italy) ONCE 20:17
14. Benoit Salmon (France) Casino 22:55
15. Roland Meier (Switzerland) Cofidis 23:37
16. Stephane Heulot (France) La
Francaise de Jeux 24:15
17. Tyler Hamilton (France) U.S. Postal 25:24
18. Lanfranchi 26:03
19. Contreras 26:46
20. Elli 28:06
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