Leader Again in Peak Form

PARIS — In the geography of sport, there are places that inspire wonder, even fear: Fenway’s Green Monster, the Banzai Pipeline, the 18th at Pebble Beach.

East of the former papal city of Avignon and the wide ribbon of the Rhone River rises one of those ultimate tests for cyclists. A brooding citadel of naked rock 6,300 feet high, dusted this week by a freak snowstorm--not at all the gentle, balmy French south of lavender fields and tidy vineyards.

It’s Le Mont Ventoux, “Windy mountain.” Where the north wind can reach 155 mph. Where summer heat can turn the asphalt roads liquid. Where, during the 1970 Tour de France, one of the great riders of the 20th century, Belgian Eddy Merckx, collapsed at the summit and had to be given oxygen in an ambulance.

“I was very afraid,” Merckx said later.

Three years earlier, his Tour teammate, Tom Simpson, had attacked Mont Ventoux’s rocky desert in intense heat after taking amphetamines. The Englishman stopped at a cafe for a drink, either a beer or an anis-flavored pastis, before the final climb. He fell from his bike, was put back on by spectators, pedaled 300 yards in a semi-comatose state, then keeled over again, dying of heart failure.

For the 12th time in its history, the Tour de France on Thursday returned to Mont Ventoux, for what conventional wisdom held would determine the winner of this year’s Tour. In a run-up race last month, Lance Armstrong, the 28-year-old from Texas who is leading the Tour, measured himself against Ventoux--and the mountain proved the stronger. Armstrong finished 11th then.

“It is the hardest climb of this year’s Tour,” the star of the U.S. Postal Service team said before Thursday’s start, summing up Ventoux’s unique mix of physical challenge and mystery. “It is very special, very mystical. It is so hard that if you are good, you can make a big difference.”

On the mountain that he calls “the moon,” where Julius Caesar is said to have built a temple to the winds, Armstrong proved exceptionally good Thursday. An estimated crowd of 300,000 braved near-freezing temperatures in the early morning to gather on Mont Ventoux’s southern slope, many parking their vacation trailers on the roadside.

Winds, which had blown at nearly 100 mph Wednesday, dropped to gusts of 40 mph.

In the final 13-mile ascent that may be the most feared in cycling, Armstrong, winner of the 1999 Tour, broke free of German Jan Ullrich, victor in 1997 and probably his most serious rival this year.

With about 1 1/2 miles to go, Armstrong was also leading Marco Pantani, 30, the Italian climbing king who won the 1998 Tour.

In a thrilling duel that lasted right to the finish atop the stone-littered summit, Armstrong and Pantani battled, with Armstrong leading for about 500 yards.

Just before the finish, the Italian slipped by Armstrong and won by inches. To many, it seemed that Armstrong had graciously allowed his competitor a day of glory. In 13th place overall, Pantani no longer seems a serious threat.

“I suffered when I saw Armstrong,” the leader of the Mercatone Uno team admitted when it was over. “I thought he was exceptional, and I congratulate a great champion.”

Armstrong denied having done Pantani any favors.

“He was behind, he came back, and then attacked,” the American said. “It’s appropriate that a climber like him wins the legendary stage on the Ventoux.”

The finish was so close that the Tour laureates awarded an identical finishing time, 4 hours 15 minutes 11 seconds, for the 93-mile stage that began in Carpentras, the truffle capital of France.

For the Tour’s defending champion, it was a brilliant day strategically. Armstrong increased his overall lead over the second-place Ullrich by 41 seconds to 4:55, which virtually guarantees that Armstrong will still be wearing the leader’s yellow jersey when the race ends in Paris July 23.

In the final stretch up Mont Ventoux, Armstrong also refrained from pushing himself to the point of exhaustion, well aware that nine days and nearly 1,000 miles of the Tour still lie ahead.

“Winning the stage is not important,” Armstrong said. “I’ll forget the stages for now.”

In addition, his eight U.S. Postal teammates handily dominated the pack during the first half of Thursday’s climb, unlike Monday’s in the Pyrenees, when they couldn’t keep pace with their leader.

In hotter weather on June 8, during a race sponsored by a local newspaper, Le Dauphine Libere, Armstrong was pedaling jerkily and gasping for breath as he reached the summit. The winner that day was his teammate and lieutenant, Tyler Hamilton, 29, of Marblehead, Mass.

“Lance had a real bad time on the Ventoux in the Dauphine Libere race last month,” Johan Bruyneel, U.S. Postal’s coach, said Thursday. “Lance had no fear, but a lot of respect for the Ventoux.

“Now he beat the Ventoux.”

Not everyone in the Tour can say as much. At least seven riders dropped out of the race Thursday. Among them was a trio of top-rated sprinters--Tom Steels of Belgium, who had won two daily stages of the 2000 Tour; Marcel Wust of Germany, who had won one, and Jaan Kirsipuu of Estonia.

Today, on France’s Bastille Day holiday, the race continues with a hill-dotted, 115-mile course from Avignon to Draguignan, then turns north toward the Alps.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

TOUR DE FRANCE

12th stage results:

1. Marco Pantani

Italy

2. Lance Armstrong

United States

3. Joseba Beloki

Spain

*

STANDINGS

1. Armstrong

48:50.21

2. Jan Ullrich

4:55 behind

3. Joseba Beloki

5:52 behind

Tour de France Glance

A look at the 12th stage:

* STAGE--A mountainous 93-mile stage from Carpentras to Mont Ventoux.

* STAGE WINNER--Marco Pantani of Italy in 4 hours 15 minutes 11 seconds.

* HOW OTHERS FARED--Defending champion Lance Armstrong finished second, clocking the same time as Pantani to retain the yellow jersey. Jan Ullrich of Germany was fourth, 29 seconds back. Armstrong now leads by 4:55.

* QUOTE OF THE DAY--Armstrong: “It was so windy today that I am glad it is finished.”

* NEXT STAGE--Today’s 13th stage is a 115-mile run from Avignon to Draguignan.