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Article: Armstrong senses sixth Tour victory Daniel Friebe sees the brave Texan take charge at Plateau de Beille and close in on Thomas Voeckler
- Article from:
- The Sunday Telegraph London
- Article date:
- July 18, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2004 The Sunday Telegraph London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Two weeks and only two mountain stages into this year's
competition, Lance Armstrong, the first man to triumph over cancer
and then over the world's most demanding cycle race, stands on the
brink of another precedent: that of being the first six-time Tour de
France champion.
He proved again yesterday that the Tour, the ultimate test of
survival, is an exercise in which he has no peers. On the 15.5
kilometres of knotted, uphill purgatory leading to the Plateau de
Beille on yesterday's 13th stage, the Texan staged an action replay
of the slow torture he had inflicted on his rivals 24 hours earlier.
For the second time the brutal pace set by Armstrong and his US
Postal team before him left ...