BOURG-SAINT-MAURICE, France — On the final, punishing climb of Stage 16 of the Tour de France on Tuesday, Lance Armstrong could no longer stay with his teammate, Alberto Contador. He fell back from the group, while Contador and other race leaders pushed forward.
But Armstrong, who has a knack for comebacks, quickly found a new source of energy. In a moment reminiscent of his victory-laden past at this race, he shot forward and reappeared with that front group, looking as determined as ever.
Contador, the 2007 Tour champion, noticed the effort.
“Lance did some great work today, but I didn’t really need his help,” Contador said after retaining the leader’s yellow jersey. “I’m really satisfied with his performance.”
After crushing everyone, including Armstrong, on two previous mountain stages of the Tour, Contador is now getting used to Armstrong working for him – and not against him.
The two had battled to be the team leader of Astana, their Kazakh-based squad, but Contador had shown himself to be the stronger rider so far at this Tour.
“He said he would work to help me 100 percent,” Contador said “I believe him when he says that.”
With five stages of the Tour left, Armstrong is in second overall, 1 minute, 37 seconds behind Contador. Bradley Wiggins, of Team Garmin-Slipstream, is 1:46 back.
Andy Schleck, who on Tuesday again challenged Contador on the climbs, is fifth, 2:26 back.
The Spaniard Mikel Astarloza of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team won the stage, finishing six seconds ahead of Sandy Casar, the Frenchman on the Francaise des Jeux team.
The 98.8-mile ride from the Swiss town of Martigny veered into Italy before ending in Bourg-Saint-Maurice, tucked into the French Alps. During the stage that lasted just more than four hours, the riders tackled two large climbs. The first – which rises 8,113-feet above sea level – is called the Grand Saint Bernard pass and is an unclassified climb, which means it is the most difficult climb riders face.
The other – 6,949 feet above sea level – is called the little Saint Bernard Pass, which is a Catetory 1 climb, the toughest classification.
Those mountains were challenging for even the best riders, including Cadel Evans of Australia and the Silence-Lotto team. After Tuesday’s stage, he said he has given up all hope for finishing on the podium after finishing second in the Tour the past two years. He said he feels physically strong but has had other problems that have held him back.
“I’m out of it; I’m out of the race, for a place on the podium at least,” Evans said. “For professional reasons, I can’t comment on the problems I’ve been having.”
Evans will continue the race, though, while other riders have dropped out for various reasons.
Saxo Bank rider Jens Voigt of Germany crashed during the second big descent on Tuesday. He toppled face-first onto the pavement. Voigt, 37, slid for about 20 feet before coming to a stop, unconscious. Saxo Bank team spokesman Brian Nygaard said that Voigt had a “very, very bruised face,” and regained consciousness in the ambulance. Voigt was then transported via helicopter to a local hospital, where he will undergo a full body scan, Nygaard said.
It appeared that his handlebars broke as Voigt rode over a lip in the road, but Nygaard said, “There was no malfunction of the bike. It could be a freak accident.”
Voigt is the 19th rider to abandon this three-week race that ends on Sunday in Paris. Some, like Voigt, have left with injuries. Others simply could not take the wear and tear.
This cycling marathon has tested the physical and mental strength of the riders with the most difficult mountain stage still to come. Wednesday’s Stage 17 features five climbs, including four of the toughest Category 1s.
Riders, especially Contador, are bracing for it.
“All can prove difficult, but I believe the most dangerous will be Grand-Bornand,” he said, speaking of the town where the finish line will be on Wednesday. He added that the final climb of the day would be the most challenging one.
“That’s the one that I most worried about,” he said.
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