The Queen stage. The big stage. The toughest stage. However you want to refer to it, today's stage of the Tour de France will be the toughest and the most important in determining who will be standing on top of the podium in yellow in Paris.
Lance Armstrong extended his lead of the overall classification yesterday. Lance is riding well. The same thing can't really be said for his teammates. Lance got caught alone by the rest of his rivals. Lance not only held them off, but improved his position. Can Lance continue to hold off the field with mediocre performance by the rest of the Discovery Channel team?
"Stage 15 - Lézat-sur-Lèze to St-Lary Soulan (Pla d'Adet) >205.5km
Course: On paper, this is the toughest stage of the Tour: six climbs (one Cat. 2, four Cat. 1s and the finish up the hors-cat Pla d'Adet). That's just over 16,000 feet of climbing in 205.5km, and all ridden on less-than-perfect roads in summer heat or seasonal thundershowers.
History: Pla d'Adet has seen the finish of eight Tour stages in the past 30 years, the most decisive being the Tour-winning solo attacks by Lucien Van Impe in 1976 and Armstrong in 2001.
Favorites: This will be the final mountaintop finish in Armstrong's storied career. The American would love to come up with another win at Pla d'Adet, but will Basso, Heras, Mayo or Ullrich be in a position to challenge him? The battle could be dramatic...."
http://www.velonews.com/tour2005/news/articles/8523.0.html
Links for following the race...
http://www.letour.com/
http://www.velonews.com/tour2005/
http://www.tdfblog.com/
http://www.olntv.com/