| | By Andrew Hood
ABC Sports Online
COURCHEVEL, France -- A growing feud between Lance Armstrong and arch rival
Marco Pantani boiled over high in the French Alps on Monday.
Pantani has been fuming since Armstrong let the fiery Italian win the Tour's
12th stage on Thursday after the pair arrived together to the top of Mont
Ventoux, one of the Tour's most revered climbs.
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Marco Pantani (right) did not appreciate Lance Armstrong's Stage 12 concession. |
Defending Tour champion Armstrong now admits he should have won the stage.
"It was a gift at Mont Ventoux and I also feel like it was a mistake to give
the gift," said Armstrong during a press conference on Monday's rest day "He's a great rider, a great champion and a great climber, but he wasn't the best man on Ventoux. Anybody who watched the race knows that.
"On the Ventoux the strongest man should win. I realize that now. At the
time I was doing the right thing, the classy thing. But since then I've been
disappointed by his attitude and his declarations."
Pantani and Armstrong have been swapping jabs over the past few days.
Armstrong is angry that Pantani's Mercatone Uno team hasn't helped his U.S.
Postal Service team work during a weekend of tough mountain stages. And
Pantani has been telling the Italian press he doesn't need handouts from
Armstrong.
Pantani is one of the proudest riders in the European peloton and earns
victories by unleashing brutal attacks in the steepest mountain stages. The
bald-headed Italian who wears a trademark bandana returned to racing
just this past May after nearly a year off the bike battling doping allegations. He was
kicked out of the 1999 Tour of Italy while leading on the penultimate day
after failing blood tests.
Pantani came to the Tour with ambitions of winning, but Armstrong is
comfortably in the lead with less than a week of racing left. Armstrong is
more than seven minutes ahead of second-place Jan Ullrich, and more than nine
minutes ahead of sixth-place Pantani.
At the Ventoux stage, Armstrong easily followed Pantani's attack and let him
roll ahead to take the stage victory.
"At the time I thought it was the right thing to do because I like Pantani
and I respect him and I know that the last 12 months for him have been
tough," Armstrong said. "I thought he rode a tough race, he was dropped and
came back, dropped and came back, and then attacked and that's admirable. At
a time like that, you make a decision in real time. That was the decision
that I made.
"I am disappointed that things have transpired the way they
have in the past few days. We all make character-judgement mistakes."
Pantani, a winner of the 1998 Tour, told the Italian press he felt slighted
by the gesture.
"I don't need to be given a gift from Armstrong," Pantani told Italian
journalists Thursday. "The Tour is not over. If Armstrong thinks it's
finished, he's mistaken. In any case he isn't finished with me. I am not
satisfied until I win a stage alone."
In two mountain stages over the weekend, Pantani attacked and eventually
dropped Armstrong to win Sunday's stage up a long finishing climb to
Courchevel.
During Monday's press conference, Armstrong also teased Pantani by calling
him "Elephantino," the little elephant, instead of Pantani's preferred
nickname, "Il Pirata," the Pirate.
"I call him Elephantino, not Il Pirata because last time I checked you're not
supposed to give yourself nicknames," Armstrong said. "The Italian media gave him the name Elephantino, so for me that's the official name. I can't say my name is 'Big
Tex.
"Marco came here to win stages and I came here to win
the Tour de France."
While Pantani has won two Tour stages this year, Armstrong hasn't won any.
Last year, he electrified the Tour by winning four stages and the overall
title after a dramatic comeback from cancer. This year he's been second in
four stages but yet enjoys a comfortable lead in the sport's most prestigious event.
"I would be disappointed if I didn't win a stage, especially based on a
certain uphill finish at Mont Ventoux," Armstrong said. "I still plan on
trying to win a stage. I think Ullrich will win the final time trial because it's in his adopted hometown. That leaves (Tuesday) and I don't know if tomorrow is ideal either because
the races seem very aggressive early on."
The 87th Tour continues Tuesday with the 121-mile, five-climb 16th stage from
Courchevel to Morzine. It's the last climbing stage in this year's
three-week, 2,250-mile Tour and the last chance for Pantani to attack
Armstrong before the Tour ends Sunday in Paris.
"Elephantino has tomorrow and it's really the last day for him," Armstrong
said, adding that the latest tiff doesn't give him extra motivation. " I
would by lying if I said it wasn't in the back of my mind."
Notes
How they fared:
The riders in the Tour enjoyed the second rest day. How the Tour favorites
finished in Sunday's stage and where they stand in the overall classification:
Lance Armstrong: Finished 4th at 50" behind winner Marco Pantani; 1st overall.
Jan Ullrich: Finished 15th at 3'21" behind Pantani; 2nd overall at 7'26"
Marco Pantani: Won the stage; 6th overall at 9'03"
Richard Virenque: Finished 10th at 2'21" behind Pantani; 7th overall at 9'57"
Laurent Jalabert: Finished 94th at 35'56" behind Pantani; 57th overall at
1h18'06"
Alex Zülle : Finished 106th at 35'56' behind Pantani; 37th overall at 57'07"
Bobby Julich: Finished 45th at 27'17" behind Pantani; 49th overall at 1h07'40"
Chann McRae: Abandoned the Tour at stage 12.
Four riders abandoned, including stage-six winner Leon Van Bon. 137 riders
remain in the Tour.
Armstrong to study French
Lance Armstrong promises to learn more French.
Tour de France race director Jean-Marie Leblanc said over the weekend that
Armstrong would become more popular with French fans if he spoke more French.
Armstrong said he saw the comment.
"It's a bike race, not a popularity contest so I don't care," Armstrong said. "I love France and I live here and I like
French people. I could try a lot harder to speak it, but unfortunately when I
did try last year I was taken advantage of and I don't want to be in that
position again. It's a bike race, it's not a political race. I don't care.
Having said all that, I will learn more French."
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ALSO SEE
Notes from Courchevel
Insurmountable? Armstrong's lead grows at Tour
Stage Fifteen results
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 Marco Pantani powers his way to win Stage 15.
avi: 1238 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Marco Pantani just edges out Lance Armstrong to win Stage 12.
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Stage 16 course map
RealVideo: 28.8
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