Lance Armstrong moves back into 3rd after time trial; Alberto Contador has dominant lead

Armstrong severely beaten but back on Tour podium

ANNECY — Lance Armstrong had never experienced such an ordeal in a time trial during his seven-year dominant spell on the Tour de France.

He managed to save face by climbing to third place overall following an 18th stage marked by another astounding performance by his Astana teammate and overall leader Alberto Contador.

Three days before the race ends on the Champs-Elysees, Armstrong is in good position to achieve his main goal — a podium-finish in Paris.

“That hurt like hell. Ran outta fuel and paid for yesterday’s effort I suppose. Happy to move to 3rd tho(ugh),” Armstrong said on his Twitter feed after finishing Thursday’s 25.17-mile stage on the shores of Annecy Lake in 16th position — 1 minute, 30 seconds behind Contador.

The 26-year-old Spaniard now looks all but assured of his second Tour victory after increasing his overall lead to 4 minutes and 11 seconds and winning his third individual stage since his Tour debut in 2005, the year Armstrong won the race for the last time.

A time-trial master during his heyday, Armstrong was able to set a fast tempo for the first 10 miles but was then betrayed by his aging legs during a 2.3-mile climb.

“I suffered. I probably started too hard and maybe I was just empty from yesterday and those cramps I suffered at the end of the stage,” Armstrong said about Wednesday’s final alpine stage.

“I felt good at the beginning, I felt smooth, but there was a tail-wind, so maybe everyone felt good,” the 37-year-old Texan added. “I just wasn’t that strong on the climb.”

In building his record string of seven Tour wins from 1999-2005, Armstrong competed in 19 time trials and won 11 of them. He placed no worse than third in all the others except one — a short clock-race in Paris at the start of the 2003 Tour, where he was seventh.

Despite his setback, Armstrong — who is expected to ride another Tour next year — was unfazed.

“My ambition was to be on the podium, so I must be happy with that,” he said a few minutes after the official birth of his new American team, RadioShack.

Armstrong, who’ll leave Astana at the end of the season, did not indicate who else might join Team RadioShack. With the help of his longtime friend and mentor Johan Bruyneel, currently in charge at Astana but who is likely to join the project, the Texan is expected to build a squad fully devoted to his ambitions.

The cancer survivor, who said he might be stronger on the Tour next year with another season under his belt, has spent much of this year’s race in the shadow of Contador, who is also expected to join another team next season.

“I heard that Lance was launching a new structure,” Contador said. “But I just want to concentrate on winning the Tour and we will see afterwards.”

Even if he hasn’t got the same power and the same will to win as before, Armstrong has already achieved an amazing feat. Following 3 1/2 years of retirement, he surpassed more than 150 riders — most of them several years his junior.

His biggest remaining challenge is an uphill finish at the daunting Mont Ventoux on Saturday — where he never won. The threat for Armstrong is likely to come from Briton Bradley Wiggins, 11 seconds behind him in fourth.

Following his setback in Wednesday’s stage, where he was dropped by Armstrong, the former track cycling specialist bounced back with a sixth place finish in the time trial to renew his podium hopes.

After controlling all mountain stages, Contador proved he was a serious contender on all grounds at Annecy, beating Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland by 3 seconds. Mikhail Ignatiev of Russia was third, 15 seconds back.

“I went all out,” said Contador, adding that his earpiece radio linking him with Astana team managers stopped working during the stage, and that his concerns about Cancellara’s skill at the time trial had worried — and motivated — him.

“I was in the car behind Alberto, I saw a nice show,” said Astana sports director Alain Gallopin. “The goal was just to secure the (overall) win but when we saw by the end that he could win the time trial, we pushed him to the limit. I am happy for him.”

Overall, Contador leads Andy Schleck by 4:11, while Armstrong is 5:25 back.

Riders get a relatively easy ride Friday with a 110.6-mile run from Bourgoin-Jallieu to Aubenas.

Associated Press Writer Jamey Keaten contributed to this report