Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 8, 1995 TAG: 9505080129
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
There was the King of the Mountains jersey for finishing as the top climber in the field of more than 100 cyclists. There was his Motorola jersey from the team he led to its first victory since 1989, when the race was called the Tour de Trump.
But most importantly, at the end of the race the brash Texan finally wore the yellow jersey that had eluded him throughout his brief career.
Armstrong rode conservatively in Sunday's final time trial from Burlington to Greensboro and cruised to his first overall victory in the Tour DuPont, becoming the first U.S. cyclist since Greg LeMond in 1992 to win the event.
After accepting the $40,000 winner's check, Armstrong bowed in ``I'm not worthy'' fashion to his six Motorola teammates, then grabbed the microphone from Tour announcer Jeff Roake and thanked them publicly.
``Give it up for my boys,'' Armstrong screamed to the thousands of cheering fans at the finish line across from the Four Seasons Mall.
``They were super. They really were a big part of it. I'm very, very happy because this has been our goal from the beginning of the season,'' said Armstrong, who had finished second in the Tour DuPont the past two years.
Armstrong had a cumulative time of 46 hours, 31 minutes, 16 seconds, which was two minutes faster than that of second-place Viatcheslav Ekimov of Russia, who was last year's champion.
Ekimov, of the Novell team, won the 30-mile Stage 11 time trial Sunday in convincing fashion, with a time of 1:00.44. It was more than a minute faster than second-place finisher Andrea Peron of Motorola, who placed third in the overall standings for the second consecutive year, 2:56 back.
``Actually, I'm disappointed by my mountain performance,'' Ekimov said. ``But this victory today gives me much more emotion for the Tour de France'' in July.
Peron had started the day with a 10-second advantage over Ekimov in the overall standings, but even he was not surprised by Sunday's outcome.
``Today, I was tired,'' Peron said. ``I'm satisfied with the result. Of course, I would have liked to win the stage and keep second [overall], but I had one of the best time trialists in the world in front of me.''
Ekimov, who won the Roanoke Valley time trial last year en route to the overall victory, could only watch this year as Armstrong took control by winning what most considered the three hardest stages of the Tour.
Armstrong took the yellow jersey he never relinquished in the Stage 4 mountain road race from Lynchburg to Blacksburg on April 30. He continued to pad his two-minute lead with a victories in the Stage 5 Roanoke Valley time trial and the Stage 9 road race from Asheville, N.C., to the top of Beech Mountain, N.C.
Armstrong entered Stage 11 with an almost insurmountable lead of 3:55. He said, however, he still was hoping for another good stage showing in the time trial, his weakest event.
``It was difficult,'' Armstrong said. ``I certainly am disappointed with my performance today, but I just had to keep in mind that I was the best over 12 days.''
For Jim Ochowitz, Motorola's team director, Armstrong's victory and the team title were extra sweet.
``There's no doubt from the onset we basically had brought the best team possible,'' he said. ``Having finished second the past two years, it was a very important objective from the team to come here with Lance and win the race.
``We also had to take into account that the higher level of competition, the climbing days and some other course changes. It was a great victory.''
NOTES: Fourth overall, 6:24 back, was Alvaro Mejia, also of Motorola. The team blew away its nearest competitor, Novell, by 28:30. ... Djamoldin Abdujaparov of Uzbekistan won the sprint competition with 54 points, 14 more than Britain's Malcolm Elliott. ... The Saturn team's Norm Alvis, who finished fourth in Stage 11, was voted the Tour's Most Aggressive Rider by the media.
by CNB