Ullrich Wins Cycling Gold, Armstrong is 13th
S Y D N E Y, Australia, Sept. 27, 2000 -- Lance Armstrong admitted this wasn’this race and the results proved it.
The Tour de France champion finished 13th in the Olympics roadrace, beaten by his longtime cycling rival and fellow Tour winnerJan Ullrich of Germany.
Ullrich, who won the Tour in 1997 and finished second threetimes, was timed in 5 hours, 29 minutes, 8 seconds. AlexanderVinokourov of Kazakstan won the silver and Andreas Kloeden ofGermany the bronze.
Long a dominant rider who has struggled with weight problems,Ullrich pulled away from the pack midway through the 12th of 14laps and never got caught in the 148-mile event.
Armstrong, the winner of the last two Tours, crossed the line ina pack 1:29 behind Ullrich. George Hincapie of Greenville, S.C.,was eighth, 1:26 behind the winner.
Armstrong has yet to compete in the race that he is favored towin — the individual time trial on Saturday (Friday night ET).
Ullrich Attacks Late in Race
Hincapie, who was critical to Armstrong’s two Tour titles as afellow member of the U.S. Postal Service team, was in third placewith one lap to go appeared to be looking for Armstrong.
Armstrong was out of sight at the back of the peloton, some 30seconds behind the leaders. He attacked, drawing cheers at thestart-finish area when his move was announced to the crowd.
Armstrong and Hincapie finally connected with about three milesto go, but by then it was too late. By then, Ullrich was poweringhis way to victory aided by help from Kloeden.
After a rainy morning, the clouds broke and the cyclists rodeunder sunny skies. Although several riders took turns leading thefield, nobody made a serious move until four laps remained.
That’s when Marc Wauters of Belgium, Jens Voigt of Germany andMax van Heeswijk of the Netherlands broke away.
But Voigt was setting the table for his teammates. Kloeden andUllrich stormed up to the front midway through the 13th lap.
Consistent Finish for Armstrong
Riding in the Olympics for the third time, Armstrong finishedclose to where he placed in the previous two.
He was 12th in the road race in Atlanta and 14th in Barcelona.In Atlanta, he also placed sixth in the time trial at a time he wasunwittingly suffering from testicular cancer.
Armstrong rose to the top of his sport by winning the Tour deFrance in 1999, capping a remarkable comeback. The disease hadspread to his lungs and brain by the time it was detected inOctober 1996.
He came to Sydney focused on winning a gold medal and now itwill have to come in the time trial. That’s the event he wasfocusing on.