Armstrong's record attempt comes to an early end

STAGE EIGHT DETAILS CYCLING TOUR DE FRANCE

SHANE STOKES

AS MUCH as it was about Andy Schleck's impressive stage win and Cadel Evans snatching the yellow jersey, yesterday's first real mountain stage was marked by the dramatic collapse of Lance Armstrong's bid for an eighth Tour de France victory.

During his triumphant run between 1999 and 2005, the Texan suffered just one crash of consequence, namely a fall on Luz Ardiden in 2003 when his handlebars got snagged in a spectator's bag. He bounced back and went on to win the stage and with it, essentially, the Tour.

He also avoided punctures during those years, enjoying an extended streak of good fortune almost unheard of in the sport.

Things have been different this year. Armstrong crashed on stage two, then punctured on stage three, losing important time in the latter incident.

Yesterday was filled with even more drama, with the 38-year-old narrowly avoiding an accident early on, then coming down heavily shortly before the tough Ramaz ascent, the first of three tough climbs.

His RadioShack team-mates helped him to return, but he cracked on the steep slopes and was dropped by the other favourites, losing serious time.

To compound a woeful day, his bike was later snagged when a rider from the Euskaltel team fell at the summit of Les Gets, causing him to stop once again. The time lost from that was marginal, but it was the final straw, mentally; when he limped into the finish in Morzine-Avoriaz 11 minutes back, it was curtains for his Tour bid.

"I had a bad day. I came around one roundabout and my pedal touched (the curb), then my front tyre rolled off," a deflated Armstrong said. "It's hard to recover from something like that. They started the Ramaz pretty hard and I was already suffering. Then it went from bad to worse."

Armstrong has been under real pressure in this Tour, not least because of the criminal investigation into possible doping on his previous US Postal Service team. Quite a few predicted yesterday he won't continue to Paris, but he claimed he would persist. "I'm going to hang in there and enjoy my last Tour," he vowed.

If so, one goal will be to try to help his RadioShack team-mate Levi Leipheimer to win the race. If that's not possible, he might simply stick around to ensure arch rival Alberto Contador (Astana) doesn't. The Spaniard was imperious on the climbs last year, but he has had the whiff of mortality about him this season.

His climbing has been less dominant, and so it proved yesterday. Things looked good before the final climb, with his Astana team ramping up the pace to prevent Armstrong's return and mopping up a number of early breakaway riders, with Amael Moinard (Cofidis) being last to resist.

But Contador looked shaky when marking attacks near the summit of the Avoriaz climb, then had no answer at all when Schleck and the Spanish rider Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) rocketed clear.

Schleck won the sprint to the line for his first stage win, while Contador, Evans, Leipheimer and several other favourites finished 10 seconds back.

Other big names lost even more time; Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), fourth last year, faltered and came home 1.45 back; Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) was 2.23 behind, while Armstrong conceded precisely 11.45.

Also slipping back was Nicolas Roche, who rode courageously but weakened close to the finish. He lost 2.18, and dropped from eighth to 16th overall.

"It was a very tough day, I had a hard one," he admitted. "I felt okay early on but at the end I didn't have it - I completely cracked in the last three kilometres. I just tried to limit my losses from there."

Evans now will be more closely marked than ever. The world champion will nevertheless relish taking yellow, having twice finished second in the race.

189km Station des Rousses to Avoriaz

1. A Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank 4:54.11

2. S Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel) "

3. R Gesink (Neth) Rabobank +10

4. R Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas "

5. A Contador (Spa) Astana "

6. C Evans (Aus) BMC "

7. J Van den Broeck (Bel) Omega "

8. L Leipheimer (US) RadioShack "

9. I Basso (Ita) Liquigas "

10. D Menchov (Rus) Rabobank "

11. C Sastre (Spa) Cervelo "

12. M Rogers (Aus) HTC +20

13. J Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha +39

14. R Hesjedal (Can) Garmin +1:14

15. K De Weert (Bel) Quick-Step "

16. A Kloeden (Ger) RadioShack "

17. R Plaza (Spa) Caisse +1:37

18. T Loefkvist (Swe) Sky +1:45

19. B Wiggins (Brit) Sky "

20. A Charteau (Fra) Bbox +2:05

Other: 23. Nicolas Roche (Ire) AG2R +2.18

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. C Evans (Aus) BMC 37:57.09

2. A Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank +20

3. A Contador (Spa) Astana +1:01

4. J Van den Broeck (Bel) Omega +1:03

5. D Menchov (Rus) Rabobank +1:10

6. R Hesjedal (Can) Garmin +1:11

7. R Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas) +1:45

8. L Leipheimer (US) RadioShack +2:14

9. S Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel) +2:15

10. M Rogers (Aus) HTC +2:31

11. R Gesink (Neth) Rabobank +2:37

12. C Sastre (Spa) Cervelo +2:40

13. I Basso (Ita) Liquigas +2:41

14. B Wiggins (Brit) Sky +2:45

15. A Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana +3:05

16. Nicolas Roche (Ire) AG2R +3:11

17. J Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha +3:23

18. T Loefkvist (Swe) Sky +3:30

19. R Valls (Spa) Footon +4:27

20. LL Sanchez (Spa) Caisse +5:03

SPRINTERS

1. T Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo 118pts

2. A Petacchi (Ita) Lampre 114

3. R McEwen (Aus) Katusha 105

4. JJ Rojas (Spa) Caisse 92

5. M Cavendish (Brit) HTC 85

KING OF THE MOUNTAINS

1. J Pineau (Fra) Quick-Step 44pts

2. S Chavanel (Fra) Quick-Step 36

3. A Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank 30

4. M Perget (Fra) Caisse 28

5. R Valls (Spa) Footon 27

YOUTHS

1. A Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank 37:57.29

2. R Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas +1:25

3. R Gesink (Neth) Rabobank +2:17

4. R Valls (Spa) Footon +4:07

5. P Rolland (Fra) Bbox +10:54