Armstrong wins 20th stage and has Tour title in his grasp

Jul 23, 2005, 16:32 GMT

American Lance Armstrong of Discovery Channel Team takes off for the twentieth stage of the 2005 Tour de France cycling race, Saturday 23 July 2005 in Saint-Etienne. The twentieth stage of the 92nd Tour de France is a 55.5km individual time trial. EPA/SRDJAN SUKI

St. Etienne, France - Lance Armstrong won the 20th stage of the 2005 Tour de France Saturday and is now only one day away from his record seventh consecutive Tour championship.

The 33-year-old Armstrong raced the 55.5-kilometre individual time trial in and around the city of St. Etienne in 1 hr 11:46 min, an average speed of 45.98 kilometres per hour, and won his first individual stage of this year's Tour.

He won an earlier team time trial with his Discovery Channel team.

German Jan Ullrich finished second, 23 seconds adrift, while Ullrich's T-Mobile team-mate, Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazahkhstan, came in third, 1:16 minutes behind Armstrong.

With only Sunday's stage left to run, Armstrong leads Italian Ivan Basso in the overall standings by 4:40 minutes, with Ullrich now in third place, 6:21 minutes behind.

Sunday's stage, which ends on the Champs Elysee in Paris, is traditionally a victory parade for the winner and, barring accident or debilitating illness, that is now virtually certain to be Armstrong.

On hand to greet Armstrong after the race were his three children, girlfriend Sheryl Crow and former U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry.

Kerry told France 2 television that Armstrong was "a great example because of his victory over cancer and because of his courage in racing".

Armstrong said he was delighted to have his children on hand.

"It's a dream for me," he said. "I wanted to have my children here for my last race and to see me in the (Tour leader's) yellow jersey."

Armstrong said that the win in the stage was not essential. "What is essential is that I'm wearing the yellow jersey and that I deserve it," he said.

The stage was a disaster for Mickael Rasmussen of Denmark, who was in third place at the start of the day. However, he crashed twice and suffered a series of mechanical problems.

He finished the stage in 77th place, 7:47 minutes behind Armstrong, and dropped down to seventh place in the overall standings. However, unless he fails to finish on Sunday he will win the Tour's "King of the Mountains" title.

For Ullrich, the second place in the stage was a form of redemption after he raced poorly in the mountains. And he managed to take third place in the overall standings.

"I did everything I could," the 31-year-old German said. "I couldn't beat Armstrong, but I'm happy to be on the podium and I'm happy to finish the Tour in good health."