July 10, 2005

"We need to have it at the end."

Lance Armstrong is now in third place in the Tour de France today in the ninth stage of the 21-stage race. German rider Jens Voigt now leads after joinging a small group of riders on a long breakaway from the main pack and sustaining the breakaway to the end of the stage. Neither Voigt, nor the second-place rider, is not considered a major threat to win the entire three-week race. In the overall standings, Armstrong leads all of his main contenders, including Jan Ullrich and Alexandre Vinokourov, by a minute or more.

Armstrong does not regard Voigt as a main contender in the Tour. Letting the German take the leader’s yellow jersey off his shoulders allowed Armstrong to head into the Alps, which start on Tuesday after a rest day on Monday, without the pressure of having to defend the lead.

But the Texan will be looking to take the jersey back later in the three-week race, so he can ride to the finish in Paris on July 24 to claim a seventh consecutive victory before he retires.

"We don’t need the yellow jersey," Armstrong said at the start of the stage. "We don’t need to keep it in the Alps. We need to have it at the end."

CyclingPost.com recaps the ninth stage. Monday is a rest day.