The Program Page #3

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down to Valloire,

Montgenevre and Sestrire.

If a man is to win the Tour de France,

it will be on this stage

that he stamps himself upon the race.

OK, boys, 30K to go. 30K.

(crowd shouts)

(Bruyneel) Alright, handsome.

I'll tell you when.

Go.

(Bruyneel) Now, catch up,

catch up with them.

(cheering)

Hold on.

Wait.

Wait.

Not yet.

- I'll give you the signal.

- (Car horns)

And now, it's time to go.

Time to go, Lance. Now.

Now give me some more. Now, go, go...

Come on, set the pace, set the pace.

["Spread Your Love"

by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club]

Spread your love like a fever

Don't you ever come down

(commentator speaking in French)

(commentator)

A closing attack by Armstrong.

Holy sh*t.

He's obviously had a great day

in his first day in the Alps here.

Look at the acceleration of this

as he chases down those motorbikes.

Five and a half hours

he's been pedalling today,

marking everything, never distressed.

He's a tough rider.

Like a boxer when you listen to him

talking about the Tour de France.

"Nobody's gonna drop me

in the mountains, I'm gonna fight."

He will fight all the way

because that's his mentality.

He likes to put on a show

and that's what he's doing.

He realizes how important

the climb is to Sestrire.

It is a physical and mental delivery

here by Lance Armstrong

to all of his rivals

in the Tour de France.

He is just going faster and faster and

faster, and he is gonna win this stage

and he is gonna go minutes ahead

of the field because of it, too.

(cheering)

So, he didn't suffer from the rest day,

did he?

As Armstrong now has torn his rivals

apart here in the Tour de France.

They will have to go home tonight

and rethink their tactics tomorrow

in the Alps.

If this man comes out

like this tomorrow

the Tour de France really will be over.

It'll be a while before we know

if it' is as the winner

of the Tour de France.

There are few people in this race now

who'll doubt that.

Lance Armstrong, winner today of the

mountain stage of the Tour de France.

Spread your love like a fever

(cheering)

Bravo.

He used his brakes a lot, didn't he?

On the final climb,

on his way around the corners,

he needed to use his brakes

to slow himself down.

You know, on the way up the mountain.

- You think that's natural?

- Why isn't it enough for you

that today he was just simply

the best of a great bunch?

Because, John, there is nothing

in his record to support that.

He used to get beaten by climbers,

easily, and today he destroyed them.

Prior to this Tour, his best finish

on a mountain stage was 39th.

But now he's a man transformed into

the finest climber I've ever seen.

He's recovered from cancer

and turned into bloody Superman.

I don't think a man who's been through

that kind of illness

would then risk using

potentially dangerous drugs.

The converse is equally persuasive,

Charles.

- Why are you so obsessed with this?

- Why are you not obsessed with this?

- You're supposed to be a journalist.

- Settle down.

I don't say it for nothing.

You guys were here

during that Festina madness.

You saw how many drugs

were seized by the police.

And here we are, one year on

in the Tour of Renewal,

and the average racing speed

has gone up.

Can you explain that to me?

Even if Armstrong was doping,

he couldn't possibly hide it.

- The Peloton would know.

- You think they don't know?

Come on. It's omert.

Nobody's gonna say anything.

Nobody wants to ruin the party.

Just let the sponsors roll in.

Let the media tell their lies

and to hell with the public.

And hey, if the winners are all cheats,

f*** it.

They're too afraid.

The cyclists have too much on the line,

so none of the riders are gonna speak.

Almost.

Of course there is still doping.

That's why it's so fast,

like it's all downhill.

How about Armstrong?

He and I, we are the same height,

same weight.

His V02 max is 83, mine is 85.

We should be like twins.

But he finished

28 minutes ahead of me today.

How's that?

(Walsh) There is a silence

around cycling.

A silence from the administrators,

from the press and from the riders.

It's kind of deafening, really.

But if we just keep on cheering loud

enough maybe it will all go away

and no one will ever hear

the unwelcome question.

"Is this real... or is it dope?".

Yeah, I'm gonna go talk to him.

What are you doing'? What you're

saying to journalists, it's...

it's not good for cycling.

I'm saying what I think.

There is still doping.

If that's why you're here, maybe you

should just go home and get another job.

If I have things to say,

I will say them.

Then f*** you.

Get to the back.

(cyclists make comments

in foreign languages)

Keep your mouth shut.

(groans)

(he chuckles)

That hurt.

- (phone rings)

- Little bit higher.

Just a little bit higher.

Yep?

No, just getting a mas...

For what? Positive for what?

Cortisone?

No, don't leave.

Tell...

Tell the doctor I have a saddle sore

and I need a script for Cortisone cream.

Pre-date it.

Yeah, everybody's happy.

UCI is an upstanding organization.

And if they don't like it,

tell them to kiss my saddle sore.

OK. Yeah, let me know.

Well, Emma, now you know enough

to bring me down.

(commentator) And Armstrong's

still looking very comfortable,

but so too is Tonkov.

Armstrong moving up very comfortably

into second position there.

We're not gonna climb the mountain,

we're gonna roll right through it.

You're gonna ride the best ride of

your life and you're gonna suffer.

(commentator)

Well, this is the move now.

Armstrong has waited long enough,

stripped of all his team-mates

and he's trying to do a Sestrire

in the Pyrenees.

Attack without mercy.

Keep your head down, don't look back.

(commentator) Cancer survivor,

Armstrong, dominates.

The Tour de France

has become the "Tour de Lance".

All eyes are on American

Lance Armstrong.

The 27- year-old from Texas

has a commanding lead...

(commentator) Armstrong still leads.

He's got the Yellow Jersey.

We are the unstoppable train.

(commentator) This man,

I think it's true to say,

doesn't need EPO to go quick.

Emma, can you get rid of this for me?

This is a team that'.s had a great

build up to the Tour de France.

"They have never been associated

with the word dope".

They have always ridden well and clean.

And Lance Armstrong now

has shown them all what they can do.

Today, boys, when you say,

"I can't go any further"

- say to yourself "I'm flying".

- (Team repeats)

I'm flying.

At speeds of 80kph,

Zulle is a nervous descender

but Lance Armstrong clearly is not.

Emma, can you cover this up?

That's about as good as it's gonna get.

Boo-yah.

Lance Armstrong had a visit

early this morning

by what the riders call the vampires.

That's the Medical Control Unit

of the International Cycling Union.

They all had their blood tested

for the possible use of EPO.

Lance.

Come on, squeeze it.

Epo is undetectable.

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