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| July 14, 2005 | Thursday | Jumadi-us-Sani 6, 1426 |
Armstrong holds lead
BRIANCON (France), July 13: Alexandre Vinokourov rebounded from a bad day to win the eleventh stage of the 2005 Tour de France on Wednesday, as six-time champion Lance Armstrong kept his lead in the overall standings.
The 31-year-old native of Kazakhstan, who lost more than five minutes to Armstrong on Tuesday, shook off two fellow breakaway riders on the climb up the legendary Col du Galibier and held off Colombian Santiago Botero in a sprint to the finish to take the second Tour stage win of his career.
Vinokourov raced the 173 kilometres from Courchevel to Briancon in 4 hours 47:38 minutes. Armstrong finished with the main pack, 1:15 minutes behind the winner.
However, the earlier arrest of Italian cyclist Dario Frigo by French police on suspicion of doping cast a shadow over the stage.
Tour organizers said Frigo was taken into custody early Wednesday after customs officials found what were described as “probably doping substances” in the car of his wife. Results of an analysis of the substances has not been made public.
Thursday’s twelfth stage covers 187 kilometres from Briancon to Digne-les-Bains. As it is being run on Bastille Day, the French will be hoping for a rare victory.—Agencies
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