Cycling: Riders left to dwell on futility of challenging Armstrong's superiority

A profound sense of stupor engulfed the Tour de France yesterday as the 163 riders left in the event – together with the 2000 or so race followers – spent the second rest day hiding from the intense heat in a series of countryside hotels scattered around Provence.

For 24 hours thoughts of the Tour were collectively put on hold, particularly as memories of the Sunday's painful ascent of Mont Ventoux were still too close for comfort.

However, it is not just the high temperatures and bucolic surroundings, (on the roads surrounding the race headquarters in the tiny town of Vaison-la-Romaine, for example, the majority of vehicles are narrowbodied tractors, pottering from vineyard to flourishing vineyard) that make it so tempting for minds to wander.

The problem is that, barring an upset of monumental proportions, in seven days' time the pre-race favourite, Lance Armstrong, will have achieved his objective and taken a fourth consecutive Tour de France.

Armstrong has never had it so easy. Last year, the American was still not in yellow after the first clutch of mountain stages, this time he already has an advantage of more than four minutes over Joseba Beloki in second.

Furthermore, with two back-to-back victories in the Pyrenees as well as a prologue victory added to the Texan's achievements since the race began in Luxemburg, there is a general sense, that any resistance is futile.

Given these circumstances, the Tour's final week of racing, originally designed to provide a showdown with three tough Alpine stages, is now perceived to be virtually an extension of Armstrong's much-predicted victory procession on the Champs-Elysées next Sunday.

"Lance currently has a four minute lead but in reality it's even bigger," commented Manolo Saiz, the directeur sportif of both Beloki and the first-week leader Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano. "In the final time trial he will extend that advantage to six. He's shown he is the strongest. We will have to watch and wait for him to have a jour sans (bad day) but with that kind of time advantage, it will have to be one hell of a jour sans."

Armstrong is perhaps at his most vulnerable in his difficult relationship with certain sectors of the French public, who have taken to calling out "dopé, dopé" whenever he is near. This, despite the fact that Armstrong has not returned a positive test in 11 years of racing. "I don't understand that mentality," he said. "I think it's an indication of their intelligence."

Alasdair Fotheringham writes for Cycling Weekly

TOUR DETAILS

Overall standings: 1 L Armstrong (US) US Postal 56hr 51min 39sec; 2 J Beloki (Sp) ONCE +4min21sec; 3 R Rumsas (Lith) Lampre +6:39; 4 I Gonzalez de Galdeano (Sp) ONCE +8:36; 5 F Mancebo (Sp) Ibanesto.com +10:49; 6 J Azevedo (Por) ONCE +10:57; 7 R Heras Hernandez (Sp) US Postal +11:35; 8 O Sevilla (Sp) Kelme +12:45; 9 L Leipheimer (US) Rabobank +12:54; 10 R Virenque (Fr) Domo Farm Frites +13:12; 11 I Basso (It) Fassa Bortolo +13:56; 12 D Moncoutii (Fr) Cofidis +14:44; 13 C Sastre (Sp) CSC-Tiscali +16:17; 14 A Kivilev (Kazak) Cofidis +17:28; 15 B Zberg (Swit) Rabobank +17:41; 16 S Goubert (Fr) Jean Delatour +18:12; 17 M Boogerd (Neth) Rabobank +18:33; 18 S Botero (Col) Kelme-Costa Blanca +18:36; 19 T Hamilton (US) CSC-Tiscali +18:59; 20 M Lelli (It) Cofidis +19:12. Selected: 56 D Millar (GB) Cofidis +55:52. Points standings: 1 R McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Adecco 229pts; 2 E Zabel (Ger) Deutsche Telekom 229; 3 S O'Grady (Aus) Crédit Agricole 170; 4 B Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 162; 5 J Svorada (Cz Rep) Lampre-Daikin 129; 6 L Brochard (Fr) Jean Delatour 86. Mountain standings: 1 L Jalabert (Fr) CSC-Tiscali 167pts; 2 Armstrong 114; 3 Virenque 99; 4 Beloki 80; 5 L Dufaux (Swit) Alessio 66; 6 A Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R 63. Team standings: 1 ONCE 170hr 56min 59sec; 3 US Postal +7min 56sec; 3 Ibanesto.com +8:32; 4 Cofidis +9:27; 5 Rabobank +19:14.