There is no place to hide in the mountains. You can’t sit on your teammates’ wheels all day and cruise to the finish. When the time comes for the accelerations to begin, you either have what it takes to hold the pace or you start going backwards immediately. The first day in the big mountains opened significant time gaps between the pre-race favorites, and this wasn’t even the hardest stage in the Pyrenees . 

On the climb to LaMongie, Lance Armstrong showed the form that has won him five yellow jerseys already and Jan Ullrich and Tyler Hamilton faltered. The US Postal Service team kept the pace high on the lower slopes of LaMongie, and within five kilometers it was clear that Ullrich and Hamilton were suffering. While there was pain written all over their faces, Armstrong was ahead on the road wearing the calm, stoic face that hides the tremendous fury within him.

Having already put the men he sees as his main rivals in difficulty, Armstrong didn’t feel the need to dig really deep in the final five kilometers of Stage 12. Tomorrow’s stage to Plateau de Beille is much more difficult than today’s stage, and Armstrong rode within himself to conserve his energy for tomorrow.

The fact that Armstrong took between one and three and a half minutes out of his main rivals without having to even launch a decisive attack confirms he started the 2004 Tour de France in the best shape of his life. However, today was only Stage 12 out of 20, and there is a lot of racing left. Even with a few minutes in hand to Ullrich, Hamilton, Roberto Heras, Levi Leipheimer, and Iban Mayo, Lance cannot afford to sit back and be content. The next week of racing is so difficult it’s important to build as large a lead as possible, as quickly as possible. Anyone can have a bad day at the Tour de France, even Lance Armstrong. The minutes he gained today could disappear just as quickly in the coming days if his rivals find their climbing legs. Lance will not take anything for granted in this Tour de France, and he will do everything he can to extend his lead tomorrow.

Among the biggest surprises today was the performance of Thomas Voeckler. He won a mountain stage in the Rut de Sud a few weeks prior to the Tour de France, but after wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour for a full week, I didn’t expect him to have the strength necessary to keep the race lead today. Though his days in yellow are likely to end tomorrow, the young French champion may prove to be the revelation of the 2004 Tour de France.