Lance discovers crisis

Prior to Saturday's stage eight the 2005 Tour had been running on clockwork for the seemingly irrepressible Discovery team.

An imposing solo performance by Armstrong in the opening individual time-trial - which saw the American sensationally over-take main rival Jan Ullrich on the 19km course - was followed by an equally adept team performance in Tuesday's TTT which led Lance to laud the praises of his men.

Even the opening of Saturday's stage went swimmingly. With overall classification threat Jens Voigt breaking clear early doors, Armstrong could rely on trustworthy lieutenant George Hincapie to chase down the CSC rider and restore parity to the peloton.

But then the 2005 Tour's real curtain-raiser arrived: the second category Col de la Schlucht, the majority of which Armstrong was forced to climb in isolation and under constant attack by his rivals.

"The Tour started today," Armstrong conceded. "I was fine but the team did not follow. "We need to see what happened. We knew there would be action today. Of course I was worried, if you don't worry, you lose."

Speaking exclusively to France 2 TV after the demanding 231.5 km stage, Armstrong attempted to come to terms with what had happened on the final climb.

"There was definitely a crisis within our team so we'll have to reevaluate what happened so it doesn't happen again," the six-times winner said.

"I don't recall the last time, maybe four or five years ago, that this happened. There were 35 riders in front and I had no team-mates.

"I asked what happened afterward. I wasn't angry. I just wanted to know and they didn't have an explanation.

"We'll have to evaluate it. I know that they're working hard. They're champions, they're fighters and they will come back. What was the reason? Was it physical? Was it emotional? We'll have to evaluate it," the American reiterated.

Physically, Armstrong's Discovery team were no doubt suffering from their earlier team time-trial exhortations in which they rode a record-breaking pace and won for the third successive year.

Emotionally, the alarming regularity of the attacks - coming from across the board, but mainly under the hammer of German team T-Mobile - could hardly have come as an unpredictable shock.

First Alexandre Vinokourov teamed up with his Kazakh compatriot and friend Andrey Kashechkin to blow the leading peloton apart and completely annihilate the Discovery team.

Then Illes Balears' Alejandro Valverde got in on the act along with Ullrich and, once again, Vinokourov. Checking their movements, an isolated Armstrong failed to spot the sudden surge of pace executed by another T-Mobile rider, the hitherto quiet Andreas Klöden.

"I was covering Vino and Ullrich," explained Armstrong. "You cannot chase everybody when you're alone."

Runner-up last year, the hoop ear-ringed Klöden went on to pinch back 27 seconds from Armstrong at the finish.

"I have to be honest I suffered," admitted Armstrong. "I wasn't cool on the last climb."

"I said afterward that it was a jour de merde," he added, speaking in French. "We all need a bad day and hopefully this was it."

Singling out T-Mobile's Vinokourov, the rider posing the largest threat to his crown so far this year, Armstrong said: "I didn't learn anything new about Vino today.

"He confirmed that he's strong and that he might be the leader of that team.

"I don't know what he could learn about me today. I wasn't great and was definitely isolated and was definitely suffering.

"Perhaps the team and the boys in the team may have been too confident. This is the Tour de France. Everybody is ready and sharp and wants to win. Jan [Ullrich], Vino, they want to win.

"It's not because I won six Tours that I'm going to win seven easily."

Wearing the blue and yellow as the Kazak national champion, Vinokourov was pleased with the combined effort of his T-Mobile team on Saturday.

"We attacked each at our own turn today and it worked okay," he told Eurosport.

"He [Armstrong] can't ride behind the three of us, " Vino continued, referring to himself, Klöden and Ullrich.

"Yeah, tomorrow we'll try and attack," he confirmed. "It's going ok so far but we'll see."

Despite the glaring nature of Saturday's Discovery Channel capitulation, it is perhaps all too easy to get carried away with the significance of events.

As warns Eurosport TV analyst Jens Heppner: "Certainly with the T-Mobile team having three up there, it would make you anxious, but he [Armstrong] didn't panic, kept his cool, sized up the situation and at the end of the day only lost time on Andreas Klöden."

This is true, but if such isolation is a taste of things to come, Armstrong will be mighty vulnerable once the real mountains start after Monday's rest day.