Resurgent Hamilton captures first stage

The unlucky rider cracked his collarbone on the second day of the tour.
BAYONNE, France (AP) -- For once, Lance Armstrong was happy to concede the spotlight.
Armstrong preserved his overall lead in the Tour de France while his former teammate, Tyler Hamilton, riding with a double-fractured collarbone, won his first-ever stage in cycling's premier race Wednesday.
"I think this is the biggest day of the Tour," Armstrong said after the 16th stage. "Incredible."
Armstrong, who is seeking a record-tying fifth straight title, finished 1 minute, 55 seconds behind to retain his overall lead over Jan Ullrich and was among the first to congratulate his former teammate with a hug.
Just 17 days earlier, on the second day of the three-week slog around France, Hamilton thought his Tour was over. Caught in a crash involving about 35 riders, he cracked his right collarbone in two places -- an injury he and others thought would make it impossible for him to cope with the 2,016 miles of bumpy roads and grueling mountain climbs to come.
"To win a stage of the Tour de France is fantastic. It's beyond my wildest dreams," said Hamilton, who now rides for the Danish CSC team. "After today, I'll forget about the disappointment."
Hamilton didn't have much luck during the first 15 stages of the race. He pinched a nerve in his back, became dehydrated and also got whacked on his collarbone by a television camera the day after he crashed.
Bad omens
Prior to Monday's 15th stage, the third of the Pyrenees climbs finishing at Luz-Ardiden, Hamilton's bad luck then took a near-farcical turn for the worse.
"The day started with me taking a hit from an elevator door on the way out of the hotel," Hamilton said. "I got clocked pretty good on my collarbone. This was not a good omen."
Armstrong, too, has had bad omens thus far, in what he recently called "a very odd, crisis-filled Tour."
He has experienced two crashes, one near miss, an accidental trek across a bumpy field, dehydration, technical problems with his bike and ill-fitting racing shoes.
Yet, he leads Germany's Ullrich by 67 seconds with just four stages left -- the most crucial being Saturday's individual time trial.
"I've never lost the final time trial in a Tour de France and I don't plan on starting this year," Armstrong said, after finishing 24th in Wednesday's stage, in the same time as 17th-placed Ullrich -- 1:55 behind the winner.
Looking ahead
With both unlikely to attack in today and Friday's flat stages, Saturday's penultimate stage will make or break the race.
On July 18, in the last time trial, Armstrong misjudged his fluid intake and became chronically dehydrated. Ullrich, a Tour winner in 1997 and a four-time runner-up, beat him by an astonishing 96 seconds.
"Ullrich will be difficult to beat but I know the course, I've done the training and I've got everything ready," Armstrong said.
"I can tell you that I sleep better with a lead of a minute and 7 seconds than I do with only 15 seconds."
Hamilton -- a support rider for Armstrong until leaving U.S. Postal in 2001 -- won the 122.5-mile trek from Pau to Bayonne with an inspired solo breakaway.
The boyish-faced 32-year-old had been seventh overall at the start of the day, 9 minutes and 2 seconds behind Armstrong. His victory bumped him into sixth place.
Both Ullrich and Armstrong will look to avoid mishap in stage 17 today -- a 112.2-mile route from Dax to the wine region of Bordeaux.
Because it's easier for riders to stay together on the flat, such a stage does not offer easy chances to gain a significant time advantage.