Armstrong only 22 seconds behind in overall standings

Frenchman Thomas Voeckler is the current overall leader.
NIMES, France (AP) -- Lance Armstrong is looking over his shoulder. But this time it's to see how far back his main rivals are, not how close.
Although Frenchman Thomas Voeckler still leads the Tour de France by 22 seconds, other considered contenders to Armstrong have drifted away.
Armstrong and other top riders caught their breath Sunday, when Spaniard Aitor Gonzalez won the flat 14th stage from Carcassonne to Nimes.
The stage victories was Gonzalez's first in three Tours. The main pack was way back when the Spaniard won the 119.6-mile swing through southern France.
Armstrong, 39th, rolled in 14 minutes, 12 seconds later alongside Voeckler.
To the likes of Jan Ullrich, Tyler Hamilton and Iban Mayo, watching Armstrong surging closer to a record-breaking sixth straight victory must have been soul destroying these last 15 days.
Sharp in the prologue, strong in the team time trial, dominant in the Pyrenees mountains -- the Texan has simply shown no weakness. Only mishap or a lapse will likely deprive him of glory in Paris on July 25.
Ullrich way behind
The powerful Ullrich has been a major flop and sits 6:39 adrift of Armstrong with just six stages remaining. After today's rest day, cyclists head to the Alps.
The race winner in 1997, Ullrich was earmarked as Armstrong's biggest rival. He looked confident and muscular after shedding weight.
Beginning badly in the opening day prologue stage, he conceded 15 seconds to Armstrong. On July 7, as the rain thundered down in Arras, he took another blow as the smooth-running U.S. Postal team helped extend Armstrong's lead over him to 55 by clinching the team time trial.
After several flat stages, and a hilly route through the Massif Central, the gap remained heading into the Pyrenees on July 16.
Ullrich and Mayo -- hampered by a spill early in the race -- were expected to attack. They tried and failed.
Only Italian Ivan Basso managed to match Armstrong's ferocious pace on stages 12 and 13.
Armstrong eased up to allow Basso his first career stage victory in Friday's 122.5-mile trek from Castelsarrasin to La Mongie.
Won 17th stage race
In Saturday's 127.4-mile slog from Lannemezan to Plateau de Beille, Basso and Armstrong again broke clear. In a sprint to the line, Armstrong took his 17th career stage win to sneak closer behind Voeckler.
Hamilton, his former Postal teammate, abandoned a Tour for the first time -- severe back pains too much for even this tough fighter.
Mayo wilted in the sun, while Ullrich grimaced -- unable to churn those big gears anymore.
Basso, the Team CSC leader, now emerges as the No. 1 contender.
Armstrong called Basso "a threat, absolutely."
"He'll ride good in the Alps and a tough final time trial."
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