CYCLING Armstrong may not race in 2005 Tour de France

The five-time champion has the lead heading into the homestretch.
ANNEMASSE, France (AP) -- Lance Armstrong may not race in next year's Tour de France and instead concentrate on other races, a team spokesman said today.
"It's 50-50. There is a chance he won't come back. There is no decision yet," said Jogi Mueller, a spokesman for Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team.
"He will definitely race next year. He just needs to decide which races," said Mueller. "He has not decided yet."
If this is Armstrong's last Tour, he is going out in style. The five-time champion is on course to become the only six-time winner of the 101-year-old race, which finishes in Paris on Sunday.
Best showing
He has outclassed his rivals -- winning three consecutive stages for the first time and a total of four in this Tour, matching his best showing since he first won cycling's showcase race in 1999.
With a stunning final dash of speed, Armstrong snatched victory from German Andreas Kloden at the end of the Tour's hardest Alpine stage on Thursday, pedaling so furiously that his bicycle swung wildly beneath him.
Even Armstrong seemed to find his sprint finish hard to believe. A beaming smile on his face, he jubilantly pumped his fists in the air as he zoomed past Kloden, who seemed destined to win until Armstrong edged him at the line.
"No gifts this year," the five-time champion said. "I want to win."
Aside from satisfaction, the victory earned Armstrong 20 bonus seconds that helped extend his already sizable overall lead on Italian Ivan Basso to 4 minutes, 9 seconds.
In command
Barring disaster, that is more than enough to carry the Texan through to the finish to become the only six-time winner of the 101-year-old cycling marathon.
"Something came over me and I said, 'OK. I have to go for it. To get to win in the sprints is exciting,' " Armstrong said. "When I first started I thought, 'I'm not going to catch 'em.' ... But the finish line was far enough away that I made it through."
Armstrong has simply been in a different class.
He won the first Alpine stage on Tuesday, beating Basso, and rocketed to another overpowering win Wednesday in a time trial up the legendary ascent to the L'Alpe d'Huez ski resort.
He also beat Basso in the Pyrenees, having let the 26-year-old Italian win the first stage in his promising career a day earlier.
Since then, no more Mr. Nice Guy.
"I've given gifts in the Tour de France, and very rarely has it ever come back to help me," Armstrong said. "This is the biggest bike race in the world and it means more to me than any bike race."
He will be a favorite to take a fifth stage win, a record for him in one Tour, in a time trial Saturday that will cement the top placings before Sunday's ride to Paris.
Apart from sprinters, who battle for the glory of winning on the crowd-packed Champs-Elys & eacute;es, most riders treat that last stage as a lap of honor. Last year, Armstrong sipped champagne as he pedaled.