NYTimes.com | Armstrong Picks Himself Up and Widens His Lead in Tour

The Samuel Abt story is up at NYTimes.com:

His face set in a grimace of determination, the Texan rode as he did in the mountains in his four Tour victories and as he had not done previously in this race — with facility, power and suppleness.

"I wasn't angry when I attacked," he said, "I was desperate to gain time on Ullrich before the time trial."

Later:

As he spoke, his body language was totally changed from the last few days, when he looked weary and disappointed. Now he was the old Armstrong, in command and confident.

But, he continued: "This has been a crisis-filled Tour. There have been a lot of strange things happening, things I haven't talked about.

"This is a Tour of too many problems — close calls, near misses. I wish it would stop. I wish I could have some uneventful days."