NYTimes.com | Armstrong Pulls Ahead in Tour, but Rivals Make Gains

The New York Times Stage 8 report by Samuel Abt is up.

Armstrong:

"The team was superb, but me, I don't know."

Later, he said, "I'm perhaps not as strong as the other years," referring to his four successive victories in the Tour. "It's been that way from the start. Let's hope things get better, not worse."

His analysis was spot on. The team gave him fine support, setting him up on the final climb for his usual explosive ride away from his opponents. This time, though, Armstrong could not counter attacks by Iban Mayo, a Spaniard with Euskaltel, and Alexandre Vinokourov, a Kazakh with Telekom.

Later:

Otherwise, Armstrong said, he had little to celebrate other than the yellow jersey.

"If you'd asked me a month ago if I was going to suffer this much on Alpe d'Huez," he said, "I would have said, `No way.' "