Here you have an article about the Basques taking part in this year's edition of the Tour de France:
Be wary of 'Vino' and ambitious Basques, Lance
Tue Jul 15,10:44 AM ET Add Sports - AFP to My Yahoo!
MARSEILLE, France (AFP) - Lance Armstrong is not going to have it all his own way in the coming days in the Tour de France despite the abandon of his main rival Joseba Beloki, according to murmurs in the race peloton.
Beloki, the 29-year-old ONCE rider who has finished on the Tour podium for the past three years crashed out of the race on Monday after a dramatic fall which almost took Armstrong down too.
Armstrong had to cut through a field to avoid the stricken Spaniard and went on to finish the stage in third place behind talented Telekom rider Alexandre Vinokourov.
Vinokourov, the winner this season of his second straight Paris-Nice, the Amstel Gold race and the Tour of Switzerland, is now in second place overall at 21 seconds behind the 31-year-old American.
And despite saying he had no yellow jersey aims, some feel the the Kazakh has the tools to spring a surprise on US Postal's four-time Tour champion, who some feel is not at his habitual best.
Millar, who complained about the peloton's apparent lack of ambition to challenge Armstrong's US Postal team, feels the Texan could find himself rustled when the race heads into the Pyrenees.
"I think the race is going to go crazy in the Pyrenees," Millar said prior to the start of the 10th stage between Gap and Marseille.
"It's going to be harder for Lance now even though Beloki's gone.
"At least when Beloki was there Lance knew who to control. Now, the attacks could come from anywhere and the Euskaltel riders are going to try and rip the race to pieces," added Millar, referring to Iban Mayo's emphatic stage win on the Alpe d'Huez a few days ago for his climb-orientated Basque outfit.
Four days of tough climbing in the Pyrenees start on Saturday after Wendesday's rest day and an individual time trial on Friday where Armstrong will bid to increase his lead over the 29-year-old Kazakh.
The jury is still out on Vinokourov, who some say is the most under-rated rider in the peloton while Millar simply described him as "strange".
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