Armstrong keeps Tour lead, but rivals near

LOUDENVIELLE-LE LOURON, France -- Lance Armstrong kept his slender lead in the Tour de France on Sunday, still unhappy with his riding as two key rivals shadow him in the Pyrenees.\nArmstrong remained 15 seconds ahead of Germany's Jan Ullrich in the overall standings. Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov made a big move and is just 18 seconds back in third place.\nArmstrong did manage to keep a leash on Ullrich. They finished the 119-mile stage in the same time, so Ullrich's 15-second deficit from the previous day did not change.\nBut Vinokourov, who started the stage 61 seconds behind, nearly took the lead from the four-time champion.\n"Something's not going right and there's nothing I can do about that now," Armstrong said. "All I can do is wake up every morning and do my best. I'm not going to cry and whine. I'm just going to do my best."\nGilberto Simoni, the Giro d'Italia winner who has had a disappointing Tour de France, won Sunday's stage, one of the hardest of four in the Pyrenees.\nThe Italian was timed in 5 hours, 31 minutes, 52 seconds over the jagged route from Saint-Girons. Vinokourov was 41 seconds behind in sixth. Armstrong was 11th and Ullrich was right behind, both 84 seconds back.\nThe 14th stage was especially demanding, a trek featuring six 3,300-foot mountain climbs. Vinokourov pulled away in the last climb up the 5,158-foot Col de Peyresourde. But Armstrong regained ground in the steep descent to the finish.\nHe has just two more days in the Pyrenees and a time trial to Nantes on July 26, the day before the Tour ends in Paris, to build a cushion.\nThis is uncharted territory for Armstrong. By this stage in past years, he had a comfortable lead.\n"I knew it was going to be close," he said. "I probably didn't expect it to come down to the last few decisive stages, two days in the mountains here ... and then the final time trial."\n"If we get to Nantes and I have 15 seconds and I lose by 16, you know it will go down as the closest Tour de France in history," he added. "And I'll go home and have a cold beer and come back next year."\nArmstrong said he felt better than he did a day earlier, when he was still recovering from Friday's time trial, won by Ullrich.\n"Yesterday was a bit of a crisis after the disaster of the time trial," Armstrong said. "Today was good. Tomorrow is important, it's my big stage."\nOn Monday, riders attack two imposing climbs in a stage that ends in Luz-Ardiden.\nSunday's race opened in cool weather after two weeks of searing temperatures. The peaks were obscured in a light gray haze that gave a layer of protection in the mountain passes.\nArmstrong, trying to match Miguel Indurain's record of five straight Tour wins, had been complaining that the oppressive heat made for difficult riding.\nOn Saturday, Armstrong finished a lackluster fourth in the climb to the resort of Ax-3 Domaines, the first Pyrenees stage.\nUllrich, a Tour winner in 1997 and a four-time runner-up, was outstanding Saturday, shaving 19 seconds off Armstrong's lead by placing second, 61 seconds behind stage winner Carlos Sastre of Spain.\nAfter that race, a jubilant Ullrich spoke of claiming the leader's yellow jersey on Sunday, but he failed to do so.