Armstrong thanks team for show of strength

Lance Armstrong praised Robert Heras and the rest of his U.S Postal team after they helped him take the overall Tour de France lead in the first mountain stage on Thursday.

"They're certainly good enough to help me do what I did today, but I still have to ride the bike as well.

"They were super. If today is any indication, it is the best team we ever had," he added, comparing his eight team mates to the ones in his three previous Tour victories.

The U.S. Postal team last year signed Heras from Spanish team Kelme to help Armstrong in the mountains but the former Tour of Spain winner had failed to fully deliver.

In the 158 kms 11th stage from Pau to La Mongie, the first this year in the Pyrenees, Heras was outstanding, leading the American towards the finish line at a punishing pace that dropped everybody else but Spaniard Joseba Beloki.

"I didn't attack today, I just tried to follow Roberto.

"When we heard that (former leader Spaniard Igor Gonzalez) Galdeano was dropped, Roberto set a pace that was very fast, so fast I was not in a position to attack," Armstrong said.

Heras was the last car in the U.S. Postal 'blue train' that took the race over in the final climb.

American George Hincapie was first in action, quickly followed by Spaniard Jose Luis Ribiera and Heras sealed a superb team effort.

STAGE WINNER

"It was the plan that George would go first and that Roberto would finish," Armstrong said.

"Roberto just took over and when he stepped up on the pedals and went I could see he was a different rider from last year.

"We signed Heras to the team because we thought he was a really special talent. He sacrificed a lot for me and the team, and I'm very grateful."

ONCE team leader Beloki, who looks like Armstrong's only serious rival left in the Tour, was second and Heras third.

The three times Tour champion confessed that he would have liked to let Heras win the stage but that it would have been a risky gamble with Beloki on their heels.

"The problem is the time losses if we play around with something like that and Beloki wins the stage.

"It was a consideration, but Beloki was there, he was good and we needed to take all the time possible.

"But to me he (Heras) was the stage winner," he said.

Third in the last two Tours, Beloki, now one minute 12 seconds behind the American overall, has improved this season.

"I know he was in the wheels the whole time. I was not surprised. He has talked a lot about how good his condition is," Armstrong said.

"I was curious to see how good it was given the pace Roberto was giving. I thought it was fast, he also thought it was fast".

But with such a team behind him, Armstrong said he was confident of holding on to his lead.

"To me, the biggest takeaway is the team and the performance of the team.

"It's one thing to take the yellow jersey and another thing to keep it. For this, you need a great team and I can sleep well at night knowing I have a great team, the best team in the race."