By John Leicester
The Associated Press

LOUDENVIELLE-LE LOURON, France - After two grueling weeks, Lance Armstrong's bid to become the second rider to win the Tour de France five times straight hangs by the thinnest of threads.

Two more days in the Pyrenees and one final time trial should decide his fate. Trouble is, he's still not feeling his best.

"Something's not going right and there's nothing I can do about that now. All I can do is wake up every morning and do my best," Armstrong said Sunday after watching rival Alexandre Vinokourov get away from him.

Having started the day 61 seconds back, Vinokourov closed his gap with overall leader Armstrong to just 18 seconds. That leaves him, Armstrong and 1997 winner Jan Ullrich, just 15 seconds back, locked in a nail-biting battle with only six days of racing to the winner's podium in Paris.

Monday stage to Luz-Ardiden, with two monstrous ascents, will be crucial, offering Armstrong a vital opportunity to distance the two riders tightening the noose around him.

"Tomorrow is important - it's my big stage," said the 31-year-old Texan. "If I feel good, I will probably attack."

Armstrong wants a bigger cushion than 15 seconds over Ullrich, whom he views as his biggest rival, going into the final time trial to the town of Nantes next Saturday. Ullrich was devastating in a previous time trial Friday, taking a huge chunk out of Armstrong's overall lead.

"He's strong, so you have to wait until you see a weakness or a weak moment and so far I haven't seen that," Armstrong said of the 29-year-old German.

By this stage in previous years, Armstrong had a comfortable lead. Now in uncharted territory, he faces the prospect of being unable to equal Spanish great Miguel Indurain's record of five successive victories.

"I knew it was going to be close. 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," he said.

"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 and I'll go home and have a cold beer and come back next year."

Cutting his losses, Armstrong stuck with Ullrich on Sunday, letting Vinokourov power ahead up the 5,158-foot Col de Peyresourde pass, the last of six climbs that made the stage one of the hardest of four in the Pyrenees.

"It's obvious that I'm not riding as well as I have in the years past. I can't exactly say why," Armstrong said. "I'm still not 100 percent and when you're lacking and when you're missing form, you've just got to rough it."

Vinokourov placed sixth in the 119-mile stage, 43 seconds ahead of both Armstrong and Ullrich. They finished 11th and 12th, 1 minute, 24 seconds behind winner Gilberto Simoni of Italy. Ullrich's 15-second deficit to Armstrong overall did not change. Simoni took 5 hours, 31 minutes, 52 seconds to cover the jagged route from Saint-Girons to Loudenvielle-Le Louron.

Vinokourov said he was confident he can take the overall lead in the Pyrenees.

"It's still doable," said the soft-spoken 29-year-old rider for Team Telekom. "It's always a dream, I believed I would today, but there remains another hard stage tomorrow."

At a glance

Stage: No. 14, Saint-Girons to Loudenvielle-Le Louron. A 119-mile grind that includes six 3,300-foot climbs in the Pyrenees.

Winner: Italian rider Gilberto Simoni in 5 hours, 31 minutes, 52 seconds.

How others fared: Alexander Vinokourov placed sixth, Lance Armstrong 11th and Jan Ullrich was 12th.

Yellow jersey: Armstrong retains a slim overall lead of 15 seconds over Ullrich.

Next stage: Today's 15th stage puts the riders deeper into the Pyrenees, with a 98.9-mile trek from Bagneres-de-Bigorre to Luz-Ardiden. The stage features a climb of 9,976 feet.