Michael Rasmussen is fending off tremendous pressure both on and off the bike as the Tour de France leader pushed one day closer to overall victory after surviving Monday’s five-climb march across the Pyrénées.

The Dane fought off searing attacks from Spanish climbing sensation Alberto Contador over the Col de Peyresourde to maintain his lead of 2:23 on the maillot jaune going into Tuesday’s rest day.

That was the easy part of his day that also saw the Rabobank team bus searched at a toll station by French customs officials.

Dogged by allegations and innuendo, Rasmussen is trying to stay focused on a race that it seems no one wants to see him win.

“Everyone takes shots at No. 1. That’s just a normal reaction from every body,” Rasmussen said after Monday’s stage. “Lance Armstrong was under pressure for seven years in a row, but he still managed to win.”

Tuesday’s rest day will be anything but carefree for the Rabobank rider. Rasmussen reluctantly agreed to hold a press conference after wanting to avoid facing an increasingly antagonistic media.

After efforts to broadcast a videotaped message were shouted down from Dutch journalists, Rasmussen will confront the media in the conference center in the heart of Pau.

And he’s doing it utterly alone.

The Danish cycling federation has already abandoned him, ruling earlier this week he’s no longer eligible for Olympic or world championship competition with the national team after receiving warnings from the UCI over his whereabouts during critical pre-Tour testing periods.

The UCI seems to be distancing itself from the controversial rider, with UCI president Pat McQuaid saying the brewing media storm “is bad for cycling.”

Still reeling from doping controversies following last year’s debacle with Floyd Landis, even Tour de France organizers don’t want to see the stained Rasmussen potentially spoiling their final podium when the race ends July 29 in Paris.

On Monday, ASO president Patrice Clerc told reporters in the start village that Rasmussen “doesn’t deserve to wear the yellow jersey.”

Even his Rabobank team is half-hearted about Rasmussen’s yellow jersey run. The riders are doing their job to help Rasmussen on the road, but there’s no joy around the bus, no sense of celebration.

The team has quite publicly held off extending Rasmussen’s contract, which runs out at the end of this season.

With so much negative publicity and growing antagonism, the team can’t celebrate what’s looking more and more like their first Tour victory since it started as a team in 1996.

One team official told a Dutch journalist that Rabobank has worked more than a decade to be in this position, but said, “The dream of winning the Tour is turning into a nightmare.”

That same official confided they now understand the media scrutiny that Armstrong endured during his seven-year Tour reign.

But Armstrong was never abandoned like Rasmussen has been now.

If Rasmussen wins the Tour, he’ll truly have won it alone.