LAVAUR, France -- Belgium's Rik Verbrugghe
won a head-to-head sprint with the Italian Marco Pinotti to take
Tuesday's 15th stage of the Tour de France as Lance Armstrong
and the rest of the race favourites made a guarded return to
active duty.
|  | | Overall leader Lance Armstrong gets started on the 15th stage Tuesday. |
Armstrong retained the lead of five minutes five seconds he
gained in the mountains as he finished in the main pack of
riders, allowing the drama to unfold far ahead of him.
The American's group was more than 15 minutes behind the
leaders by the end of the stage but there was no one there to
threaten his yellow jersey.
Verbrugghe and Pinotti were both part of a 25-man group that
escaped after 66 kilometres of the longest stage of this year's
Tour, over 232.5 kms from Pau to Lavaur.
Pinotti made a solo break with just over 30 kms to go but
Verbrugghe hauled him back and won an edgy battle between the
two to nick his first Tour stage win in a time of five hours 16
minutes 21 seconds.
"I knew I could win a stage in the final week," said the
Belgian, who won the prologue in this year's Giro d'Italia at a
record average speed for a stage race.
"I managed to come through the mountains without losing too
much energy.
"I've been waiting for this victory for a long time."
Tuesday's stage, which followed the second and final rest
day, offered far less compelling drama than the explosive stages
in the Alps and Pyrenees.
Armstrong's comprehensive victory over Jan Ullrich in that
section of the Tour earned him his 5:05 lead over the German in
the overall standings and there seems little chance that he will
be caught.
The American's U.S. Postal team were obviously unconcerned
by the 25-man breakaway on Tuesday, with none of the riders
involved posing a threat.
The main person to gain from the escape, apart from
Verbrugghe, was the Dutchman Michael Boogerd of Rabobank, who
leapt to eighth in the overall standings.
That appeared to be a miscalculation from the Spanish team
Kelme, who had shared the duties at the front of the peloton
with U.S. Postal throughout a race that began under overcast
skies but finished in brilliant sunshine.
Boogerd overtook the Colombian Santiago Botero and now has
another Kelme rider Oscar Sevilla firmly in his sights.
Tuesday's stage featured four modest climbs in the opening
71 kilometres, small beer compared to the Alps and Pyrenees but
still offering a few points towards the best climber prize.
Laurent Jalabert, who revealed on Tuesday that he will
retire at the end of next year, was virtually assured of that
prize as Ullrich, the only man who could catch him, did not
contest the climbing points.
That means the Frenchman only has to finish the Tour to win
the polka dot jersey.
The unluckiest man in the peloton was undoubtedly Jonathan
Vaughters of Credit Agricole. The American rider was stung by a
bee on the rest day and pulled out 10 kilometres into the stage.
Armstrong has four more long road stages, plus an individual
time trial on Friday, left to negotiate before the race rolls
into Paris on Sunday.
The first of those is a 229.5-km run from Castelsarrasin to
Sarran as the Tour continues to wend its way northwards.
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ALSO SEE
How Lance won the Tour with a week to go
Tuesday's Tour de France results
Tour de France: Day-by-day
Armstrong spends day off defending doctor
Armstrong protects lead in last mountain stage
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