Altough stage 14 of the Tour de France was the last in the mountains it proved to be one of the most exciting, with Roberto Laiseka taking the win, after the favouties had brought back a dangerous group containing Sven Montgomery and Wladimir Belli. The Euskaltel rider produced an awesome despay on the final climb of the day to leave the leading group behind. Despite the Ullrich-Armstrong tandem closing in the final few kilometers the Spaniard hung on for the biggest win of his career.

The stage will also be remembered for the way in which Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong worked together in order to quash the chance on Andrei Kivilev finishing in second place, ahead of the German.

However what will always be more memorable will be the handshake between Ullrich and Armstong as they crossed the finish line. It showed Ullrich as the true sports man that he is and Lance as a dignified winner

Stage 14 results Tarbes – Luz-Ardinen

1st Roberto Laiseka (Esp, EUS) @ 4h’24m’30

2nd Wladimir Belli (Ita, Fasso) at 54sec

3rd Jan Ullrich (Ger, Telekom) at 1m’08sec

4th Lance Armstrong (USA, USPS) at s.t

5th Joseba Beloki (Esp, ONCE) at 1m’39

6th Oscar Seville (Esp, Kelme) at st

Overall Standings

1st Lance Armstrong (USA, USPS) 62h’15m’04sec

2nd Jan Ullrich (Ger, Telekom) at 5m’05sec

3rd Andei Kivilev (Kaz, Cofidis) at 5m’13sec

4th Joseba Beloki (ESp, ONCE) at 6m’33sec

5th Francois Simon (Fra, Bonjour) at 10m’54sec

6th Igor Galdeano (Esp, ONCE) at 12m’04sec

7th Oscar Sevilla (Esp, Kelme) at 13m’35sec

8th Santiago Botero (Col, Kelme) at 17m’49sec

9th Marcos Serrano (Esp, ONCE) at 19m’20sec

10th Stefano Garzelli (Ita, Mapei) at 19m’45sec