Spaniard Roberto Laiseka has won the 14th stage of the Tour de France but all eyes were on defending champion Lance Armstrong who fortified his position on top of the overall standings by coming in joint-third. Armstrong and his main rival for the title, German Jan Ullrich rode across the finish line together but the Texan still has a substantial five minutes and five seconds advantage over Ullrich who has moved up to second in the standings.
The pair shook hands while crossing the line which might suggest that Ullrich may have already conceded defeat to the American who is chasing his third successive Tour de France victory.
However, it was Laiseka's day as the 32-year-old passed out Italian Wladimir Belli to cross the line 54 seconds ahead of him much to the delight of the strong Basque support which lined the finish. Today's 144.5 kilometre stage from Tarbes to Luz-Ardiden was the last of the big mountain stages in the Pyrenees and was Ullrich's best chance of gaining ground on Armstrong.
Despite the fact that Ullrich led Armstrong's chasing pack by a massive four minutes. Although the German attempted to increase his advantage and pass out the leading pack on the Col du Tourmalet climb, Armstrong and the rest of the main peloton followed suit and by the time the leaders began the descent, Armstrong had caught up with Ullrich. It was on the descent that Laiseka broke and passed out Belli who was finding it difficult to keep up with the Spaniard over the final few kilometres.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
