Hat-trick chasing Lance Armstrong has kept a lead of over five minutes as Belgian Rik Verbrugghe took the 15th stage of the Tour de France today. A group of 25 riders attacked after 66km before Pinotti made his own break with just over 30km to go. Verbrugghe managed to pull back and won a sprinting duel with Pinotti to claim his first stage victory of the competition.
"I knew I could win a stage in the final week. I managed to come through the mountains without losing too much energy. I've been waiting for this victory for a long time," said the Belgian, who won the prologue in this year's Giro d'Italia.
Armstrong stayed safely in the main bunch around 14 minutes behind but still comfortably retained the yellow jersey, following yesterday's second and final rest day. The US rider holds a lead of 5 minutes, 5 seconds over Jan Ullrich and the two rivals finished in 40th and 42nd place respectively today. Australian sprint specialist Stuart O'Grady, who led the tour in the earlier stages of the race, has held on to the green jersey, while Laurent Jalabert remains King of the Mountains with five stages remaining.
Most riders used the longest stage of the Tour, over 232.5km from Pau to Lavaur, as a gentle reintroduction to racing after five gruelling mountain stages. Tomorrow's stage lasts over 229.5 km from Castelsarrasin to Sarran. There are four more long road stages, plus an individual time trial on Friday before the race finishes in Paris next Sunday.
Filed by Greg McKevitt
