Armstrong keeps Ullrich in check again

Jan Ullrich missed his final chance to make a serious dent in Lance Armstrong's Tour de France lead on Sunday as the American produced another faultless day's climbing in the last of five mountain stages.

Ullrich, the 1997 champion from Germany, reached out behind him to shake hands with Armstrong after managing to claim third place just ahead of the American in a 144.5-kilometre stage won by Roberto Laiseka of Spain.

That sporting gesture appeared to be an acceptance of defeat after Armstrong proved untouchable over five gruelling mountain finishes in six days, first in the Alps, then in the Pyrenees.

"I'm happy," Ullrich said after the 14th stage from Tarbes to Luz-Ardiden. "Armstrong is impossible to match. He's the best."

Armstrong holds a lead of five minutes five seconds going into Monday's rest day.

With only five relatively flat stages and a time trial to come the U.S. Postal rider looks unstoppable in his quest for a third successive victory.

Sunday's stage featured the classic climb to the Col du Tourmalet, the highest peak in this year's Tour at 2,115 metres, followed by an ascent to Luz-Ardiden high in the Pyrenees.

Laiseka won the stage after a successful escape late on took him past the Italian Wladimir Belli, who managed to cling on for second.

CHEERING FANS

Laiseka was cheered all the way to the line by thousands of flag-waving Basque fans.

"This is the best race in the world and today we saw the best fans in the world," he said.

"It's a brilliant win for our team."

From the word go, however, the focus was on the battle between Armstrong and Ullrich.

The German attacked on the Tourmalet and when that failed he pushed the pace on a daredevil descent. Still he could not shake off the American, though.

Armstrong was well protected on the final climb, with his Spanish team mates Roberto Heras and Jose Luis Rubiera in attendance.

"I'm really proud of the team's work today," said Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's sporting director at U.S. Postal.

Ullrich made his last move with two kilometres to go but his chance to take a serious chunk out of Armstrong's lead was already gone.

In the end, Ullrich finished marginally ahead of his great rival in third, with Armstrong fourth, but the pair were credited with the same time.

The result was enough to take the German up to second in the overall standings but the gap now looks too great for him to close.