Ullrich misses last chance to worry Armstrong
( 2001-07-23 10:41 ) (7 )

Jan Ullrich all but conceded defeat to Lance Armstrong after the fifth and final mountain stage in the Tour de France on Sunday, as he missed his last realistic chance to eat into the American's lead.

Ullrich, the 1997 champion from Germany, reached out behind him to shake hands with Armstrong after just managing to claim third place ahead of his great rival in a 144.5-kilometre 14th stage won by Roberto Laiseka of Spain.

Ullrich's 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.

And with Armstrong holding a lead of five minutes five seconds with six stages to race, Ullrich acknowledged he is likely to have to settle for second place.

"Armstrong is impossible to match this year," he said after Armstrong managed to stick with him to the end of the 14th stage from Tarbes to Luz-Ardiden in the Pyrenees.

"He's the best. I've tried everything and I have no regrets. Now my goal is to race well until Paris and do well in the final time trial."

PROTECT LEAD

Armstrong now just has to protect his lead over five relatively flat stages, plus one time trial, after Monday's second rest day to claim his third successive race victory in Paris on July 29.

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 energy-sapping ascent to Luz-Ardiden high in the Pyrenees.

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

Laiseka was cheered all the way to the line by thousands of cheering, 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.

DAREDEVIL DESCENT

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

The Tour returns to the flat with a 232.5-km stage from Pau to Lavaur on Tuesday.