Frenchman Richard Virenque, king of the mountains, beat overall leader Jan Ullrich in a superb duel for the fourteenth stage of the Tour de France on yesterday.
Virenque, second overall, and the German were given the same time for the 148km stage from Alpe d'Huez, Ullrich's aggregate advantage remaining six minutes 22 seconds.
''I'm extremely happy to have controlled this second Alpine stage and not lost any time in relation to Virenque,'' said Ullrich, who was praised afterwards for holding back over the final metres in a sprint to the finish.
Spain's Fernando Escartin was third, 47 seconds behind, and Virenque's Festina team-mate Laurent Dufaux ,of Switzerland fourth, one minute 19 seconds behind.
Defending champion Bjarne Riis of Denmark, fifth in the stage at 1-24, climbed one place overall to third, 11 minutes six seconds behind Ullrich.
Italian Marco Pantani, who won Saturday's thirteenth stage, setting a record time for the 14.5km climb to Alpe d'Huez, was sixth on Sunday, three minutes six seconds behind Virenque.
He dropped to fourth overall, 11 minutes 30 seconds behind Ullrich.
The stage developed into a fascinating five-man tussle involving Ullrich, Virenque, Riis, Escartin, and Dufaux from the top of the first of three 2000-metre climbs, the Col de Glandon.
''Last night I gathered the team around me and said we're going to win the Tour. I got the team very motivated,'' Virenque said.
Virenque led four team-mates, including Dufaux and Italian Francesco Casagrande of Saeco over the top of Glandon, and in a fast break on the descent to set up the fight.
Ullrich, torn between staying with the second group with Riis, Spaniard Abraham Olano and Pantani, or trying to catch the pace-setters, attempted a counter-attack.
But after a long solo effort in which he narrowed the gap to 12 seconds at one point, Ullrich gave up with cramps and waited for the next chance.
14th stage (148km from Le Bourg D'Oisans to Courchevel): 1, R Virenque (Fra) FES 4hr 34mins 16secs; 2, J Ullrich (Ger) TEL same time; 3, F Escartin (Spa) KEL 0:47; 4, L Dufaux (Swi) FES 1:19; 5, B Riis (Den) TEL 1:24; 6, M Pantani (Ita) MER 3:06; 7, F Casagrande (Ita) SAE 3:36; 8, J M Jimenez (Spa) BAN 3:50; 9 , A Olano (Spa) BAN 3:50; 10, R Conti (Ita) MER 4:41. Others: 123 M Sciandri (Gbr) FDJ 36:56.
Overall standings: 1, Ullrich 71hr 00min 26sec; 2' Virenque at 6:22; 3, Riis 11:06; 4, Pantani 11:30; 5, Olano 14:28; 6, Escartin 15:23; 7, Casagrande 16:32; 8, Dufaux 20:05; 9, Jimenez 22:22; 10, Conti 25:29. Others: 79, Sciandri 1hr 59min 03sec.
oBRITAIN's Chris Boardman is pondering his future after injury brought his Tour de France dreams to a premature end.
Boardman quit after 33 miles of Saturday's stage, still being troubled by neck and back injuries after a bad crash last Monday.
''There was no point in carrying on as I had been dropped by the peloton with around 150 kilometres still to ride, but it was still a painful decision to make,'' he said.
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