Armstrong and Ullrich shadowed each other all day

He finally came home after four hours 24 minutes and 30 seconds in the saddle, 54 seconds ahead of Wladimir Belli, who had started the climb in the leading group of three, to give his Euskatel team their first stage victory in the Tour.

Belli had also crossed the highest climb in the race, the prestigious Col du Tourmalet, in second place behind Sven Montgomery.

Montgomery was dropped on the descent from the penultimate climb of the day and Belli's fellow leaders at the bottom of the climb to Luz-Ardiden, David Moncoutie and Mario Aerts, were swallowed up by the chasing pack before finishing 15th and 21st respectively.

Armstrong and Ullrich, aided by the American's dutiful right-hand man, Roberto Heras, were the driving force in that pack.

Ullrich's Telekom team-mates had forced the pace in the peloton at various times of the day but Armstrong stayed firm and stayed on the German's wheel.

Just over a kilometre from the finish, shorn of any support, Ullrich had one last throw of the dice, and although Heras was left behind, the familiar sight of Armstrong in a yellow jersey matched his move pedal-for-pedal.

As the pair crossed the line, in a gesture that suggests that Ullrich knows he has no chance of preventing his great rival from winning a third successive Tour, the German held out his hand and Armstrong took it.

After a rest day on Monday, seemingly nothing can stand in Armstrong's way of taking a third successive Tour victory as well.