1615: The American takes the 11th Tour stage win of his career, the fourth of this Tour - he is completely dominant in the race.

1614: Armstrong comes steaming into the final kilometre, in a complete class of his own.

1613: Ullrich's time is 15 seconds slower than Gonzalez Galdeano.

1612: Ullrich enters the final kilometre but Armstrong looks set to take another minute-and-a-half off the German.

1609: Ullrich comes in, with Kivilev now far behind, holding the German's pace on the run-in.

Kivilev may risk a fine and a time penalty since he is so close to Ullrich.

1608: Francois Simon's time means Gonzalez Galdeano will grab fifth place from the best-placed Frenchman.

1606: Beloki enters the last kilometre, already slower than his team-mate Gonzalez Galdeano, but set for third place on the podium.

1604: Ullrich catches Kivilev, who started three minutes ahead of the German.

1600: Armstrong is clearly sealing his third consecutive Tour de France but the other winners after this stage will be ONCE.

Igor Gonzalez Galdeano is the new leader at the finish, coming in a minute quicker than Rous.

His ride, and that of Beloki and Serrano may be enough for ONCE to take first place in the teams' classification from Kelme.

Beloki looks certain to complete a repeat of the 2000 podium by finishing third behind Armstrong and Ullrich.

1554: The stage looks like another race for second place - Armstrong is more than a minute quicker than everyone else at 43km.

1552: Kivilev is well off the pace and has now lost third place to Beloki after going through the 43km checpoint in 15th.

1550: At the finish Marcos Serrano misses taking the lead by four-hundredths - Rous still leads by a fraction.

1547: Ullrich appears to slip out of the pedals on his bike and looks very uncomfortable indeed, but he continues without losing a lot of time.

In contrast Armstrong is not missing a beat, driving on in once again in a much lower gear than the German.

1545: Beloki catches Simon, who started three seconds ahead of the Spaniard.

Beloki's is the second best time at 43km, and he seems sure to pick up third place in Paris - an exact repeat of the 2000 podium.

1544: Dressed in the tricolour jersey of French champion, Didier Rous takes the lead to mass cheers at the finish.

His time is 11 seconds quicker than Julich's but both look set to fall to later starters.

1539: Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano is the new quickest man at the 43km mark.

His time is 51 seconds quicker than fellow ONCE rider Serrano's.

1533: With the leaders looking ahead to the next major checkpoint, Marcos Serrano of ONCE is now the quickest there.

At this 43km mark, he was four seconds clear of Julich and Rous.

1527: With everyone through the 21km mark, Kivilev is hanging onto third place, although there is a long way to go.

1524: Ullrich is through 21km and he is also slower than Gonzalez de Galdeano.

The Spaniard's time is nine seconds quicker than the German.

1521: Beloki's time at 21km is 37 seconds slower than team-mate Gonzalez de Galdeano, and more good news for ONCE in the fight for team honours.

1517: Bobby Julich takes the lead at the finish, with the Credit Agricole American launching his bike at the line after a sprint to the finish.

His new best time is one hour, 16 minutes and 52 seconds - 24 seconds better than Gutierrez.

1514: Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE) beats Kelme star Botero's best mark at 21km by a massive 31 seconds.

It means the race for the team prize is set to be a close one.

ONCE have the lead at 21km but Kelme have three riders in the top 10 there compared to their rivals' two.

1508: Kl�den's lead is short-lived after a superb ride from Jose Enrique Gutierrez.

The Kelme man's new best time - 16 second better - will help the squad as they bid to keep their lead in the team classification.

1508: Laurent Jalabert comes through 43km in 15th position, well off the pace.

1504: There is a new leader - only the second of the stage. Bertogliati was the first man to finish and the second man to start in the morning.

The new man at the top is Ullrich's German team-mate Andreas Kl�den, and is a minute quicker than Bertogliati managed.

1502: Santiago Botero is the new fastest roder at 21km, seven seconds faster than Rous.

1501: At the finish, long time leader Rubens Bertogliati is still quickest, with only 30 riders still to finish.

Jacksche of ONCE is the latest man to come in and is now fourth quickest.

1500: Yellow jersey Armstrong is the final rider to begin the 18th stage, the final crucial rendez vous of the 2001 Tour de France.

1457: Ullrich sets off. Armstrong is singing autographs on his way to the starthouse.

1456: Julich is quickest at the second split, the 43km mark - 12 seconds better than Gutierrez.

1455: Didier Rous, French time trial champion, is eight seconds quicker than previous fastest man Julich at 21km.

1454: Third-placed Andrei Kivilev looks more nervous than Beloki as the Kazakh sets off.

1451: The first of the top four, Joseba Beloki, is on his way. The rain has stopped but the road at the start is still wet.

Armstrong has got off his stationary "turbo trainer" bike and looks relaxed alongside his wife and son.

1449: Andreas Kl�den and then Gutierrez have set the two best times at 43km.

1440: Fifteen minutes before his start time, Jan Ullrich dismounts his home trainer, dripping with sweat following an intensive warm-up.

1430: French champion Didier Rous is followed out by 2000 Giro d'Italia winner Stefano Garzelli. The rain is noticeably heavier at the start but it is fine at the finish.

1428: Bobby Julich beats the time of Gutierrez at the first checkpoint.

1425: News of Kelme's first major strike in the battle for the team prize. Jose Enrique Gutierrez has set a new fastest time at the 21km split mark.

Rivals ONCE have riders second and fourth at this point, split by Telekom's Jorg Jaksche.

1424: Roberto Heras is the third of three Spaniards to start, after Francesco Mancebo and Inigo Charreau.

1420: There are reports of rain out on the course. Could slippery roads reduce the leaders' advantage?

1417: The two Alexandres, Kazakh Vinoukorov and Russian Botcharov are now underway.

Armstrong and Ullrich can be seen warming up on the rollers.

The American has won the past two final time trials of the Tour but Ullrich triumphed in 1996 and won mid-Tour trials in 1997 and 1998.

1409: Mountains jersey holder Laurent Jalabert is in the start-house.

There are no climbs in the time trial, although the former world time trial champion may challenge for a high placing.

Jalabert, 18th at the stage's start, is one of the top 20 riders who will start three minutes apart between now and leader Lance Armstrong at 1500 BST.

1352: The split times show Stuart O'Grady holding eighth position.

With points for the top 10 riders in the time trial there is a chance of O'Grady increasing his green jersey lead but it seems unlikely.

1331:With more than 60 riders finished, Bertogliati and Alvaro Gonzalez de Galdeano remain the quickest two.

The Spaniard is the brother of sixth-placed Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano.

Another star's sibling who has posted a good time is Nicolas Jalabert, brother of Laurent.

The CSC rider is fourth fastest behind Latvian Raivis Belohvosciks of Lampre.

1326: Stage 16 winner Jens Voigt is on his way to a good time, despite needing to help friend and team-mate Stuart O'Grady in the next two days.

Credit Agricole's German is third fastest after a third of the course.

1309: As we head towards the later starters, last-but-one-man Bertogliati looks sure to move up the general classification.

With the Tour's slowest 50 riders having finished, the man ranked 49th among them at the start of the day has posted the fastest time to date.

He ended nine seconds quicker than Alvaro Gonzalez de Galdeano, who posted a quick marker for the Kelme riders to chase in the time race.

1304: Tyler Hamilton - normally one of Armstrong's key support men in the mountains - has strugggled this year.

His time in this time trial is only 11th fastest at this stage - in stark contrast to top 10 finishes in the past two final Tour time trials.

1258: More than half the riders have now started the race, as the atmosphere builds towards the inevitable late afternoon climax.

Green jersey rivals Erik Zabel and Stuart O'Grady are both on their way, although they are likely to take it easy.

The pair will need all their strength for the crucial sprints which will decide their fate on Saturday and Sunday.

1210: Some of the bigger names are now out on the course.

Lance Armstrong's team-mates Tyler Hamilton, who has finished in the top 10 in previous Tour time trials, and Olympic champion Viatcheslav Ekimov are in action.

1200: Bertogliati's best time looks set to fall to Alvaro Gonzalez de Galdeano, who is fastest at mid-course checkpoints.

The ONCE rider's time could be important in the battle for the team prize.

This classification does not receive a great deal of attention but it does guarantee the winners a place in next year's race.

Defending champions Kelme lead ONCE by just under 10 minutes - a time which could easily fall in this stage.

1141: Ten riders have now arrived at the finish, with Lampre's Swiss rider Rubens Bertogliati having set an early best time.

His benchmark of one hour 18 minutes and 44 seconds is sure to be beaten later.

Jimmy Casper, the French sprinter at the bottom of the standings, looks sure to be the Tour's "lanterne rouge" if he makes it to Paris.

Although he started the stage two minutes before second-last man Bertogliati, the Swiss finished the stage more than three minutes before the Frenchman.

1000: American rider Lance Armstrong goes into the race looking secure in the leader's yellow jersey.

But five minutes behind him there will be quite a battle for the other two podium places.

Jan Ullrich, a former world champion time triallist, is likely to secure second place overall - as he did last year.

Last year Beloki was the surprise package of the Tour and, although he lost a minute to fourth-placed Christophe Moreau, he hung onto third.

This year Beloki is challenging from fourth, and this year's revelation Kivilev has everything to lose.

Elsewhere in the field there will be fierce battles as riders from Kelme and ONCE battle for the coveted team prize.

There is also traditionally a battle between various riders from each country, and even within teams, to see who is the best finisher.

The stage gets underway in the morning with the top men due to go in reverse order in the afternoon. Armstrong will be last to start, at 1500BST.