A good final time trial saw him hold off the threat of Andrei Kivilev to steal the final podium place in Paris and repeat his third place of 2000.

The 27-year-old looks one of the likeliest protagonists to halt a fourth Armstrong win.

With Jan Ullrich - second in both years - absent this time, Beloki knows that anything less than second will be regarded as failure.

An Achilles tendon problem has hampered his progress but he has insisted that it will not affect his training for the race.

He has warned that he feels mentally refreshed and tough.