Dutch riders Servais Knaven and Leon van Bon start an early breakaway from the peloton in the flat stage from Dax and Bordeaux

The Dutchmen are caught by Spain's Vicente Garcia Acosta and a small pocket of riders who quickly build a substantial lead

Overall leader Lance Armstrong rides in the peloton as they pass through a pine forest outside Rion-des-Landes

France's Mederic Clain hits the front of the breakaway group as the gap between them and the peloton grows to 16 minutes

Austria's Georg Totschnig rides alone as dark clouds float menacingly above the numerous vineyards in the Bordeaux region

A fan of the US Postal team runs alongside Armstrong and the peloton as they try to narrow the gap on the leaders

The peloton reduce the gap to 10 minutes but their chances of making any more ground on the leaders look slim

With 18 kilometres to go Knaven shows a burst of speed to open up a sizable gap between himself the breakaway group

Knaven shows his delight as he crosses the line ahead of Paolo Bossoni and Christophe Mengin to claim his first ever stage win

Armstrong retains the yellow jersey as his closest rivals Jan Ullrich and Alexandre Vinokourov finish with him in the peloton