1. Laurent Brochard (Fra) FES 5.24.57 (avs. 33.6 km/h) 2. Richard Virenque (Fra) FES 0.14 3. Marco Pantani (Ita) MER 0.14 4. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TEL 0.14 5. Jose Maria Jimenez (Spa) BAN 0.33 6. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) FES 0.41 7. Fernando Escartin (Spa) KEL 0.41 8. Bjarne Riis (Dan) TEL 0.41 9. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) SAE 1.07 10. Abraham Olano (Spa) BAN 1.07 11. Joona Laukka (Fin) FES 1.07 12. Roberto Conti (Ita) MER 1.07 13. Manuel Beltran (Spa) BAN 1.26 14. Oskar Camenzind (Swi) MAP 2.02 15. Laurent Madouas (Fra) LOT 2.24 16. Daniele Nardello (Ita) MAP 2.24 17. Beat Zberg (Swi) MER 2.24 18. Marco Fincato (Ita) ROS 2.57 19. Pascal Lino (Fra) BIG 2.57 20. Cedric Vasseur (Fra) GAN 2.57 21. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) RAB 2.57 22. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) USP 2.57 23. Udo Bolts (Ger) TEL 2.57 24. Christophe Moreau (Fra) FES 4.01 25. Alberto Elli (Ita) CSO 4.59 26. Frangois Simon (Fra) GAN 4.59 27. Peter Meinert (Dan) USP 5.23 28. Didier Rous (Fra) FES 5.28 29. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONC 5.37 30. Stephane Heulot (Fra) FDJ 5.37 31. Hernan Buenahora (Col) KEL 5.37 32. Bo Hamburger (Dan) TVM 7.52 33. Pascal Herve (Fra) FES 7.52 34. Georg Totschnig (Aut) TEL 7.52 35. Santiago Blanco (Spa) BAN 7.52 36. Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) ONC 7.52 37. Andreo Teteriuk (Kzk) LOT 8.46 38. Javier Pascual (Spa) KEL 8.51 39. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM 10.28 40. Jean-Philippe Dojwa (Fra) MUT 10.28 41. Michael Boogerd (Ned) RAB 11.26 42. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) USP 11.32 43. Valentino Fois (Ita) MAP 11.33 44. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) CSO 12.11 45. Erik Breukink (Ned) RAB 12.11 46. Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) BIG 12.11 47. Kevin Livingston (USA) COF 12.11 48. Zenon Jaskula (Pol) MAP 12.11 49. Aitor Garmendia (Spa) ONC 12.11 50. Inigo Cuesta (Spa) ONC 12.11 51. Massimo Podenzana (Ita) MER 12.11 52. Marcello Siboni (Ita) MER 12.11 53. Neil Stephens (Aus) FES 12.11 54. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) PLT 12.11 55. Benont Salmon (Fra) LOT 12.11 56. Jose de los Angeles (Spa) KEL 12.11 57. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) FES 12.11 58. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) TVM 14.02 59. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) MAG 14.02 60. Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJ 14.02 61. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) CSO 14.02 62. Marino Alonso (Spa) BAN 15.41 63. Patrick Jonker (Aus) RAB 15.41 64. Davide Rebellin (Ita) FDJ 16.03 65. Erik Zabel (Ger) TEL 17.08 66. Rolf Aldag (Ger) TEL 17.08 67. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) MER 19.02 68. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) SAE 19.02 69. Peter Farazijn (Bel) LOT 20.07 70. Bobby Julich (USA) COF 22.08 71. Francisco Benitez (Spa) KEL 22.36 72. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) USP 22.51 73. Jesper Skibby (Dan) TVM 24.27 74. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) BAN 24.54 75. Dominique Rault (Fra) MUT 24.54 76. Laurent Genty (Fra) BIG 25.06 77. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) MAP 26.07 78. Andrea Tafi (Ita) MAP 27.57 79. Jon Odriozola (Spa) BAT 27.57 80. Chris Boardman (G-B) GAN 27.57 81. Giuseppe Tartaggia (Ita) BAT 27.57 82. Erik Dekker (Ned) RAB 27.57 83. Marco Artunghi (Ita) MER 27.57 84. Javier Mauleon (Spa) ONC 27.57 85. Daniele Sgnaolin (Ita) ROS 27.57 86. Roberto Sierra (Spa) ONC 27.57 87. Bruno Cenghialta (Ita) BAT 27.57 88. Miguel Arroyo (Mex) BIG 27.57 89. Orlando Rodrigues (Por) BAN 27.57 90. Tyler Hamilton (USA) USP 27.57 91. Marco Zen (Ita) ROS 27.57 92. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) LOT 27.57 93. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) MAP 27.57 94. David Delrieu (Fra) MUT 27.57 95. David Etxebarria (Spa) ONC 27.57 96. Philipp Buschor (Swi) SAE 27.57 97. Giusvan Piovaccari (Ita) MER 27.57 98. Vitali Kokorine (Rus) ROS 27.57 99. Marty Jemison (USA) USP 27.57 100. Jose Angel Vidal (Spa) KEL 27.57 101. Anthony Morin (Fra) BIG 27.57 102. Michele Bartoli (Ita) MAG 27.57 103. Nicola Loda (Ita) MAG 27.57 104. Giorgio Furlan (Ita) SAE 27.57 105. Jens Heppner (Ger) TEL 27.57 106. Frankie Andreu (USA) COF 27.57 107. Marcelino Garcia (Spa) ONC 27.57 108. Frederic Guesdon (Fra) FDJ 27.57 109. Claude Lamour (Fra) MUT 27.57 110. Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) BIG 27.57 111. Francisco Cabello (Spa) KEL 27.57 112. Angel Casero (Spa) BAN 27.57 113. Marco Saligari (Ita) CSO 27.57 114. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) CSO 27.57 115. Arturas Kasputis (Lit) CSO 27.57 116. Rolf Sorensen (Dan) RAB 27.57 117. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) COF 27.57 118. Andrea Peron (Ita) FDJ 27.57 119. Rolf Jaermann (Swi) CSO 27.57 120. Danny Nelissen (Ned) RAB 27.57 121. Fabio Baldato (Ita) MAG 27.57 122. Maximilian Sciandri (G-B) FDJ 27.57 123. Flavio Vanzella (Ita) FDJ 27.57 124. Luca Scinto (Ita) MAG 27.57 125. Jaime Gonzalez (Col) KEL 27.57 126. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM 27.57 127. Johan Museeuw (Bel) MAP 28.22 128. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) SAE 30.54 129. Gianluca Pierobon (Ita) BAT 33.14 130. Frederic Moncassin (Fra) GAN 33.14 131. Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) SAE 33.14 132. Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) PLT 33.14 133. Henk Vogels (Aus) GAN 33.14 134. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM 33.14 135. Mauro Gianetti (Swi) FDJ 33.14 136. Jean-Frangois Anti (Fra) MUT 33.14 137. Pascal Derame (Fra) USP 33.14 138. Arnaud Pretot (Fra) GAN 33.14 139. Laurent Pillon (Fra) MUT 33.14 140. Pascal Lance (Fra) BIG 33.14 141. George Hincapie (USA) USP 33.14 142. Nicola Minali (Ita) BAT 33.14 143. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) TEL 33.14 144. Gerard Rue (Fra) GAN 33.14 145. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) PLT 33.14 146. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) GAN 33.14 147. Jo Planckaert (Bel) LOT 33.14 148. Adriano Baffi (Ita) USP 33.14 149. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) MAG 33.14 150. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) ROS 33.14 151. Christian Henn (Ger) TEL 33.14 152. Carlo Finco (Ita) MAG 33.14 153. Andrea Brognara (Ita) BAT 33.14 154. Mario Traversoni (Ita) MER 33.14 155. Dario Frigo (Ita) SAE 33.14 156. Luca Colombo (Ita) BAT 33.14 157. Eros Poli (Ita) GAN 33.14 158. Viatcheslav Djavanian (Rus) ROS 33.14 159. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) COF 33.14 160. Francesco Frattini (Ita) BAT 33.14 161. Ludovic Auger (Fra) BIG 33.14 162. Lauri Aus (Est) CSO 33.14 163. Gilles Maignan (Fra) MUT 33.14 164. Alexandre Gontchenkov (Rus) ROS 33.14 165. Marc Wauters (Bel) LOT 33.14 166. Robbie McEwen (Aus) RAB 33.14 167. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM 33.14 168. Stephane Cueff (Fra) MUT 33.14 169. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM 33.14 170. Gerrit De Vries (Ned) PLT 33.14 171. Andreo Tchmil (Ukr) LOT 33.14 172. Cyril Saugrain (Fra) COF 33.14 173. Christophe Rinero (Fra) COF 33.14 174. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM 33.14 175. Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) COF 33.14 176. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) PLT 33.14 177. Rossano Brasi (Ita) PLT 33.14 178. Luc Leblanc (Fra) PLT 33.14 179. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) PLT 33.14
1. Cedric Vasseur (Fra) GAN 47.14.35 2. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TEL 0.13 3. Abraham Olano (Spa) BAN 1.14 4. Bjarne Riis (Dan) TEL 1.43 5. Richard Virenque (Fra) FES 1.43 6. Fernando Escartin (Spa) KEL 2.14 7. Oskar Camenzind (Swi) MAP 2.27 8. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) FES 2.48 9. Daniele Nardello (Ita) MAP 3.49 10. Laurent Brochard (Fra) FES 4.04 11. Laurent Madouas (Fra) LOT 4.05 12. Pascal Lino (Fra) BIG 4.09 13. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) RAB 4.13 14. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) USP 4.25 15. Marco Pantani (Ita) MER 4.34 16. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) SAE 5.32 17. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONC 5.46 18. Jose Maria Jimenez (Spa) BAN 6.01 19. Manuel Beltran (Spa) BAN 6.24 20. Frangois Simon (Fra) GAN 6.27 21. Joona Laukka (Fin) FES 6.42 22. Roberto Conti (Ita) MER 6.48 23. Alberto Elli (Ita) CSO 7.09 24. Stephane Heulot (Fra) FDJ 7.12 25. Beat Zberg (Swi) MER 8.14 26. Bo Hamburger (Dan) TVM 9.06 27. Peter Meinert (Dan) USP 9.13 28. Didier Rous (Fra) FES 10.30 29. Hernan Buenahora (Col) KEL 10.54 30. Christophe Moreau (Fra) FES 11.27 31. Udo Bolts (Ger) TEL 11.44 32. Georg Totschnig (Aut) TEL 11.56 33. Andreo Teteriuk (Kzk) LOT 12.09 34. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) USP 12.52 35. Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) ONC 12.55 36. Marco Fincato (Ita) ROS 13.02 37. Santiago Blanco (Spa) BAN 13.04 38. Michael Boogerd (Ned) RAB 13.46 39. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) CSO 14.43 40. Pascal Herve (Fra) FES 15.14 41. Erik Zabel (Ger) TEL 15.32 42. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) PLT 15.42 43. Davide Rebellin (Ita) FDJ 16.30 44. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) CSO 16.51 45. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) TVM 16.59 46. Javier Pascual (Spa) KEL 17.12 47. Aitor Garmendia (Spa) ONC 17.42 48. Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJ 17.53 49. Erik Breukink (Ned) RAB 18.00 50. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM 18.26 51. Jose de los Angeles (Spa) KEL 18.58 52. Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) BIG 18.59 53. Massimo Podenzana (Ita) MER 19.19 54. Marcello Siboni (Ita) MER 19.27 55. Inigo Cuesta (Spa) ONC 19.55 56. Patrick Jonker (Aus) RAB 19.57 57. Jean-Philippe Dojwa (Fra) MUT 20.07 58. Zenon Jaskula (Pol) MAP 20.32 59. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) FES 21.25 60. Benont Salmon (Fra) LOT 22.30 61. Marino Alonso (Spa) BAN 22.34 62. Peter Farazijn (Bel) LOT 22.47 63. Kevin Livingston (USA) COF 23.03 64. Francisco Benitez (Spa) KEL 24.08 65. Valentino Fois (Ita) MAP 24.41 66. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) MER 25.02 67. Bobby Julich (USA) COF 25.55 68. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) SAE 26.56 69. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) MAP 27.00 70. Rolf Aldag (Ger) TEL 27.06 71. Neil Stephens (Aus) FES 27.18 72. Chris Boardman (G-B) GAN 27.54 73. Frankie Andreu (USA) COF 28.38 74. David Etxebarria (Spa) ONC 28.42 75. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) USP 30.04 76. Bruno Cenghialta (Ita) BAT 30.09 77. Andrea Tafi (Ita) MAP 30.27 78. Marco Zen (Ita) ROS 31.12 79. Orlando Rodrigues (Por) BAN 31.18 80. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) MAP 31.25 81. Marty Jemison (USA) USP 31.34 82. Jon Odriozola (Spa) BAT 31.40 83. Daniele Sgnaolin (Ita) ROS 31.41 84. Giuseppe Tartaggia (Ita) BAT 32.13 85. Nicola Loda (Ita) MAG 32.14 86. Tyler Hamilton (USA) USP 32.24 87. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) GAN 33.16 88. Frederic Moncassin (Fra) GAN 33.21 89. Angel Casero (Spa) BAN 33.26 90. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) SAE 34.05 91. Andrea Peron (Ita) FDJ 34.12 92. Jose Angel Vidal (Spa) KEL 34.25 93. Nicola Minali (Ita) BAT 34.31 94. Mario Traversoni (Ita) MER 34.38 95. Henk Vogels (Aus) GAN 34.44 96. Maximilian Sciandri (G-B) FDJ 34.53 97. Marco Artunghi (Ita) MER 35.02 98. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) LOT 35.21 99. Christophe Rinero (Fra) COF 35.32 100. Andreo Tchmil (Ukr) LOT 35.40 101. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM 36.07 102. Rolf Sorensen (Dan) RAB 36.21 103. Luc Leblanc (Fra) PLT 36.22 104. Javier Mauleon (Spa) ONC 36.26 105. Jaime Gonzalez (Col) KEL 36.36 106. Arnaud Pretot (Fra) GAN 37.01 107. Giusvan Piovaccari (Ita) MER 37.09 108. Erik Dekker (Ned) RAB 37.20 109. Alexandre Gontchenkov (Rus) ROS 37.22 110. Johan Museeuw (Bel) MAP 37.42 111. Anthony Morin (Fra) BIG 37.46 112. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) TEL 37.59 113. Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) COF 38.34 114. Adriano Baffi (Ita) USP 38.37 115. Francisco Cabello (Spa) KEL 38.41 116. Gerard Rue (Fra) GAN 38.42 117. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM 38.53 118. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) PLT 39.32 119. Miguel Arroyo (Mex) BIG 39.42 120. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) CSO 40.00 121. Robbie McEwen (Aus) RAB 40.03 122. Dominique Rault (Fra) MUT 40.05 123. Giorgio Furlan (Ita) SAE 40.10 124. Danny Nelissen (Ned) RAB 40.16 125. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) COF 40.23 126. Mauro Gianetti (Swi) FDJ 40.32 127. Roberto Sierra (Spa) ONC 40.48 128. Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) PLT 40.54 129. Pascal Lance (Fra) BIG 41.04 130. George Hincapie (USA) USP 41.26 131. David Delrieu (Fra) MUT 41.53 132. Christian Henn (Ger) TEL 42.33 133. Claude Lamour (Fra) MUT 42.37 134. Arturas Kasputis (Lit) CSO 42.41 135. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) MAG 43.02 136. Gerrit De Vries (Ned) PLT 43.08 137. Frederic Guesdon (Fra) FDJ 43.10 138. Gilles Maignan (Fra) MUT 43.24 139. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM 43.36 140. Jens Heppner (Ger) TEL 43.40 141. Jesper Skibby (Dan) TVM 44.11 142. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) BAN 44.14 143. Laurent Genty (Fra) BIG 44.31 144. Flavio Vanzella (Ita) FDJ 44.32 145. Fabio Baldato (Ita) MAG 44.32 146. Marcelino Garcia (Spa) ONC 44.42 147. Stephane Cueff (Fra) MUT 45.16 148. Rolf Jaermann (Swi) CSO 45.18 149. Dario Frigo (Ita) SAE 45.26 150. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) PLT 45.26 151. Lauri Aus (Est) CSO 45.33 152. Marco Saligari (Ita) CSO 45.43 153. Philipp Buschor (Swi) SAE 45.56 154. Vitali Kokorine (Rus) ROS 46.06 155. Rossano Brasi (Ita) PLT 46.09 156. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM 47.02 157. Pascal Derame (Fra) USP 47.25 158. Cyril Saugrain (Fra) COF 48.00 159. Andrea Brognara (Ita) BAT 48.34 160. Jean-Frangois Anti (Fra) MUT 48.37 161. Jo Planckaert (Bel) LOT 49.14 162. Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) BIG 49.59 163. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) PLT 50.00 164. Francesco Frattini (Ita) BAT 50.45 165. Luca Scinto (Ita) MAG 51.48 166. Viatcheslav Djavanian (Rus) ROS 52.02 167. Carlo Finco (Ita) MAG 54.01 168. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM 54.17 169. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) MAG 54.28 170. Marc Wauters (Bel) LOT 54.31 171. Eros Poli (Ita) GAN 55.04 172. Michele Bartoli (Ita) MAG 57.24 173. Laurent Pillon (Fra) MUT 57.58 174. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) ROS 1.04.37 175. Luca Colombo (Ita) BAT 1.06.47 176. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) COF 1.13.31 177. Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) SAE 1.17.44 178. Gianluca Pierobon (Ita) BAT 1.22.51 179. Ludovic Auger (Fra) BIG 1.26.42
Brochard, already holder of the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey going into the 182-km ninth stage from Pau, streaked home first on the descent into Loudenvielle deep in the Pyrenees.
It was the first ever Tour stage victory for the Frenchman after he narrowly failed to win a third of the day's four climbs, having taken the first two including the 2,114-metre Tourmalet peak.
Italian Marco Pantani, who finished third in the same time as Virenque and last year's runner-up Jan Ullrich, 14 seconds behind Brochard, snatched the final climb to the 1,580-metre Val Louron peak.
``Unfortunately, I got cramp,'' Brochard said after suddenly falling behind the small leading trio. ``But I decided to catch the group again.''
Brochard sped past the trio to reclaim the lead on the long descent into Loudenvielle, leaving Virenque and Ullrich to continue with a fascinating battle of cat and mouse.
Ullrich, looking strong enough to succeed his Telekom team leader Bjarne Riis as Tour winner this year, is now second overall just 13 seconds behind Frenchman Cedric Vasseur.
Vasseur, who fought throughout the day to keep in touch with the leaders, managed to hang on to the yellow jersey despite coming in 2:57 minutes behind Brochard. But he will almost certainly lose it on Tuesday's even tougher 10th stage.
Spaniard Abraham Olano, one of the pre-race favourites, struggled early in the day but recovered strongly to finish the stage 1:07 behind and climb to third overall 1:14 adrift.
Riis and Virenque are fourth and fifth respectively with equal times 1:43 behind.
But Frenchmen Laurent Jalabert, the world number one, lost a lot of ground and is nearly six minutes behind, while Luc Leblanc, a former world champion, is out of the picture more than 36 minutes adrift.
Briton Chris Boardman, third at the start of the day, fell early in the stage and finally came in nearly 28 minutes adrift. He twisted his neck and went to hospital for X-rays.
Virenque, up front all day with Brochard, staged several attacks in the final 25 kms but each time Ullrich was equal to him and stuck with the Frenchman.
The young German did not, however, try to break away on his own even when Brochard sped back into the lead on the descent, remaining in Virenque's slipstream.
Both Ullrich and Riis denied there were differences in the Telekom team over whether the German was free to leave the Dane to fend for himself.
``Nothing's changed. When Virenque attacked I went after him and thought Riis would come up,'' Ullrich said.
Riis said: ``It's quite normal for me to have difficulties on the first stage in the mountains. I had problems on the last climb when Virenque attacked. I had to let him go but Ullrich chased him.
``The team was strong in the climbs. We had the race under control. Ullrich had a superb day and if he takes the overall lead then that means we have the (yellow) jersey. The tour's long, it's only the first day in the mountains.''
The mountains will continue to separate the men from the boys in the 252.5-km 10th stage on Tuesday which includes the 2,407-metre Port d'Envalira peak, the highest of the Tour, and an uphill finish in Andorra.
But to do this he will have to overcome what appears to be a formidable challenge from Germany's Jan Ullrich, a surprise second in his first Tour in 1996 who stamped his authority on the first mountain stage on Monday.
Ullrich did not chase Virenque's compatriot and Festina team mate Laurent Brochard, the ninth stage winner, on the fast final descent into Loudenvielle in the Pyrenees, looking simply to keep in touch with Virenque.
The pair and Italian Marco Pantani all finished 14 seconds behind Brochard, but Ullrich is now second overall only 13 seconds behind Frenchman Cedric Vasseur, whose grip on the yellow jersey is tenuous.
Virenque is 1:43 behind, along with Ullrich's Telekom team leader Bjarne Riis, the defending champion, while third-placed Spaniard Abraham Olano is 1:14 behind.
But rather than Olano looking capable of stepping into the shoes of his former great Banesto team leader Miguel Indurain, five times Tour winner, it is Ullrich who shows all the signs of a future great.
In fact, only the Telekom team's Belgian manager Walter Godefroot appears to stand between Ullrich and the freedom to seek his own destiny instead of backing up Riis.
The 23-year-old Berliner showed exemplary loyalty on Monday as he worked for Riis throughout the first of a string of tough mountain stages set to reveal this year's likely winner.
Only on the last ascent of the day at Val Louron, when Virenque attacked, did Ullrich break away with the Frenchman in a bid to keep him in check, awaiting the arrival of Riis.
Riis, however, struggled to keep up, although he said afterwards he was not concerned as it was early days.
Ullrich never looked in trouble, not even on that final ascent when he kept up with the two best climbers, Virenque and Pantani.
``When Virenque attacked I went after him and thought Riis would come up,'' Ullrich said.
The ease with which he stayed the pace recalled a memorable and very similar stage at the same Val Louron peak in 1991 when Indurain proved equal to Claudio Chiapucci when the great Italian climber attacked.
Indurain went on to achieve the first of his five successive Tour de France victories.
``Jan rode very strongly today. He had a superb day. He was stronger than everyone,'' Riis said.
But the Dane does not appear ready to relinquish his status, saying: ``The team was strong in the climbs. We had the race under control...
``If (Ullrich) takes the overall lead then that means we have the (yellow) jersey. We will win the Tour together.
``But I remain the team leader,'' he added.
``If it had been any other race I would be going home. I have stressed the back of my neck and it's difficult to turn my head.
Otherwise I don't forsee any problems,'' said Boardman, who dropped from third to 72nd overall as a result of his crash in the Pyrenees.