Flying Dutchman wins stage

THE last time Michael Boogerd won a stage in the Tour de France, it was the last day Lance Armstrong would ride in the Tour before being diagnosed with cancer.

In 1996 Boogerd took stage six at Aix-les-Bains and Armstrong, unknowingly already carrying 11 malignant cancers in his body, retired during the stage with flu and worried about the upcoming Olympics.

But six years is a long time in cycling, and the unhappy, ill and distracted Armstrong of then is a far cry from the sleek athlete who now looks every inch a reigning champion of the world's toughest cycle race.