Lance over the hill in Tour chase

THE final mountain stage of the 2005 Tour de France passed comfortably yesterday for Lance Armstrong who, barring injury or mishap, will accept his seventh consecutive title in Paris on Sunday.

The 180.5-kilometre stage 16 from Mourenx-Pau took the peloton over the formidable Col d’Aubisque, which climbs 16.5km at an average gradient of 7%, and represented the last chance for the American’s rivals to mount a serious challenge.

However, a few quixotic charges by T-Mobile’s Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov aside, Armstrong and his Discovery team-mates exerted complete control over a timid peloton.