Dutchman Michael Boogerd of the Rabobank team won the 16th stage of the Tour de France today, a 179.5km ride from Les Deux Alpes to La Plagne.
The 30-year-old Boogerd, who last won a stage on tat Aix-les-Bains in 1996, clocked a time of 5hr 48min 29sec after breaking away from the peloton at the 29km mark.
In what proved a tense finish to the second straight stage in the Alpes - the most difficult with three unclassified climbogerd also held off race leader Lance Armstrong who, with only 3km to race, accelerated and even looked capable of winning.
Armstrong, of the US Postal team, eventually ambled in behind CSC rider Carlos Sastre, a Spaniard who had begun pursuing Boogerd on the way up to the day's last climb. Both riders were at 1min 25sec behind Boogerd.
Despite failing to win the stage Armstrong stole yet more time from his principal rival, Spaniard Joseba Beloki of the ONCE team.
Beloki had to stick with Armstrong throughout the whole day in a group which contained most of the race contenders.
However, when Armstrong left to chase Boogerd, Beloki could not match the Texan's lightning pace.
He eventually came in fourth, at 2:02 and now sits just over five minutes (5:06) behind Armstrong in the overall standings, losing around half a minute on the stage.
After third-placed Lithuanian Raimondas Rumsas, who is at 7:24 behind Armstrong, the remaining riders in the top ten overall are at more than 12 minutes adrift.