Among Mont Ventoux's many nicknames is La Montagne Chauve (the bald mountain) and yesterday, fittingly, it was conquered by the Tour's bald man, Marco Pantani, who has made a shaven scalp one of his trademarks. His bronzed bonce glistened with sweat, the veins above his skinny neck pulsated with the effort, and the 1998 Tour winner rode what was perhaps the most courageous race of his career.

Yet the little Italian was not the strongest man on the mountain. Lance Armstrong, as outrageously dominant as he was on Monday at the Hautacam finish, might as well have waved him across the line with a regal hand for all the effort he made to win.

But courage and bloody-minded persistence made Pantani a worthy addition to those who have conquered this fearsome summit, other great climbers such as Charly Gaul and Julio Jimenez, nonpareils such as Eddy Merckx and Raymond Poulidor.

In Mythologies, the writer Roland Barthes described the 6,000-foot summit as "a god of evil to whom sacrifice must be made".

Pantani's offering was painful to watch, and it will be seen in the cycling world as a form of atonement for what he calls his "vicissitudes": the past year's drug scandals and black depression. It remains to be seen, though, whether this view will be taken by the Italian judge who will try him in October on charges of sporting fraud - falsifying results by the use of banned drugs.

This was, in any event, an epic fightback. Three times Pantani could not hold the pace on the steep initial ramps, as Armstrong's teammate Kevin Livingston set a searing rhythm through a rock cutting lined with cedar and fir trees. Three times he fought grimly back to the tail of the little group, finally sprinting up to the leaders as they took the steep hairpin at Chalet Renard, four miles from the top.

Then, as the road kicked up steeply into the rocky wasteland leading to the summit, the little man in the Mercatone Uno pink attacked. It took four attempts before there was daylight behind him. Inevitably, Armstrong was the only one able to get on terms, conscious that the only rider he now fears, Jan Ullrich, was floundering.

Inevitably, the American closed the gap with almost contemptuous ease. The chilly wind was only blowing with half the ferocity of Wednesday, when 80 m.p.h. was registered, but the gusts still made standing up difficult.

With the gale in their faces the pair slogged past the pile of tyres, feeding bottles, photographs and saddles left by fans at the memorial to Tommy Simpson, who paid the ultimate price for taking on the Ventoux 33 years before to the day.

It was a muted finish. The inflatable banners and podium that mark the finish line had been left at the bottom - they would have been blown into oblivion - and Armstrong simply let Pantani ride across a white line on the tarmac for the seventh Tour stage win of his career.

As the American saw it, the bargain was straightforward: Pantani did his share of the pace-making and he himself increased his lead over Ullrich. "Victory in Paris is what counts," he said simply.

That is now a step closer: Armstrong leads Ullrich, who kept in contact until two miles from the top, by four minutes and 55 seconds. Given that no one is climbing more strongly than the Texan, this is a solid lead with two alpine stages over the weekend.

No one quit on the mountain but Marcel Wust, the Vitre stage winner, did not take the start because of illness and eight stopped before the first slopes. They included Tom Steels, so imperious in the first two stage finishes but now stricken with stomach trouble.

David Millar, was in an early pile-up and climbed painfully up with a livid gash in his neck, but is more concerned about a banged knee. Thus the malignant mountain again took its toll of blood, sweat and pain. At least today is flat. Well, flattish.