Bruyneel gives brownie points to Lance

Discovery Channel team director Johan Bruyneel would certainly have liked to have someone like Yaroslav Popovych at Armstrong's side going into the final climb, but T-Mobile's aggressive tactics on the Port de Pailhères prevented that from happening. But Bruyneel was happy with the way Armstrong rode under pressure, as he told Belgian TV1 post-stage.

"Lance rode very intelligently and was very strong. The aim of T-Mobile was to break our team, and that worked. But Lance was very strong today and rode the perfect race. Rasmussen is perhaps eliminated now, yes."

But Bruyneel, cautious as always, added, "The Tour is over in Paris."