Armstrong seizes Tour
lead in mountains

Defending champion Lance Armstrong seized the overall lead in the Tour de France when he outclassed his rivals to win the first mountain stage over 158 kilometres from Pau to La Mongie on Thursday.

Helped by a fantastic effort from his U.S. Postal team mates, the three times Tour champion dropped his opponents one by one in the first big climbs of the Pyrenees to prove that he is once again the one and only boss in the bunch.

The American surged in the last 200 metres to beat Spaniard Joseba Beloki, who took second place seven seconds behind and looks like Armstrong's only rival for the rest of the Tour.

Armstrong's team mate Roberto Heras of Spain, who led his leader towards an impressive 13th stage victory in the ski resort of La Mongie, was third.

Overall, Armstrong leads Beloki by one minute 12 seconds with Igor Gonzalez Galdeano, who held the yellow jersey at the start of the stage, third, 1:48 behind.

For Armstrong, who had won the first mountain stage in each of his three previous Tour victories, the last climb to La Mongie, halfway up the Tourmalet pass, was almost business as usual.

But his team mates, who led the chase throughout behind early breakaways, did a fantastic job in an impressive final show of strength.

BLUE TRAIN

American George Hincapie was the first car in the so-called U.S. Postal 'blue train' and he led the main group in the first kilometres of the La Mongie climb.

Then Spaniard Jose Luis Rubiera took over and the pace went up as yellow jersey holder Gonzalez Galdeano lost ground once and for all.

Former Tour of Spain winner Heras, Armstrong's most precious aide, completed the work, dropping the Texan's rivals except Beloki, the ONCE team leader.

Before the big final fight for the line, Frenchman Laurent Jalabert celebrated the announcement of his imminent retirement from the sport with a long solitary breakaway.

Crowned king of the mountains last year thanks to a similar move in the Pyrenees, Jalabert attacked on the first super category climb of the race this year, the Aubisque pass.

At best, the Frenchman held a 3:35 lead over the chasing group, which included all the leading favourites for overall Tour victory.

The CSC-Tiscali team leader was caught five kilometres from the finish, but the points scored from reaching the Aubisque summit in the lead could help him claim back the best climber's polka-dot jersey.

Friday's 11th stage takes the bunch over 199.5 kms from Lannemezan to the Plateau de Beille for another high altitude finish.