Jul 21st, 10.  Lance Armstrong didn't want to complete his final Tour de France sitting safely in the main bunch.  When his chances of winning the Tour crashed he set his hopes on winning a stage.

Armstrong attacks from this break group ©Graham Watson

Unfortunately, what he couldn't show were top sprint skills.

The Texan was unable to compete in the final metres and rolled over the line in 6th place in his breakaway group. Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) won line honours.

"It was a tough day. I paid at the end," said Armstrong after the stage. "I warmed up a little bit before the race and then went at kilometre zero. 200km in the front took it out of me, I had no sprint at the end but I tried."

Armstrong was in the original group which broke free from the peloton on the very first climb.  He worked to create a time gap on the peloton, attacked off the front and chased down other attacks.

It was a fitting finale as Armstrong rode strong over four of the Tour de France's most famous Pyrenean climbs.

"I had this day kind of dog-eared in the book but it was harder than I expected. I felt better as the race went on and toward the middle climbs but it was a tough one. I think it was a tough day for the whole peloton," Armstrong said on teamradioshack.com

Knowing he didn't want to chance his luck in a sprint finish, Armstrong tried hard to reduce the numbers in the break but others were also motivated for the win and on each descent riders who had dropped from the pace were able to catch back up.

Asked about his strategy for the eventual sprint, Armstrong replied, "It's been a while since I sprinted. We knew Fedrigo was the fastest and then Cunego so I tried to catch his wheel but just not quick enough. (As a team) we did what we wanted to do. We tried to win the stage and we maintained the Team GC. Chris Horner had an amazing race."

Armstrong is proud to have shown he still has the spirit of a fighter even if he's not the best rider in this year's Tour de France. And it will be his last Tour de France ...

"Lance Armstrong is over in about four or five days," he said.