July 21, 2005 – Marcos Serrano (Liberty Seguros) took the win today, a 189km stage from Albi to Mende.

Although the stage was not supposed to be overly difficult, the final climb leading to the finish proved to be a kicker for some. Lance Armstrong (Discovery) still leads, after riding away with Lotto’s Cadel Evans, CSC’s Ivan Basso and T-Mobile’s Jan Ullrich. Ullrich fought hard to stay with the Yellow jersey group, and put more time into Rabo’s Michael Rasmussen; the stage is set for a podium battle between the German and the Dane on Saturdays’ TT.

Results
1 Marcos Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth 4.37.36
2 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 0.27
3 Axel Merckx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
4 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d’Epargne 1.08
5 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
6 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1.28
7 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC
8 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1.44
9 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.03
10 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française Des Jeux 2.38

Overall:

1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 77.44.44 (41.664 km/h)
2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 2.46
3 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 3.46
4 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 5.58
5 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d’Epargne 7.08
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 8.12
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 9.49
8 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 10.11
9 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 10.42
10 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 13.15