Cycling: Pereiro wins Tour stage, Armstrong still leads

PAU, France - Spanish cyclist Oscar Pereiro avenged his bitter disappointment in the previous stage when he won the 180.5km 16th stage of the Tour de France between Mourenx and Pau today.

Beaten on the line by American George Hincapie on Sunday, the Phonak rider belonged to a group of four riders who joined forces in the long descent from the last big climbs in the Pyrenees.

This time, there was no denying a well-deserved victory for a Spanish climber who had been by far the most active rider all day, especially on the last two big climbs of this Tour, Marie Blanque and Aubisque.

Pereiro, winner of the Classic of the Alps last year, outsprinted compatriot Xabier Zandio and Italian Eddy Mazzoleni at the finish to give his team their first win in this Tour after two second places.

Race leader Lance Armstrong, bidding for an unprecedented seventh Tour victory, came home safely in the bunch.

"I attacked every day, on every climb and this is an important day for me," Pereiro said.

"George is a great friend but he had stayed behind all day on Sunday. It was still a great honour to finish second behind such a great rider," he added.

Australian Cadel Evans, in the lead since the first breakaway of the day, finished fourth and jumped to seventh in the provisional overall standings, nine minutes 29 seconds behind Armstrong.

The Texan, taunted but not seriously worried all day, retained his yellow jersey with a 2min 46min lead over Italian Ivan Basso, with Dane Michael Rasmussen, 3min 09sec behind.

The last two serious mountain climbs of the Tour were also the last opportunities for some of the pre-Tour favourites to try and salvage some pride.

Pereiro and fellow-Spaniard Roberto Heras, Kazakhs Alexander Vinokourov and Andrey Kashechkin, German Andreas Kloeden, second last year, and American Bobby Julich attacked in turn in the Marie Blanque and Aubisque passes.

But none of the day's moves hurt Armstrong, who stayed with his main rivals, Basso, Germany's Jan Ullrich and Rasmussen, waiting for the long descent to the finish to tame most of the breakaways.

"It was one of my best days. I felt great, I don't know why. George was again sensational in the climbs. He helped me a lot," the Texan said.

The attacks did finish off some of the minor riders, who were scattered helplessly all along the slopes.

In the Marie Blanque climb, Kashechkin's hopes were ruined when he was nearly knocked off his bike by a spectator.

The day was also an emotional one for Australian riders, who were mourning the death of one of their country's women cyclists, Amy Gillett, in a traffic accident during training in Germany on yesterday.

Tomorrow will be the longest day on the Tour this year with a 239.5km flat stage from Pau to Revel.

At the end of the stage, Armstrong should receive his 79th yellow jersey, equalling five-times Tour winner Bernard Hinault, the last Frenchman to have won the Tour, 20 years ago.

Stage 16 results:

1. Oscar Pereiro (Spain / Phonak)
4hrs 38min 40sec
2. Xavier Zandio (Spain / Illes Balears) same time
3. Eddy Mazzoleni (Italy / Lampre - Caffita)
4. Cadel Evans (Australia / Davitamon - Lotto)
5. Philippe Gilbert (Belgium / Francaise des Jeux) 2:25
6. Anthony Geslin (France / Bouygues Telecom)
7. Joerg Ludewig (Germany / Domina Vacanze)
8. Juan Antonio Flecha (Spain / Fassa Bortolo)
9. Ludovic Turpin (France / AG2R)
10. Cedric Vasseur (France / Cofidis)
11. Marcos Serrano (Spain / Liberty Seguros)
2:28
12. Jerome Pineau (France / Bouygues Telecom)
2:32
13. Franco Pellizotti (Italy / Liquigas)
3:24
14. Laurent Brochard (France / Bouygues Telecom)
15. Pierrick Fedrigo (France / Bouygues Telecom)
16. Sylvain Chavanel (France / Cofidis)
17. Fabian Wegmann (Germany / Gerolsteiner)
18. Lorenzo Bernucci (Italy / Fassa Bortolo)
19. Salvatore Commesso (Italy / Lampre - Caffita)
20. Maxim Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan / Domina Vacanze)
21. Christophe Moreau (France / Credit Agricole)
22. David Canada (Spain / Saunier Duval)
23. Stephane Goubert (France / AG2R)
24. Bobby Julich (United States / Team CSC)
25. Georg Totschnig (Austria / Gerolsteiner)
26. Alexandre Moos (Switzerland / Phonak)
27. Jan Ullrich (Germany / T-Mobile)
28. George Hincapie (United States / Discovery Channel)
29. Levi Leipheimer (United States / Gerolsteiner)
30. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukraine / Discovery Channel)

- REUTERS