Austrian cyclist Georg Totschnig has won the 14th stage of the Tour de France, but six-time champion Lance Armstrong of the United States has strengthened his overall lead.
Totschnig finished the 220.5-kilometer stage from Agde to Ax-3 Domaines in five hours, 43 minutes, 43 seconds. Armstrong was second in the mountainous stage, finishing 56 seconds behind the Austrian. Ivan Basso of Italy was third, two seconds behind Armstrong.
The American increased his lead over Mickael Rasmussen of Denmark to one minute, 41 seconds. Basso is third overall, two minutes, 46 seconds behind Armstrong.
Sunday's 15th stage promises to test the cyclists to the extreme. The 205.5-kilometer ride in the Pyrenees includes four category one climbs and one category two that adds up to more than 38-kilometers of climbing and an average gradient of nearly -percent. The race ends in Paris July 24th.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
