Spaniard Oscar Pereiro avenged his bitter disappointment in the previous stage when he won the 180.5-km 16th stage of the Tour de France [Images] between Mourenx and Pau on Tuesday.

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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 [Images], 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, 9:29 behind Armstrong.

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

ARMSTRONG'S DAY

But none of the day's moves hurt Armstrong, who stayed with his main rivals, Basso, Germany's [Images] 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 Monday.

Wednesday will be the longest day on the Tour this year with a 239.5 km 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.