Lance Armstrong has dismissed all doubts about his chances of winning a seventh Tour de France in succession in the first high mountain stage in the Alps between Grenoble and Courchevel.

Perfectly launched by his Discovery Channel team in the last climb to the finish, the American again humbled most of the riders who were hoping to challenge him on his final Tour.

In turns, Germans Jan Ullrich and Andreas Kloeden, Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov and Italy's Ivan Basso, all seen as the Texan's leading rivals before the start of the 12th stage, were forced to concede defeat as the American again appeared a class above the rest.

Armstrong took second place in the day's 181km ride, just behind Spain's Alejandro Valverde, with Dane Michael Rasmussen, wearing the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey, finishing third.

Overall, the American leads Rasmussen by 38 seconds and Basso by 2:40.

Armstrong said: "It was the first great day for Discovery Channel. They are a superb team to give the right tempo in the beginning of a climb.

"Today I had good legs and so did three other riders. I could not drop them all."

As for the stage winner, the Texan added: "With Valverde, everybody has seen the future of cycling. He's fast, he's strong, he's intelligent. It's impressive."

The first moment of truth of the Tour confirmed the six-times Tour champion's domination but it also revealed new talent in Valverde, his team-mate Francisco Mancebo and Rasmussen.

The three were the only riders to remain with Armstrong until the finish in the ski resort which hosted the ski jumping events at the 1992 Albertville Olympics.

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