Lance Armstrong took control of the Tour de France on Sunday after a thrilling eighth stage won in spectacular style by exciting young Basque Iban Mayo.

Armstrong, who is bidding for a fifth straight yellow jersey, now has a 40sec lead over his main rival, 29-year-old ONCE rider Joseba Beloki, ahead of Monday's final alpine stage.

More significantly, the 31-year-old American took over a minute from 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich, who is still in eighth place overall at 2:10 after finishing at 3:36 behind Mayo.

Mayo made a decisive move a third of the way up the 14.1 km climb towards the Alpe's summit finish, the fifth climb of the day and the second to be rated 'hors categorie' after the legendary Galibier.

After attacking, the 25-year-old Euskaltel rider held a steady pace as Armstrong sat at the back controlling the sporadic bursts of Beloki and former team-mate Tyler Hamilton.

And after Mayo had savoured his win on the climb that Armstrong won in dramatic style ahead of Ullrich in 2001, the American admitted it had been an eventful day.

"I could tell I wasn't on a great day on the Galibier. And when that happens you just have to make the decision to ride a conservative race," Armstrong said as he explained why there was no repeat of his bluffing tactics on Ullrich which preceded his emphatic win two years ago.

"Buttt when you've got the experience to know that it's not a great day, you don't even make a show.

"So I decided just to let Mayo go and limit my losses and cover Beloki because he's the closest in the (general) classification.

"It important to know that I put some distance between myself and Jan Ullrich. That's good news, although it's early in the race yet."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP