Alexandre Vinokourov might not be the most exciting rider off the bike, but it’s what he does on the bike that’s so enthralling.

Attacking is what the shy, soft-spoken man from Kazakhstan does best, not giving pithy quotes to the European cycling hacks that must crane their necks to hear what he has to say.

The T-Mobile rider let his actions speak louder than his mumbled words in Thursday’s 182km fourth stage of the Dauphiné Libéré when he followed an attack from Belgian climbing phenom Wim Van Huffel (Davitamon-Lotto) to claim victory on the fearsome slopes of Mont Ventoux.

Leipheimer keeps the jersey

Photo: Graham Watson

“I made the attack to try to win the stage,” said Vino, who shot away from José Gomez Marchante (Saunier Duval) with 400 meters to go. “This victory is important for me. I am here to get ready for the Tour de France, so the signals are good that things are on the right way.”

Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) held off a flurry of attacks on the fearsome 21.5km climb up the Géant de Provence to retain the race leader’s jersey that was an important – and very big – hurdle as he inched closer to overall victory.

“It’s another day in the yellow jersey, so I’m happy,” said Leipheimer, who finished seventh at 46 seconds back. “I didn’t come to the Dauphiné with the objective of winning, so what we will do now is take it day-to-day. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to win this race.”

Lance Armstrong, meanwhile, came up short in his bid to win atop Mont Ventoux in what will be his last shot at cycling’s most famous mountain. The six-time Tour champion struggled on the lower flanks, but rebounded nicely to lead a four-man group up the final approaches.

He shot ahead of Leipheimer to take fourth, 37 seconds short of victory on the mountain where he’s never won.

Vino takes his scalp
The 154 remaining riders in the eight-day Dauphiné woke up to sunny skies, but a strong mistral blowing down the Rhone Valley. Last year’s Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Bäckstedt (Liquigas-Bianchi) didn’t start in order to try to recover before the Tour de France while three more wouldn’t finish the day, including Luca Paolini (QuickStep).

The tailwind pushed the peloton out of Tournon-sur-Rhone at nearly 60kph in the opening kilometers, making for a very fast start of the stage.

It didn’t take long before riders went looking for a head start on the day’s suffering. With less than 20km into the stage, seven riders chugged away, including: Nivolas Vogondy (Crédit Agricole), Daniel Becke (Illes Balears), Jose Guttierez (Phonak), Jorg Jaksche (Liberty Seguros), Devis Miorin (Liquigas), Constantino Zaballa (Saunier Duval) and Elia Rigotto (Domina Vacanze).

The first hour averaged 55kph while the seven escapees opened a maximum lead of 4:30 minutes with 35km to go, but most everyone knew that the break wasn’t going to get too far away heading up the Ventoux.

Jakshe was among the strongest in the break

Photo: Graham Watson

After turning into the forest at Sainte-Colombe and the first brutally steep ramps, the peloton quickly split apart. Some of the bigger names to quickly lose contact were last year’s Tour runner-up Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile), two-time Vuelta champion Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros) and the previous day’s stage-winner Santiago Botero (Phonak).

Of the original escapees, only Jaksche and Guttierez managed to stay with the elite group that swept up the remnants of the break on the lower slopes of the Ventoux. The group included Leipheimer, Armstrong, Vinokourov, Floyd Landis and Oscar Pereiro from Phonak, along with Andriy Kashechkin (Crédit Agricole), Wim Van Huffel (Davitamon-Lotto), Denis Menchov (Rabobank), Nicolas Firsch (Saunier Duval), Jose Gomez Marchante (Saunier Duval), Manuel Beltran (Discovery Channel), Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel), David Moncoutie (Cofidis) and David Arroyo (Illes Balears).

Leipheimer marked some early moves but it wasn’t until 10km to go that Van Huffel - a 26-year-old who made quite an impression in this year's Giro d’Italia- played his hand, jumping out of the group and building a nice advantage for his effort.

“It’s a mountain like any mountain, but to do this here on such a legendary place is special,” said Van Huffel, who hung on to finish third. “When I said Lance was in trouble, I immediately went and they told me there was wind on top and I wanted to get as much as time as possible.”

Van Huffel on the go

Photo: Graham Watson

But this was going to be Vinokourov’s day and the T-Mobile man shot out of the chase group with 5km to go with Gomez Marchante doing his best to to hang on.

“Vino' attacked and I almost kept his wheel, but I knew better than to go too deep at altitude,” said Leipheimer, who rode steadily without panicking. “I now see Vino' as the favorite to win, but we’ll see how the race unfolds.”

The two caught Van Huffel with 3km to go and then Vinokourov shot off alone with 400 meters to go to claim another big win to go along with his Liege-Bastogne-Liege victory in April.

“To win at Mont Ventoux is very special for me,” he said. “The most important thing for me is that the form is there ahead of the Tour. We will ride the Tour with myself, Andreas and Jan Ullrich as the leaders. I will do as I always do – attack.”

Levi stays in yellow
Leipheimer, meanwhile, found some help in the form of Armstrong, Landis and Kashechkin. The Texan took over in the final kilometers, leading the group up the painful final turns to the finish line, revealing his form is coming along just in time for the Tour.

Armstrong shot away in the final meters, taking some time out of Leipheimer, but it wasn’t enough to take away the jersey.

“I found some help with Floyd and Lance, but the last 500 meters were very hard. Lance was setting a hard pace and my legs just buckled,” Leipheimer said.

Like most, Leipheimer came to the Dauphiné to test his form ahead of next month’s July, but now he’s poised to take the overall victory. Three hard stages remain, including Saturday’s monster climbing stage through the heart of the French Alps.

“This race is like a mini-Tour de France,” Leipheimer continued. “This is the hardest week-long race in Europe, but the most important thing is I know that my form is good ahead of the Tour.”

Leipheimer says it’s “day-by-day,” a motto that’s served him well so far. Friday’s 219km roller coaster fifth stage hits six rated climbs, but none harder than two Category 2 climbs midway through the course from Vaison-la-Romaine to Grenoble.

One mountain he won't claim
For all the successes of his prolific cycling career, Lance Armstrong will retire in July without having won atop Mont Ventoux.

The six-time Tour champion wasn’t able to go with the strongest on the lower flanks of the climb, especially when Van Huffel took his chance at the surprise attack early on. Armstrong showed his experience and his rising form by clawing back, but his hopes of winning Ventoux fell 37 seconds short.

“It’s a regret, but not a big regret,” said a relaxed Armstrong from the team car after the stage. “Today I wasn’t good enough to win. If you want to win, you have to attack and I was only good enough to react to the others. I decided to go at my own tempo when the others attacked. I felt stronger at the finish, but it just didn’t happen.”

Armstrong has come close before at Ventoux, with his best chance coming in the 2000 Tour when he let Marco Pantani slip away at the finish to take the stage. Richard Virenque took the cake in the 2002 Tour and in last year's edition of the Dauphiné, Armstrong lost more than two minutes to Spanish rider Iban Mayo in a climbing time trial.

“I actually feel better here than I did a year ago, so that’s more important,” Armstrong said. “I’m not here to fight for the overall. I have won this race before, now it’s time for others.”

Armstrong said his main goal during the Dauphiné was to test his form during Wednesday’s individual time trial and Thursday’s grueling climb to Ventoux. While he didn’t win either, he’s confident about his form going into next month's Tour.

FULLRESULTSStage results
1. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), T-Mobile
2. Gomez Marchante (Sp), Saunier Duval, at 0:06
3. Wim Van Huffel (B), Davitamon-Lotto, at 0:16
4. Lance Armstrong (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:37
5. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, at 0:41
6. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz), Credit Agricole, at 0:43
7. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Gerolsteiner, at 0:46
8. Inigo Landaluze (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 1:31
9. Nicolas Fritsch (F), Saunier Duval, at 1:36
10. David Moncoutie (F), Cofidis, at 1:45
Overall
1. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Gerolsteiner
2. Lance Armstrong (USA), Discovery Channel, 0:21
3. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), T-Mobile, 0:26
4. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 0:47
5. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz), Credit Agricole, 2:00
6. Santiago Botero (Col), Phonak, 2:25
7. Jose Gomez Marchante (Sp), Saunier Duval, 2:53
8. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Fassa Bortolo, 3:07
9. Oscar Pereiro (Sp), Phonak, 3:16
10. David Moncoutie (F), Cofidis, 3:45

FULLRESULTS