Cycling: Unputdownable diary of a duel

Alasdair Fotheringham charts the thrills and spills of a gripping contest

Paris prologue: Fourth in the 6.5km prologue, Jan Ullrich's five-second advantage over Lance Armstrong is minimal, but a good omen for the German nonetheless. "I should have come in and checked the circuit, that was a mistake," admitted Armstrong, whose seventh place was his worst prologue performance since 1999.

Stage one (Montgeron to Meaux): Armstrong is involved in the Tour's biggest pile-up in nine years, crashing for the second time in less than a month. The American's fall leaves him with a painful lower back.

Stage four: Team time-trial (Joinville to Saint Dizier): Armstrong's US Postal team score their first-ever success, with team-mate Victor Hugo Peña taking the yellow jersey. Ullrich's team, Bianchi, whose mechanics finished preparing the bikes as late as 4am, lose 43 seconds, finishing third.

Stage five (Troyes to Nevers): Ullrich comes close to abandoning with gastroenteritis. But, as Ullrich put it, "my directeur sportif Rudy Pevenage told me I had to continue to matter what. So I did."

Stage eight (Sallanches-L'Alpe d'Huez): Ullrich's dicky stomach leaves him reeling on L'Alpe d'Huez's 21 hairpins. He loses 1min 23sec to Armstrong, who takes an eight-second time bonus and moves into the maillot jaune. Clearly suffering, Armstrong says prophetically: "My sensations aren't good, but at least Ullrich got dropped."

Stage nine (Bourg D'Oisans to Gap): Armstrong avoids major rival Joseba Beloki's crash by millimetres, but in the process is forced to make a 100-metre excursion across a field and then leap across a ditch to rejoin the favourites.

Rest day (Narbonne): Armstrong receives a visit from his family. A trial separation with his wife, Kristin, is said to have made it much harder for him to focus on his training. Ullrich's girlfriend, Gaby, who gave birth to their first child four days before the Tour, does not travel to western France. "Hearing the baby gurgling on the phone is all I need to keep my morale up," Ullrich explains.

Stage 12 (Gaillac to Cap Decouverte) individual time trial: Armstrong suffers his first major defeat in the Tour in five years, cracking badly in the heat, and losing 1min 36sec to Ullrich in the 47km time trial. "I've maybe suffered more, but I've never been so dehydrated in my life," confesses Armstrong, who now leads Ullrich by just 34 seconds.

Stage 13 (Toulouse to Domaines): Ullrich charges off in the final kilometres of the Tour's second mountain- top finish, gaining seven seconds on the American. Thanks to an additional 12- second time bonus, he is now just 15 away from overtaking Armstrong. "We have to admit Jan is now the big favourite for Paris," Rudy Pevenage argues. "I'm surprised he's looking so weak," Ullrich adds. "Bad day," Armstrong replies.

Stage 14 (Saint Girons to Loudenvielle): Stalemate between the two, who are forced into an uneasy alliance after Alexandre Vinokourov, already a stage winner, charges up the road on the final climb. Ullrich leads the Texan on the ascent, then when the road plummets down into Loudenvielle, it's Armstrong who takes over. Both the German and American lose 40 seconds to Vinokourov, but the Kazakh's disastrous performance the next day ruins his chances. For the first time, Armstrong claims that his sensations on the bike "are getting better".

Stage 15 (Bagneres-de-Bigorre to Luz Ardiden): Armstrong returns to full strength with a devastating mountain ride, taking a 40-second advantage over Ullrich, not to mention his 16th Tour stage win. Prior to that, though, the American had been briefly dropped by Ullrich on the Tourmalet climb, then crashed, then landed heavily on the bike's top tube when his right foot slipped from the pedal. Armstrong nonetheless tears up the road for a powerful victory. "This was a great day," Armstrong says, "because all the problems finally stopped."

Stage 16 (Pau to Bayonne): On the last day in the Pyrenees, neither Ullrich nor Armstrong make a move.

Stage 18 (Bordeaux to Saint-Maixent-L'Ecole): Ullrich sneaks off the front in an intermediate sprint for a two-second bonus, cutting Armstrong's lead to 65 seconds. "This race won't be won by two seconds," Armstrong snarls afterwards.