Saint-Lary-Soulan, France ? Lance Armstrong kept his overall lead and teammate George Hincapie won the 15th stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, the hardest day of climbing in the Pyrenees.

The two friends beamed as they hugged each other after Armstrong finished more than five minutes behind his teammate. The six-time champion gave a thumbs-up in reaction to the first stage win by one of his teammates since 1999.

“This is a dream for me,” said the 32-year-old Hincapie, the eighth U.S. rider to ever win an individual Tour stage.

Armstrong, who finished seventh, called it a “perfect day.”

“He is my biggest guy, my biggest friend on the team,” the Texan said of Hincapie, the only teammate to be with Armstrong for all of his Tour victories. They have known each other since they were teenagers.

“We’ve been riding together since we were 17,” Armstrong said. “The guy is one of the best riders in cycling. Period. I’m so proud of him.

“To win a stage in the Tour de France is special, but to win a stage like this, which is arguably the hardest stage of the Tour is a big, big accomplishment. He deserves it,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong finished with Italian Ivan Basso, who jumped to second in the overall standings, but still trails the American by 2 minutes and 46 seconds. Mickael Rasmussen of Denmark fell back to third overall, now 3:09 behind Armstrong.

Jan Ullrich of Germany struggled on the final climb and now trails Armstrong by 5:58.

Armstrong is in good position to collect his seventh consecutive victory when the Tour ends and he retires July 24. Armstrong remained cautions, however. He said his lead was “more secure” but that hard racing was ahead in the last week of the three-week race.

“You never know, you go to a village and take a turn too fast and break your collarbone – Tour de France over. So you have to be realistic,” he said. “We have a week to go, and a lot of things can get in the way.”

George Hincapie pedals up the Peyresourde pass during the 15th stage of the Tour de France. Hincapie won the stage Sunday between Lezat-sur-Leze and Saint-Lary-Soulan, France.

Crowds are among the potential risks. Fans ran dangerously alongside the riders during Sunday’s climbs. One fan was knocked down by a motorbike carrying a television cameraman who was filming the race. There was no immediate word on whether the fan was injured.

Hincapie was part of a group of riders that broke away from the main pack early in the sun-baked 127.7-mile stage from Lezat-sur-Leze to the ski station of Saint-Lary Soulan.

Hincapie and Oscar Pereiro fought for the victory alone on the final climb. The tall, genial New Yorker beat the Spaniard with a sprint finish, shaking his head in disbelief as he crossed the line high in the mountains.

Hincapie said he went with the breakaway group thinking that he would slow down later in the stage and wait for Armstrong to help him up the day’s last two climbs.

But the breakaway group built up a lead of more than 18 minutes on Armstrong’s following pack. At that point, Armstrong’s team manager gave Hincapie the go-ahead to keep on riding, but this time for himself.

“I just started thinking about the win,” Hincapie said. “For it to work out is just a dream come true.”