LE MONT VENTOUX, France, July 25, 2009 (AFP) – Olympic pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins came up short in his bid for an historic podium place for Britain when he finished the 20th stage behind Lance Armstrong on Saturday.

The Garmin rider is now set to finish the race fourth overall at 6min 01sec behind Spaniard Alberto Contador, Armstrong’s teammate at Astana, who is virtually assured of his second crown on Sunday.

The 21st and final stage to Paris is usually dominated by the sprinters and riders battling for the race’s green jersey.

Unless Wiggins decides to ignore racing etiquette and attack Armstrong, he has no chance of overcoming the 37sec deficit he has to the American, who is third overall at 5:24.

On the penultimate stage Wiggins hung on valiantly as Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck launced a series of attacks to try and shake off Contador on the 21.1km climb to the summit of the legendary Mont Ventoux.

However the Englishman, who has won three track pursuit gold medals at the Olympics for Britain, struggled when Schleck launched his final attack just over 2km from the finish line.

Armstrong, a seven-time champion, was able to follow and finished in fifth place at 41sec behind stage winner Juan Manuel Garate while Wiggins could only finish in 10th place at 1:03 behind the Spaniard.

Wiggins’ fourth place however will be a huge boost, both to his Garmin team and himself.

Known globally in the sport for being a track pursuit specialist, he may now be expected to challenge more often in the major three-week Tours of Italy, France and Spain.

“This is no one-off,” his team manager Matt White declared on Friday. “Bradley will be back.”

If he holds on to fourth place on Sunday Wiggins will equal Scot Robert Millar’s feat for the best ever finish for a British rider on the Tour de France.

In 1984 Millar became Britain’s highest ever finisher in a major Tour when he finished fourth and claimed the climber’s main prize of the polka dot jersey.