Sanjeev.NET

Armstrong Gives Up the Overall Lead in the Tour de France
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 11:05 a.m. ET

MULHOUSE, France (AP) -- Lance Armstrong gave up the overall lead in the Tour de France on Sunday, allowing Germany's Jens Voigt to wear the yellow jersey while the six-time champion prepares to scale the mighty Alps.

Armstrong dropped to third overall, 2 minutes, 18 seconds behind Voigt. The Texan, seeking a seventh straight Tour victory before he retires, had been in front for five days.

Armstrong does not regard Voigt as a main contender in the Tour. Letting the German take the leader's yellow jersey off his shoulders allowed Armstrong to head into the Alps, which start on Tuesday after a rest day on Monday, without worrying about having to defend the lead.

Danish racer Mickael Rasmussen won the ninth stage with a gutsy solo ride. Sunday's 106.3-mile route from Gerardmer and Mulhouse in eastern France took the riders over six climbs, and Rasmussen was first over them all.

Team CSC rider Voigt crossed the line 3:04 seconds behind Rasmussen with French rider Christophe Moreau -- good enough to take the overall race lead from Armstrong.

Armstrong finished in a pack with his main rivals several minutes behind Voigt and Moreau, now 1:50 behind in second.

Because they finished together in a group, the time differences between Armstrong and his main rivals -- Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Alexandre Vinokourov, remained unchanged. Their competition is expected to begin in earnest in the Alps.

''We don't need the yellow jersey,'' Armstrong said at the start of the stage. ''We don't need to keep it in the Alps. We need to have it at the end.''

Armstrong's team did not give chase when Rasmussen sprinted off on the day's first climb, building up a lead that he never gave up. Nor did Armstrong's teammates seek to prevent Voigt from taking the overall lead, although they still pedaled robustly to make sure that he did not get too far ahead -- and to show that they remain strong after they had a disappointing day on Saturday.

Armstrong's pack ''weren't riding that much behind, so it happily worked for me,'' Voigt said.

Armstrong will have plenty of opportunities to gain time on the punishing Alpine climbs, or later in the Pyrenees and in a final time trial race against the clock on the Tour's next-to-last day, before the finish in Paris on July 24.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 10, 2005 at 8:40 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.