LA GRANDE-MOTTE, France — With the wind whirling and whirring across a vast marshland during the Tour de France on Monday, Lance Armstrong did what he thought was natural. He pedaled to the front of the peloton just before the course turned.For Armstrong, the seven-time Tour winner riding for Astana, it was the right move at the right time.
“I was just trying to stay up front, stay out of trouble, and then it happened,” he said later, after walking off his team bus with a huge smile. “It was good positioning, experience and a little bit of good luck.”
The riders began the day in Marseille and traveled 122 miles (196.5 kilometers) through an area just off the Mediterranean Sea called the Camargue, where ranchers raise famed white horses and fighting bulls. Not long after Armstrong made his way to the front, the head of the peloton turned a corner with about 19 miles, or 30 kilometers, left in the stage.
Clustered in front, the entire Team Columbia-HTC squad accelerated through that curve, sweeping up Armstrong and about 19 others and causing a split in the peloton. Left behind, the rest of the riders never caught up.
Mark Cavendish of the Columbia team went on to win his second consecutive stage — his sixth career Tour stage victory — because of his team’s help. But Armstrong also benefited. He was the only race favorite in that group, making him the only race favorite in that lead group when it crossed the finish line.
Armstrong’s teammate Alberto Contador was dropped, as was Denis Menchov, the winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia. Other top riders, like Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck, also finished 41 seconds back from the lead group.
In the end, Armstrong moved to third place over all from 10th place in his first Tour since winning in 2005. He is 40 seconds behind Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland, the Saxo Bank rider who remained in the leader’s yellow jersey.
Columbia’s Tony Martin of Germany is second over all, 33 seconds back. Contador is 59 seconds back, after falling to fourth place from second.
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