Nancy, France – A native son rode without fear, a large and soggy Tour de France crowd roaring his name as he pedaled recklessly into his hometown.
But instead of being the toast of France, Christophe Mengin skidded wildly out of control as he turned the final corner in Thursday’s sixth stage. His only reward for a hard day’s ride, then, was a black eye and the feeling he looked more like a boxer than a cyclist.
On a day darkened by low clouds and downpours, Tour contender Alexandre Vinokourov also set caution aside, racing hard behind Mengin and needing to put a foot down to avoid crashing himself. But Vinokourov stayed upright, and his bravado helped him finish second to Italy’s Lorenzo Bernucci and gain 19 seconds on overall leader Lance Armstrong. The T-Mobile rider from Kazakhstan moved from seventh to third, 1:02 behind Armstrong.
Armstrong still wears the leader’s yellow jersey and holds a 55-second lead over Discovery Channel teammate George Hincapie, who is second.
Armstrong’s response when asked what he had to say about Vinokourov’s ride was telling. “Nothing,” he said.
“Safety first” always has been Armstrong’s motto in these early, unpredictable stages. The Texan hasn’t won a record six consecutive Tours because he takes thoughtless chances or puts his teammates in danger by dashing willy-nilly into tight corners or pushing limits when it isn’t necessary.
His rolling eyes and firm tone made that “Nothing” into a complete statement, though. Armstrong was not going to act macho on a scary, rainy day when taking big chances can result in big falls. Was Vinokourov’s gain worth it? No answer was needed from Armstrong.
Still, Vinokourov, who pushed Armstrong hard in the mountains two years ago (he missed last year’s Tour with a shoulder injury), made sure Armstrong noticed him.
But the day was ruined for the French fans when Mengin, a 10-year pro whose one other moment of glory was a Tour stage win in 1997, came blazing around the final corner, about 700 meters from the finish, and had his bike slip away on white paint in a crosswalk.
Mengin had begun the day in 142nd place with no hope of any other glory. But he told French television before the stage that he expected his local knowledge of the roads might help.
Mengin attacked early and rode at the front for miles. Yet even knowing the twists and turns didn’t help Mengin when he flew around the corner and off the bike.
“I didn’t have great legs today,” Mengin said, “but I had the courage to try something. That’s life. You have to give 100 percent when you’ve got the chance.”
About five other riders landed on Mengin, but Vinokourov and Bernucci snuck through. Bernucci, from Bassa Bortolo, a Tour de France rookie, won the stage in 4 hours, 12 minutes, 52 seconds and afterward said, “I was lucky.”
Vinokourov said he did not make his attack carelessly. “I picked my moment and would have won the stage if (Mengin) hadn’t crashed,” he said. “When he went down I had to brake and take a foot off the pedal.”
Armstrong said his Discovery Channel teammates learned by radio there was a pileup near the finish.
“You get behind a crash like that, you just pick your way through it,” he said. “It wasn’t pretty.”
