ARENBERG, France — Just four days into the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong is off to a rough start.
On the cobblestones in Tuesday’s third stage, on which he had been expected to excel, the seven-time champ instead popped a tire, lost time changing it and fell behind his main rivals.
The 132.4-mile ride from Wanze, Belgium, to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut in France was the most dreaded stage of the first week — with seven sections of bone-jarring cobblestones that threatened injury, bike damage or lost time for title contenders.
Thor Hushovd of Norway, leading a six-man group, won the stage in a final sprint. Fabian Cancellara, the Swiss rider who won the prologue, was right behind — and recovered the leader’s yellow jersey he had ceded Monday to Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel.
For Armstrong, the bigger threats are riders such as defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain, 2009 runner-up Andy Schleck of Luxembourg and two-time runner-up Cadel Evans of Australia.
They all leapfrogged the 38-year-old Texan. They will be tough to overcome when the next big challenges await in the Alps in Week 2 and a punishing four-day run in the Pyrenees in Week 3.
“Our chances took a knock today,” Armstrong said. “I’m not going home; we’ll stay in the race and keep trying.”
Astana team leader Contador avoided disaster and rode the last 18 miles with the brake jammed against his rear wheel.
“I knew that if I changed, the bike would be much worse, and I preferred to continue with the wheel braking,” he said. “I couldn’t stand up, but hey, we saved the day.”
Schleck was fifth in the stage, clocking the same time as Hushovd: 4 hours, 49 minutes, 38 seconds. In the splintered pack, Contador was 13th, 1 minute, 13 seconds back. Armstrong placed 32nd — 2:08 behind.
Overall, Cancellara leads Geraint Thomas by 23 seconds, and two-time Tour runner-up Evans is third at 39 seconds back. Schleck is sixth at 1:19 back, Contador is ninth at 1:40 back and Armstrong sank to 18th, 2:30 back, after entering the day in fifth overall.
The first cobblestone stage at the Tour since 2004 followed two straight stages marred by crashes on slick roads that tripped up Contador, Schleck and Armstrong.
Organizers took a gamble by running the riders over the treacherous, rough-hewn stones, hoping to inject drama to the race.
The move appeared to be vindicated.
“I’m not sure I’m a fan of the cobblestones in the Tour de France,” said Saxo Bank team manager Bjarne Riis, “but it was a spectacular race.”
Armstrong will have to prove that at 38, he still has some fight in him if he wants to win.
At a glance
Stage 3: A treacherous 132.4-mile ride from Wanze, Belgium, to Arenberg in France. The stage featured seven cobblestone sections, including four in the last 18.64 miles.
Winner: Thor Hushovd of Norway.
How Garmin-Transitions did: Ryder Hesjedal of Canada finished fourth in the stage and sits in fourth place overall, 46 seconds behind. Teammate David Millar is in 15th overall, 2:06 behind.
Armstrong watch: Finished the stage in 32nd place, 2:08 behind, dropping him to 18th overall.
Yellow jersey: Fabian Cancellara took the shirt back from Sylvain Chavanel of France. Cancellara finished in a five-man group behind Hushovd.
Next stage: Today’s stage is a 95.4-mile ride from Cambrai to Reims, the capital of champagne. This short trek doesn’t feature any major difficulty and looks tailor-made for sprinters.
The Associated Press
