The truce between Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador continued through Wednesday’s 11th stage of the Tour de France, with the two main contenders enjoying a peaceful ride on a day marred by several crashes.
The seven-time champion Armstrong, back to competition on the three-week gruelling race four years after his last victory in Paris, spent the day sheltered in the peloton and finished in 54th position to retain his third place overall.
The 37-year-old Texan didn’t stop for reporters waiting at his Astana team bus after the 192-kilometre stage from Vatan to Saint-Fargeau won by Tour’s fastest man, British sprinter Mark Cavendish, who claimed his second consecutive win and fourth so far.
”Fast start, crashes a plenty, then a breakaway. Ending up being pretty relaxed,” Armstrong commented afterward on his Twitter feed.
The general classification stayed the same, with race leader Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy leading Contador by six seconds.
Armstrong is eight seconds back.
After several days of tension, Armstrong and Contador put their rivalry aside until the end of the flat stages. Their fierce battle is unlikely to restart before Sunday’s first Alpine stage, which features a hilltop finish suitable for attacks.
”It was a transition day,” the 26-year old Contador said.
”Boring for TV viewers even if there was some tension at the beginning. A lot of riders fell but we managed to avoid crashes.”
A total of 19 riders — including Nocentini — were slightly injured in crashes but they were all able to finish the stage.
”I was in a fall, but nothing too serious. I didn’t hurt myself,” Nocentini said. ”I managed to get back up and finish calmly.”
Contador witnessed two crashes just in front of him but stopped his bike just in time.
Thursday’s 12th stage is a 211,5-kilometre trek from Tonnerre to Vittel featuring six small hills and could again favour sprinters, giving Cavendish the opportunity to win a fifth stage. Contador, who crossed the line in 43rd position, said he will stay focused to avoid a crash even if his mind seems already in the mountains, a ground where the Spaniard excels.
”After tomorrow’s stage I will think about the mountains and I can’t wait to be there,” the 2007 Tour winner said.
In the last meters of the stage, Cavendish held off a strong challenge by Tyler Farrar, who almost became the first American rider to win an individual stage at this year’s race.
Farrar was within half a bike length of catching Cavendish, who equalled British rider Barry Hoban’s tally of eight Tour stage wins and took the sprinter’s green jersey from Thor Hushovd’s shoulders.
”It’s frustrating to come second, but at the same time you can see there are only a few guys going that fast right now,” Farrar said. ”Today was great. It was really fast from [the last] two kilometres to 500 metres.”
The 25-year-old Farrar, a U.S. junior national champion in 2002, upset Cavendish earlier in the season to win the third stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico race in Italy in March.
”I think [Tyler] is the best sprinter of his generation — apart from Cavendish,” Jonathan Vaughters, the manager of Farrar’s Garmin-Slipstream, told The Associated Press by telephone.
But on Wednesday, Farrar timed his attack a fraction too late.
It was his third top-3 finish of the Tour.
”Maybe he’s not quite as fast, and he needs to figure out how to be a little bit more intelligent,” Vaughters added. ”And we need to figure out how to be little bit better as a team.”
Belgian rider Johan Van Summeren and Marcin Sapa of Poland broke away in the stage after about 30 kilometres. They were eventually caught by the chasing pack, led by the Team Columbia-High Road riders of Cavendish’s team, about five kilometres from the finish.
The Columbia team worked well together at the front, just as they did on Tuesday, to get Cavendish in the best position to attack in the closing stages. But Farrar pushed hard in the final metres and almost caught the British rider. — Sapa, AP