LeMond Takes the Lead but Doesn’t Want It Yet : Tour de France: American goes ahead by one second when front-running Sorensen breaks collarbone in a fall.

On a dramatic day that left leader Rolf Sorensen of Denmark with a broken collarbone, Greg LeMond gained the yellow jersey in the Tour de France Wednesday with a one-second advantage over Ireland’s Sean Kelly.

LeMond, trying for his fourth Tour victory, and third in a row, said he expects to lose the lead--and the accompanying yellow jersey--in today’s 155-mile sixth stage from Arra to La Havre, a port city in Normandy. Although LeMond was nine seconds behind Sorensen at the finish, the Danish cyclist cannot continue because of his injury from a crash near the finish.

“It won’t change the way I race or the way the tactics are,” LeMond said of the yellow jersey. “I’m not going to race to defend it.”

LeMond, of Wayzata, Minn., prefers staying within striking distance during the early part of the Tour, still in its first week.

Sorensen crashed two miles from the end of the 93-mile ride from Reims to Valenciennes, borrowed a bike and managed to cross the line, but is expected to quit today.

Sorensen fell on his head and shoulder after Andy Bishop of Boulder, Colo., hit the pavement in front of him.

LeMond said: “I heard a crash, looked back and saw a yellow jersey flying in the air.”

LeMond was slowed by another crash in the last kilometer of Wednesday’s stage and said he lost seven seconds to second-place Kelly because of it. Erik Breukink of the Netherlands is third, seven seconds behind LeMond.

“In the Tour de France, you can’t ever afford to race in less than 20th position,” LeMond said. “It’s constant pressure. We’re riding inches apart. The road is always changing, we’ve got roundabouts, corners; there are just 100 possibilities for something to go wrong.”

The most exciting moment of the stage, won by Jelle Nijdam of the Netherlands, came when Italian Claudio Chiappucci and six others escaped the pack to gain a 40-second lead. LeMond was momentarily worried as he lost contact and tried to regroup his Z teammates to mount a counterattack.

The pack eventually caught the leaders with four kilometers left.

“I don’t want to give Chiappucci a 30-second bonus,” LeMond said. “That’s what he would have had if we didn’t chase. It was a dangerous break. At one point, I wasn’t right at the front; it was a bad moment.”