Armstrong Falls Back, Conserves for Climbs

Defending champion Lance Armstrong dropped almost six minutes behind the leaders at the Tour de France in Thursday’s sprint finish, but he’s not worried.

He’s saving his energy for the mountains.

“The race has changed a little, but I think the favorites stay the same and I’m feeling good,” Armstrong said. “Tomorrow will be even harder. But I’m trying to conserve and wait for the mountains.”

Leon van Bon of the Netherlands won Thursday’s sixth stage as the race again was settled by a furious sprint, while the favorites chose not to push hard.

France’s Laurent Jalabert, who like Armstrong finished almost eight minutes behind the breakaway sprinters, lost his overall leader’s yellow jersey. Italy’s Alberto Elli of Deutsche Telekom became the new leader with a time of 18 hours 58 minutes 40 seconds.

Jalabert, who rides for ONCE, fell from first place to 10th, 5:40 behind Elli. Armstrong was 12th, 5:54 back. Germany’s Jan Ullrich was 22nd, 6:37 behind.

It was not considered too damaging. Armstrong and Ullrich can make up those times easily in the mountains, where both are strong.

With the exception of the two time trials, the other four days so far at the Tour have been tailor-made for the sprinters. The first mountain stage comes Monday in the Pyrenees. The riders then head toward the Alps.

Thursday’s 123-mile stage had only one slow climb.

After 8.7 miles, 12 riders made an audacious breakaway, which they maintained the rest of the way. At one stage, they led by nearly 13 minutes.

Armstrong said the early attack was a surprise.

“The attack wasn’t something we’d planned for,” he said. “I don’t think ONCE had either. It was a hard day with heavy roads and a little wind.”

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Tour de France at a Glance

Thursday’s sixth stage:

* STAGE: A 123-mile race from the medieval town of Vitre to the city of Tours.

* STAGE WINNER: Leon van Bon of the Netherlands won the race with a sprint finish in 4 hours 28 minutes 6 seconds.

* HOW OTHERS FARED: Defending champion Lance Armstrong finished 7:49 behind the leaders in 33rd place. France’s Laurent Jalabert lost the overall leader’s yellow jersey to Italy’s Alberto Elli. Jalabert came in 33rd in the same time as Armstrong. Elli was sixth.

* QUOTE OF THE DAY: Armstrong: “The race has changed a little. But I think the favorites stay the same and I’m feeling good. Tomorrow will be even harder. But I’m trying to conserve and wait for the mountains.”

* NEXT STAGE: Today’s seventh stage covers 126 miles from Tours to Limoges.