Armstrong Puts Footnote on Stage

Lance Armstrong is perceived to be so invulnerable that it’s startling to see him take his foot off the pedal even momentarily.

Armstrong lost a little time he’d rather not have lost in Saturday’s stage of the Tour de France. U.S. Postal Service teammate Roberto Heras, who was in his usual position on Armstrong’s back wheel, was bumped by another rider less than two miles from the end of the 107.4-mile stage and toppled into the defending champion.

Heras’ handlebars had to be disengaged from Armstrong’s wheel spokes while the rest of the team waited. Armstrong, who never fell but did rest his foot on the ground, gunned his bike up the final stretch and made up some of the time but finished the day 34 seconds behind overall leader Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano of the Spanish Once squad.

The gap is far from a crisis for the Texan. Last year at this time, he was nearly six minutes off the lead, and fell even farther back after a bizarre 35-minute breakaway shook up the overall standings.

“I think we all know it’s not possible to ride every year without incident,” said Armstrong, who added that it actually felt good to push himself, albeit briefly, after a week of conserving his strength.

“It could have been worse,” he said. “I’m honestly not concerned.”

All things being equal, Armstrong, who fell from third to eighth in the overall standings, would rather not have given up an extra 26 seconds two days before the Tour’s first individual time trial, which is expected to provide the first real gauge of where Armstrong’s challengers stand in relation to the three-time winner.

Gonzalez de Galdeano one-upped Armstrong in an individual time trial earlier this season. But that stage in the Midi Libre race was considerably shorter, and Armstrong has been dominant in longer time trials.

Postal wasn’t involved in the worst carnage of the day. A late crash on the final windy, twisting part of the course left bodies sprawled on the road and in the ditches. France’s Didier Rous is out of the race because of a broken collarbone. French pro Christophe Moreau bruised his tailbone.

Heras and Postal’s George Hincapie suffered scrapes in the incident that involved Armstrong but escaped serious injury.

Australian Bradley McGee of the La Francaise des Jeux team won his first career Tour stage, literally upstaging Mapei’s Pedro Horillo.

As McGee throttled up behind him in the final yards, Horillo, apparently misjudging the finish line, glanced over his shoulder, then took his hands off the handlebars as if he were about to raise them in celebration. In that moment, McGee swerved triumphantly around him.

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Marco Pantani’s eight-month drug suspension was lifted without explanation by the Italian cycling federation’s appeals commission.

The 1998 Tour de France champion can return to racing immediately and is eligible for the World Road Cycling Championship.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Highlights from the seventh stage of the Tour de France

STAGE: A 107.4-mile stretch along the Normandy battlefields of World War II from Bagnoles-de-L’Orne to Avranches.

WINNER: Australia’s Bradley McGee, of the Fdjeux.com team, in 4 hours 10 minutes 56 seconds.

HOW OTHERS FARED: Spain’s Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, of Once, retained the yellow jersey of overall leader, finishing in a pack of riders who clocked the same time. Three-time winner Lance Armstrong was entangled in a late crash, finishing 27 seconds later. The U.S. Postal Service team rider slipped from third to eighth place overall and trailed Gonzalez de Galdeano by 34 seconds.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “There have always been crashes in the early phases of the Tour. Today, there were no physical obstacles, it was just due to the nervousness of the pack. I don’t know what more we can do to avoid them.”--Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc, after a series of late crashes in the stage.

NEXT STAGE: A 134.9-mile course through Brittany from Saint-Martin-de-Landelles to Plouay.

*--* Overall Standings (After Seven Stages) Rider Time 1. Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, Spain 27:39.59 2. Joseba Beloki, Spain 4 seconds behind 3. Jorg Jaksche, Germany 12 seconds 4. Abraham Olano, Spain 22 seconds 5. Isidro Nozal, Spain 27 seconds

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