ALPHARETTA, Ga. - Lance Armstrong made a late surge on the steep climbs of snowy Brasstown Bald, but at the end he yielded to teammate Tom Danielson.
Danielson, who races with Armstrong on the Discovery Channel team, won the fifth stage and took the overall lead in the Tour de Georgia on Saturday.
The 27-year-old rider finished 14 seconds ahead of Levi Leipheimer, leaving the two Americans in a tight battle for the overall lead.
Armstrong was third, followed by Floyd Landis, another U.S. cyclist who lost the yellow jersey as the overall leader.
The race, which Armstrong is again using as practice for this summer's Tour de France, ends today in Alpharetta, north of Atlanta. Armstrong will enter the final stage fifth overall, 1 minute, 41 seconds behind Danielson.
Leipheimer is second overall, four seconds behind Danielson. Landis is third overall, followed by Bobby Julich and Armstrong.
Armstrong, who has won the Tour de France six straight years, said Monday he will retire after this year's Tour, leaving the Georgia race as possibly his last professional competition in the United States.
"It's very possible," Armstrong said. "I haven't thought about it. I'm very aware of what's going on, aware I've been around long enough and had my day in the sun."
OLYMPICS: London withdraws offer
London withdrew a package of financial incentives to avoid breaking the bidding rules for the 2012 Games. The backdown came a day after the International Olympic Committee cleared New York of offering improper financial assistance to sports federations. The IOC opened an investigation Tuesday into possible rule violations by the two cities.
TRACK AND FIELD: Jones slow again
Marion Jones' comeback sputtered again as she anchored an all-star U.S. team to an apparent victory in a special 800-meter relay at the Kansas Relays in Lawrence in a slow 1 minute, 34.56 seconds. Jones' split for her 200-meter segment was a modest 23.4 after a running start. Her team was disqualified for an out-of-the-zone second exchange. Hernando High and Florida graduate John Capel was second in the 100 meters, finishing behind Mark Jelks and ahead of Maurice Greene.
RUNNING; Dentist tops field, phobia
A Fort Lauderdale dentist overcame his phobia of bridges to win a race on the longest of 43 bridges that help make up the Florida Keys' Overseas Highway. In his first Seven Mile Bridge Run, Jason Bodnar won in 35 minutes, 22 seconds. Sonja Friend-Uhl, 34, a personal trainer from West Palm Beach, won her third consecutive women's title.
SALT LAKE CITY MARATHON: Araya Haregot pulled away in the final mile to run in 2:15:14 for his first marathon victory. Dorota Gruca (2:30:07) won the women's race.
BELGRADE MARATHON: Derba Bedada Medeksa set a race record, taking the men's race in 2:12:10 in Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro. Inga Abitova won the women's race in 2:38:20.
SOCCER: Chelsea closes in on title
Joe Cole, Frank Lampard and Eidur Gudjohnsen scored for Chelsea, which beat visiting Fulham 3-1 to move within two points of its second English championship 50 years after the Blues' only title. The Premier League title race would end Monday if second-place Arsenal ties or loses to north London rival Tottenham. Also, Sunderland clinched promotion to the Premier League next season with a 2-1 defeat of Leicester.
NETHERLANDS: Park Ji-sung scored one goal and set up another as PSV Eindhoven clinched the Dutch premier league title with a 3-0 victory over Vitesse Arnhem.
ET CETERA
SKATING: Sweden's all-female Team Surprise won the gold medal at the synchronized skating world championships. Two American teams finished in the top seven.
EQUESTRIAN: Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and her mount Shutterfly won a nine-horse jumpoff in the second phase of competition at the Budweiser World Cup Final late Friday in Las Vegas. Michaels-Beerbaum enters today's final phase with zero penalties.
