Outdoors

Armstrong surrenders lead

MULHOUSE, France - Sunday was a strange afternoon at the Tour de France.

Six-time defending champion Lance Armstrong lost his yellow jersey - and was happy about it.

Team CSC gained the race lead in the Vosges Mountains near the German border - but did so with Jens Voigt, a German rider who freely concedes he has no interest in wearing yellow in Paris. "Today was my very last chance to take the jersey," he said.

And T-Mobile, which was so active in Saturday's first mountain stage, bragging about how it would stay aggressive, did nothing. The team turned conservative after an early crash by leader Jan Ullrich, who somersaulted off his bike, hitting the ground so hard it split his helmet. He is scheduled to be examined again today to see whether he broke a rib.

The good news for Armstrong is that his Discovery Channel teammates appeared to have recovered from their collapse on a climb Saturday, when all eight abandoned him, unable to match the quick uphill pace. That left Armstrong alone to fend off rivals.

"We were better," Armstrong said. "That's good going into the rest day: regroup and get ready for the big climbs."

Denmark's Mickael Rasmussen won Stage 9 with a gutsy solo ride. He was first over the six climbs, covering the 106.3-mile route from Gerardmer to Mulhouse in eastern France in 4 hours, 8 minutes, 20 seconds. Discovery and the other teams with yellow jersey contenders had no desire to chase him down. Rasmussen does not figure to challenge for the overall title; rather, his clear goal is the climber's polka-dot jersey.

"It's the only thing I'm good at, climbing mountains," he said.

After Rasmussen's early attack, Voigt and Christophe Moreau broke free, former teammates riding together to the finish line. At one point, Voigt had a flat tire, but Moreau stayed with him until it was changed, then helped him pace himself back on the road. To thank him, Voigt allowed Moreau to cross the finish line in second, both finishing 3:04 back.

The peloton - the main body of riders in a race, this time consisting of Armstrong and the yellow jersey contenders - finished three minutes later.

The time gaps posted by the three riders significantly juggled the standings. But the changes, taken into the context of a three-week-long race and the strengths of those involved, didn't mean much for Armstrong's ride for a seventh and final Tour title.

"This worked out perfectly for us," Armstrong said after surrendering the yellow jersey he wore for five days. "I felt like (Sunday) would be the day we'd give the jersey away or get it taken away."

Voigt has the yellow jersey, 1:50 ahead of Moreau, followed by Armstrong at 2:18. Rasmussen, seven minutes behind to start the stage, was fourth at 2:43.

The gaps between Armstrong and his real challengers stayed the same, with T-Mobile's Alexandre Vinokourov at 1:02 behind the champion, Ivan Basso at 1:26 and Ullrich at 1:36.

Five riders dropped out, including American David Zabriskie of Team CSC. Zabriskie won the yellow jersey on the Tour's first day but lost it to Armstrong three days later after he fell in the team time trial. Zabriskie had struggled with injuries picked up in the crash.

"It's been a real roller coaster for me," he said.

The riders rest today before the first of three Alpine stages - from Grenoble to the ski station of Courchevel. The route has two major climbs.

[Last modified July 11, 2005, 01:01:12]