| | Associated Press
TOURS, France -- Defending champion Lance Armstrong dropped
more than five minutes back in the overall standings as Leon van
Bon of the Netherlands won the sixth stage of the Tour de France
Thursday.
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Leon van Bon (left) won his second Tour de France stage. |
France's Laurent Jalabert, who like the other Tour favorites
finished nearly eight minutes behind the lead sprinters, lost the
overall lead to Italy's Alberto Elli of Deutsche Telekom.
Thursday's mostly flat stage, with only one slow climb, covered
123 miles, rolling through Brittany toward Tours, passing medieval
fortress towns and two 15th century castles.
After 8.7 miles, 12 riders made a breakaway, which they
maintained the rest of the way. At one point, they led by nearly 13
minutes.
Rabobank's Markus Zberg of Switzerland shielded teammate van Bon
near the finish to let him win the stage. Zberg finished second.
Frenchman Emmanuel Magnien of La Francaise des Jeux was third.
The winning time was 4 hours, 28 minutes, 6 seconds.
"This was my second Tour de France (stage) win and it was very
beautiful," van Bon said. "My team worked very well for me."
The result meant the overall standings took on a different
complexion.
Jalabert fell from first place to 10th, 5:40 behind Elli.
Armstrong, who started the day in third place just 14 seconds off
the lead, is now 12th, 5:54 behind. Germany's Jan Ullrich is 22nd,
6:37 seconds behind.
The Tour favorites were saving themselves for the grueling
mountain stages next week. The first comes Monday in the Pyrénées.
Later, they head to the Alps.
In the overall standings, France's Fabrice Gougout of Credit
Agricole is second, 12 seconds behind Elli. Belgian Marc Wauters
of Rabobank is third, 1:17 back.
"It's very satisfying to win yellow -- it's the first time I've
managed it in 14 years of cycling," Elli said. "It's very
important because this is the race everybody watches. But it's not
a victory. That only comes in Paris."
Australia's Stuart O'Grady of the Credit Agricole, who started
the day in 17th place, fell after 50 miles. He got back onto his
bike clutching his collarbone and was to undergo X-rays. | |
ALSO SEE
Stage Six results
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Markus Zberg paves the way for teammate Leon van Bon's Stage 6 victory.
avi: 1267 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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