SARRAN, France -- Lance Armstrong finished more than 25
minutes behind the stage winner in a crash-marred race Wednesday
and still retained a comfortable lead in quest of his third
straight Tour de France title.
|  | | Lance Armstrong rides in the pack shortly after the start of Wednesday's 16th stage. |
Germany's Jens Voigt won the stage, sprinting ahead in the final
stretch to beat Australia's Bradley McGee. Voigt finished the
142.29-mile stretch from Castelsarrasin to Sarran in central France
in 5 hours, 27 minutes, 11 seconds.
McGee was 5 seconds behind, with Russia's Alexandre Botcharov
third, 1:59 off the pace.
Armstrong was with the main pack, which finished far back, and
held the leader's yellow jersey. His principal rivals also were
with the main pack, meaning the top part of the overall standings
didn't change significantly Wednesday.
Armstrong maintained his lead of 5:05 over 1997 champion Jan
Ullrich of Germany in the overall standings. Andrei Kivilev of
Kazakstan is next, 5:13 behind Armstrong.
After the race, Armstrong attended the daily yellow jersey
ceremony and shook hands with Bernadette Chirac, the wife of French
President Jacques Chirac and the deputy mayor of Sarran.
Voigt and McGee were among seven riders who broke from the main
pack with about 40 miles left and stayed ahead until the end.
"I could see that he (McGee) was struggling at the end," said
Voigt, who wore the yellow jersey in the eighth stage. "With
several hundred meters to go, I was sure I was going to win."
It was his first solo stage victory in the Tour de France,
though his squad won the team time trial in the first week of this
year's event.
Five riders quit after a crash on a fast turn about 18 miles
from the finish.
Jens Heppner, Oscar Pozzi, Marc Wauters, Vicente Garcia-Acosta
and Sven Montgomery received medical attention. It was not
immediately clear how seriously they were injured.
By the end of the 16th stage there were 146 riders left of the
189 who started the Tour more than two weeks ago.
Four stages remain before the three-week race ends Sunday in
Paris. Thursday's stage is 120.28 miles from Brive-la-Gaillarde to
Montlucon.
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