Tour de France Stage 3: Why Lance Armstrong lost ground
| Arenberg, France
Lance Armstrong鈥檚 teeth chattered and his arms shook at times today during Tour de France Stage 3, but he wasn鈥檛 cold: It was a balmy 75 degrees outside.
It was the cobbled roads 鈥� more than eight miles of them, in fact 鈥� that left the most decorated Tour winner and the rest of the peloton looking like rag dolls on bikes.
On the sixth of the seven cobblestoned sections 鈥� the organizers break them up so riders aren鈥檛 spending more than a few minutes being tossed around in the saddle 鈥� Armstrong suffered a puncture.
After waiting 45 seconds for a new wheel, he got back on the bike but had lost valuable time.
He finished the day 18th in overall Tour standings, two minutes and 30 seconds behind race leader Fabian Cancellara, who rode over these same cobbles to a breakaway win in April鈥檚 Paris-Roubaix race.
鈥淪ometimes you鈥檙e the hammer and sometimes you鈥檙e the nail,鈥� Armstrong said outside of his team bus after the race. 鈥淭oday I was the nail.鈥�
The hammer turned out to be a man named Thor.
Thor Hushovd, a Norwegian sprint specialist riding with Cervelo TestTeam, fought his way to the front of the race and edged out a group of five contenders.
After the race, he offered his best advice on how to handle the nasty cobbles.
鈥淵ou need a lot of luck, to handle the bike well, and don鈥檛 take too big of a risk,鈥� he said after his win. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a mix of everything.鈥�
The cobblestone sections are normally reserved for one-day races in the spring, but organizers decided to add them to cycling鈥檚 most important race.
The cobbled sections, known as 辫补惫茅 in French, usually wreak havoc.
It鈥檚 not uncommon for riders to puncture a tire, ride off into a ditch, or smack the pavement, breaking bike and bones.
True to form, all of those occurred during today鈥檚 132-mile stage from Wanze, Belgium, to Arenberg, a small town in northeastern France.
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