Armstrong tumbles

ANGERS, France — To Lance Armstrong’s dismay, the Tour de France is turning into a demolition derby, with crashes galore — including one that took down the five-time champion.

After largely avoiding the bumps, bruises and scrapes that plagued other riders, the Texan tumbled off his bike early in Friday’s sixth stage but quickly recovered to rejoin the race.

“It was a typical early race crash,” Armstrong said. “There’s nothing you can do. You hit the brakes, but bikes don’t stop that fast, so I just went over.”

While he wasn’t hurt, the spill was Armstrong’s biggest scare in his bid for a record sixth straight Tour de France crown.

“It wasn’t bad, a little bit on the arm, a little bit on the hip,” he said, listing his bruises after the 122-mile stage from Bonneval to Angers in western France.

Tom Boonen, a former teammate of Armstrong riding in his first Tour, won the stage in a sprint, while another crash behind him took out or held up dozens of riders near the finish line.

Armstrong was among those delayed and ended up 34th. His major rival, German Jan Ullrich, was 26th but didn’t make up time on Armstrong. Under the rules, competitors held up in a crash in the final kilometer of a stage are given the same time as the winner, in this case, 4 hours, 33 minutes, 41 seconds.

Thomas Voeckler of French team Brioches La Boulangere held onto the overall lead. Armstrong remains 9 minutes, 35 seconds back in sixth place, and Ullrich trails him by 55 seconds.

Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service team has made no secret of its strategy of keeping to the relatively safe areas at the head of the main rider pack — and others are trying to mimic it.

“The U.S. Postal’s habit of always trying to remain ahead to protect Lance Armstrong has been copied this year by other teams,” said Boonen, a Belgian with Quickstep. “The roads are sometimes narrow, so naturally there isn’t always enough space.”

Barring any mishaps, Armstrong has said he’s confident he can recover the leader’s yellow jersey by the end of the three-week race in Paris on July 25.

“In this race, I’m always scared, always nervous,” he said. “The last two or three days for me, personally, have been really, really nerve-racking.”