Armstrong eyes yellow jersey at Tour

TOURS, France – Lance Armstrong pedaled beside the overall leader of the Tour de France and admired his taste in fashion. The six-time champion wants to be decked out in yellow again, and he might not have to wait long.

“Regardless of how many I’ve had in my day, it’s still a jersey I cherish,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong was content to ride safely in the main pack again Monday. He finished in 87th place in the third stage while Belgium’s Tom Boonen sprinted to victory for the second straight day, the route marked by towering gray castles, endless green fields and dozens of vineyards.

There will be nothing cautious about the key time trial Tuesday. Armstrong is a mere two seconds behind leader David Zabriskie of the United States and will be looking to gain more ground on his rivals, and perhaps move in front again.

Then, Armstrong – who has worn the leader’s jersey more than 60 times – will truly consider himself on track for a seventh straight title before retirement.

For the past two years, Armstrong’s team won the team time trial for the U.S. Postal Service squad. Now he wants to win for new sponsor Discovery Channel in the nine-man discipline – a 41.9-mile ride from Tours to Blois.

A strong showing could bolster his advantage. The Texan leads Jan Ullrich by 66 seconds, Alexandre Vinokourov by 51 and Ivan Basso by 84.

Ullrich and Vinokourov will ride for the T-Mobile team while Basso races for Team CSC, as does Zabriskie. Zabriskie finished in 56th place in Monday’s 133-mile leg, which started from La Chataigneraie in western France and snaked toward the medieval city of Tours.

Boonen won in 4 hours, 36 minutes, 9 seconds and kept the green jersey as the best sprinter. Peter Wrolich of Austria was second and Stuart O’Grady of Australia was third.

Armstrong loathes such flat stages and was relieved simply to have avoided an accident. Two years ago, he was caught in a 35-rider crash on the Tour and was lucky to escape with only cuts and bruises.

Armstrong stayed in the middle of the pack as farmers put down their tools and villagers gazed from stone houses at the mass of cyclists streaming past in a militarylike unit. He even found time to chat with Zabriskie, his former teammate at U.S. Postal.

“Lance was telling me to just enjoy the yellow jersey,” Zabriskie said. “He asked me if he could have a turn.”

“Holding onto the lead is going to be really tough,” Zabriskie said.

The main threats to Armstrong’s team are Team CSC and Phonak — led by his former U.S. Postal teammate Floyd Landis and featuring former world time trial champion Santiago Botero.