Lance Armstrong endured his first testing day of racing on his return to the Tour de France before avoiding a potentially dangerous finish among the safety of the main peloton. The 37-year-old was given the same finishing time of 4hr 30mins 2secs as Mark Cavendish, who won the 187km stage between Monaco and Brignoles as temperatures went close to 40 degrees celsius. Having finished 10th in Saturday's time trial around Monaco, Armstrong remains in the same position overall and says he achieved his objective of staying out of trouble in Sunday's sweltering conditions. "Days like today are incredibly hot and hard for everyone," said Armstrong. "I just wanted to avoid trouble and get into the rhythm of the race, because yesterday's time trial wasn't really a normal stage. "We had an important day here and then we are on our way... [read full story]
