LA CHATAIGNERAIE, France (AP) - Six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong began Stage 3 of his farewell race Monday, setting out on a long, flat route with the Texan looking to stay out of trouble.
Monday's 212.5-kilometre trek from La Chataigneraie to Tours generally favours sprinters, meaning Armstrong will try and stay in the main pack away from potential crashes as the faster riders near the front jostle for position. Armstrong's team says it is wary that its great start was too good too soon in the gruelling three-week race.
Armstrong consolidated a healthy lead in Sunday's second stage, safely finishing 63rd in the main pack while 10 riders fell during the 181.5-kilometre trek from Challans to Les Essarts.

The American, going for a record seventh straight Tour victory before he retires, was second overall and led Jan Ullrich of Germany and Ivan Basso of Italy by more than a minute, with Kazakhstan rider Alexandre Vinokourov 51 seconds behind.

American George Hincapie, a vital cog in all of Armstrong's Tour wins, believed the race shouldn't be as easy as it has been in the first two days.

"The race is three weeks long, there's a long way to go," Hincapie said Sunday. "We're not that confident."

He felt Ullrich's T-Mobile team, which included Vinokourov and Andreas Kloeden, last year's runner-up, was poised for a backlash.

"They're fighters and they'll keep on fighting. There's no rest until Paris," Hincapie said.

Ullrich's ambitions for a second Tour victory were dealt a severe blow Friday when he crashed into the back of his team car during a training run, cutting his neck close to the jugular vein.

He looked demoralized during Saturday's time trial - conceding 66 seconds to Armstrong - but appeared determined again on Sunday while placing 19th just behind the front-runners in a dangerous sprint stage won by Belgian Tom Boonen.