Cycling: Kiwi a creditable 11th

New Zealand's Jeremy Vennell finished in a bunch including cycling great Lance Armstrong in a creditable 11th placing on stage three of the Tour of California yesterday.

Vennell, riding for the Bissell team, finished in the 22-strong second bunch, 17 seconds behind American winner David Zabriskie in the 182km stage from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. The prominent finish boosted Vennell to 23rd on general classification, 1m 44s behind overall leader Zabriskie.

The American won the third stage from Michael Rogers of Australia to become the third race leader in the first three days of the tour.