Cycling: Tour's 6th stage ends with crash

NANCY - Italy's Lorenzo Bernucci steered clear of a big pile-up on the final bend to win a rain-soaked sixth stage of the Tour de France yesterday.

The stage looked set for a mass sprint finish after the 199km run from Troyes, only for riders to start skidding out of contention in a treacherous final kilometre in Nancy.

Bernucci, 25, took advantage of the confusion to finish on his own, ahead of Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov. Germany's Robert Foerster was third, 7s behind with the main bunch.

Six-times Tour champion Lance Armstrong finished in the main bunch in the same time as Foerster.

The American will take his overall leader's yellow jersey to Germany in the seventh stage, ending in Karlsruhe.

France's Christophe Mengin, who had led for more than 160km and was bidding to win his second tour stage in his home town, crashed first, into a barrier near the finish line.

The front of the chasing peloton then piled up in turn, a crash which involved about 20 riders, including sprinters Tom Boonen of Belgium and Australian Robbie McEwen.

"We were all very nervous with the rain and the turns and the crashes at the finish," said Armstrong, whose team manager, Johan Bruyneel had warned him and his team-mates of the dangers.

It was Bernucci's first success since his professional debut three years ago.

"When I reached the finish line, I realised there was nobody else and the victory was mine. When I saw the others fall, I gave it my all," said the Fassa Bortolo rider.

Second place shifted Vinokourov, who came third in the Tour two years ago, into third place in the organisers' final overall standings.

The Kazakh rider is 1m 2s behind Armstrong, whose team-mate and compatriot George Hincapie is second overall, 55s off the pace.

As in previous days, a small group of riders, including Mengin, tried their luck to avoid another mass sprint at the finish, breaking clear after 38km.

In heavy rain over eastern France, the five took a lead of 8m 20s before the pack launched the chase.

While the main group caught four of the breakaways in the last of three climbs on the stage, Mengin launched his attack in the hope of repeating his stage win in Freiburg in 1997. But as he was about to be caught, the 37-year-old rider slipped at the last corner.

- REUTERS