Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505030057
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LEONARD LAYE KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Lance Armstrong, concerned about a bigger prize, had everything to lose.
Both emerged from a dangerous sprint finish around SouthPark Mall with their goals - not to mention their bikes and bodies - intact as the Tour DuPont completed its sixth stage, in Charlotte.
Jarno, a Frenchman riding for the AKI-Gipiemme team of Monaco, burst ahead of the pack at the last moment to win the day's 139-mile stage by inches. His time for the trip that began in the mountains of Galax: Five hours, 21 minutes, two seconds.
Armstrong, from Austin, Texas, and a member of the Motorola team, was in the huge lead pack, finishing 28th. He maintained his overall lead on the Tour, which remains in the Carolinas for the final five days and builds toward a Sunday windup in Greensboro, N.C.
The Tour will resume at 10 a.m. today at Cabarrus Memorial Hospital in Concord, N.C., starting a 148-mile journey to Greenville, S.C. Other stage finishes are Thursday in Asheville, N.C., Friday in Beech Mountain, N.C., and Saturday in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The final stage comes Sunday with a 30-mile time trial from Burlington, N.C., to Greensboro.
``This was my biggest win as a pro,'' said Jarno, 24, speaking through an interpreter. ``I was running to win the race and if you win, you get the money.''
The $10,000 prize was a major carrot for the riders sprinting to the finish. It is the largest stage payoff of the Tour DuPont, the top cycling event in the U.S., and is second only to a Tour de France stage prize.
Jarno, who lives in Paris and makes clothes, is in his second year as a professional and has three victories.
Several cyclists agreed the finish, consisting of two 31/2-mile laps around the SouthPark area to the finish line on Barclay Downs Drive, raised risk for the riders.
Jarno, taking aim at the $10,000, made little of it, saying, ``All sprints are dangerous.''
Armstrong, with more to lose, admitted his primary objective was avoiding trouble that could cost him the overall lead, which is 2:43 ahead of Motorola teammate Andrea Peron of Italy.
``Today's race wasn't so tiring,'' Armstrong said. ``It wasn't as hilly, so the guys were fresh [for the finish]. It got a little hairy. There were a lot of rain gutters to avoid, you had to really watch it.
``It's a lot harder to stay up front but the crashes occur in the back. I didn't want to do anything to get myself in trouble. It was fast. The guys were really moving.''
Among them was Robbie McEwen of Australia, runner-up to Jarno in Stage 6 and the Tour's current sprint leader with a fifth, a third and now a second.
``It was really hectic from about 30K out,'' he said. ``Guys were running off in the grass and everything.''
How close was the finish?
``I guess about half a wheel away from 10 grand,'' McEwen said.
The day began in a park across from an elementary school in Galax, then went south on a course that roughly paralleled I-77. There was sprint-line competition in Elkin, Statesville, Mooresville and Davidson.
by CNB