Lance Armstrong admitted feeling the fear on Thursday's rain-hit sixth stage of the Tour de France as wet conditions and slippery roads into Barcelona conspired to send riders tumbling.

Norwegian Thor Hushovd claimed the stage victory after what was a treacherous 181.5km of riding from Gerona to Barcelona during which more than a dozen riders were left battered and bruised after some heavy falls.

Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara retained the race leader's yellow jersey with a 0.22sec lead on seven-time Tour winner Armstrong ahead of the first day of climbing in the Pyrenees on Friday.

With four Astana riders in the top five overall, Armstrong's team worked to distance their yellow jersey rivals further with accelerations of pace on the small climbs, but the American admitted it had been a nerve-wracking day.

"There haven't been many days when I have regretted my decision to return, but today might be be one of them," said Armstrong who won the last of his Tour titles in 2005.

"I am being facetious, but you just spend the whole day on edge with crashes all around you: there were dangerous downhills and slippery roads.

"The best way to sum up days like today is just one word: scary."

Armstrong said an added factor to consider had been finishing the stage in Barcelona, where extra oil on the road from cars in the metropolis made the roads slippery.

"When you come into a big city like Barcelona, you know it is going to have white paint (from road markings) and a bit of extra grease on the roads," he said.

"You know there will be traffic controls and you know it's going to be nerve-wracking, which it was."

With the Pyrenees approaching, the focus now moves away from sprinters like Britain's green jersey-holder Mark Cavendish - who finished 16th on Thursday - while climbers, like Astana's 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador, come into the frame.

With the next three stages taking place in the mountains, Cancellara, not a realistic contender for the race's main prize, is almost guaranteed to lose the lead, which could go to second place Armstrong.

But Armstrong is backing his Astana team-mate Contador, who is third in the overall standings and 19 seconds behind Cancellara, to exert some authority on the road to Andorra.

"I know Alberto wants to assert himself in the race, I don't need a team meeting to tell me that," said Armstrong.

"I don't know if it is the most important day, but it is definitely a big appointment on this Tour."

AFP

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