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McEwen snatches Tour sprint victory
The peloton came close to covering the 183 kms from the spectacular Chambord castle without a rider in the leader's yellow jersey as Armstrong at first decided not to wear it as a tribute to previous leader David Zabriskie. The first stage winner crashed less than two kilometres from the finish of Tuesday's team time trial in Blois and lost his leader's jersey in the process. "We're convinced that he would have kept his leader's jersey had he not crashed. You don't take the yellow jersey away from a rider who crashed out," said Armstrong's team chief Johan Bruyneel. TOUR HISTORY The six-times Tour champion himself evoked the "Tour history" to explain his gesture towards his young compatriot, who had been his team mate for four seasons. In the past, Eddy Merckx and Greg LeMond both refused to wear the yellow jersey after the previous holder - Spain's Luis Ocana and Dane Rolf Sorensen - had crashed. But the Texan was forced to give in on Wednesday when race stewards warned him he faced heavy sanctions should he fail to wear it. With or without the jersey on, Armstrong retained his 55-second lead over his team-mate and right arm George Hincapie with Germany's Jens Voigt third, 1:04 behind. Though the Tour finish in Paris is a long way away, the American has taken a decisive edge in the first week. Carefully escorted by his Discovery Channel team mates, he has so far avoided any crash or mishap - unlike his main rivals. Germany's Jan Ullrich was hurt in training on the day before the start when
he crashed into his team manager's car.
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