Lance Armstrong Preps for Mountain Race

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/12/2002 at 01:00 AM EDT

For Tour de France ace Lance Armstrong, revving up for his fourth victory in that race of races, the week ahead looks to bring a rousing chorus of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain." The Texan cyclist and prostate cancer survivor, 30, took it easy yet still managed to hold onto third place as Estonian sprinter Jaan Kirsipuu, 32, took first place in Thursday's fifth stage across a swath of French farmland, reports the Associated Press. (Meanwhile on Thursday, two riders -- Italy's Marco Pinotti and Belgium's Rik Verbrugghe -- crashed and were taken to the hospital, with Pinotti temporarily losing consciousness and dropping out of the race, says the news service.) The heads of Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team say the Texan intends to stick close to the overall leader during the early, flatter stages, then go for the lead next week in the mountains. "It was a good day for us, we didn't have anybody in the crash," team spokesman Jogi Muller told the AP on Thursday. "Our strategy is to stay out of such trouble and keep Lance out of the wind. It was windy out there today." Kirsipuu -- with a time of 4 hours, 13 minutes, 33 seconds -- crossed the finish line just ahead of Denmark's Michael Sandstod and Belgium's Ludo Dierckxsens.