Crashes plague Tour team time trial

MONTPELLIER, France — Giro d’Italia winner Denis Menchov crashed Tuesday during the start of a team time trial in which Lance Armstrong could take the yellow jersey at the Tour de France.

Menchov’s crash was one of three during the 24.2-mile ride in and around Montpellier, near the Mediterranean. All the fallen riders got up and returned to the race.

Menchov was trailing a Rabobank teammate when he misjudged a left turn and skidded into the barriers shortly after the team took off.

“It was a slippery road,” said Menchov after finishing the fourth stage with a few scrapes and bruises on his arm. “It’s nothing serious.”

The Russian also crashed in the last individual time trial of the Giro.

He was escorted from the team bus to doping control. He said he has been tested already four times this year — before Tuesday’s check.

“It’s normal. It means that they consider me one of the race favorites,” he said. He was in 56th place overall before the stage — 2 minutes, 12 seconds behind leader Fabian Cancellara.

Four riders on the BBox Bouygues Telecom team also crashed, as did Jurgen van den Broeck, who supports two-time Tour runner-up Cadel Evans on the Silence Lotto squad.

Armstrong, a seven-time champion coming out of retirement, is in third place. He trails by 40 seconds and could hold the overall lead by the end of the day. Tony Martin of Germany is second, 33 seconds back.

Armstrong took advantage of a late breakaway during Monday’s third stage to move up from 10th place while rival and teammate Alberto Contador and the other favorites were trapped in the main pack. Contador is fourth overall, 59 seconds back.

This is the first team time trial at the Tour since 2005. Teams set off one by one at seven-minute intervals in a race against the clock. The course through the sun-baked streets of Montpellier is among the flattest on this Tour.

As teams finish, their first five riders receive the same times while any laggards draw individual times. The teams all have nine riders except Quick Step; one on the Belgian squad quit the race after a crash in Stage 2.

Any rider who doesn’t finish within the best team time plus 25 percent can be eliminated from the race, though race stewards can grant exceptions.

Caisse d’Epargne riders started first. The teams set off in reverse order of the team rankings, meaning Armstrong’s Astana team goes last. Other teams expected to contend in this stage include Garmin, Columbia and Cancellara’s Saxo Bank.

The Tour ends July 26 in Paris.