Vive la France as Nazon leads

ALESSANDRO PETACCHI blasted to his second stage victory in three days yesterday, but Jean-Patrick Nazon is sure to be the toast of France as the Tour moves into its fifth day.

After picking up 14 seconds of bonus time throughout the stage, Jean Delatour's Nazon did enough to snatch the yellow jersey away from Australian Bradley McGee to become the first French rider to lead the overall standings since Francois Simon in 2001.

On the day, Nazon finished in 14th, with Petacchi beating Romans Vainsteins of the Vini-Caldirola team and Rabobank's Oscar Freire into second and third respectively.

The Fasso Bortolo rider is proving difficult to beat in the hustle and bustle of stage finales, and his robust finish earned a second win to add to his victory on Sunday in Meaux.

Despite his success Petacchi is still one minute, 40 seconds behind Nazon, who leads McGee by eight seconds, with Scot David Millar and favourite Lance Armstrong 12 and 19 seconds back respectively.

It is not, however, a lead that Nazon expects to hold on to for long.

"Tomorrow it will be hard, and I am almost resigned to losing it again then," he told French television ahead of the team time trial between Joinville and Saint-Dizier, where Armstrong and his US Postal team are sure to be a threat.

But he added: "I feel I am more mature now and I feel confident in what I do. I hope I can stay like this for quite a while. The rest of the team worked very hard."

The crucial factor in Nazon's overall lead was the bonus time he picked up over the course of the stage.

"I knew that I had a chance of getting the jersey so I made sure I was near the front for the sprints. It was difficult because it was hot and we started fast. Everyone is nervous at the start of the Tour," he said.

The figures confirm what Nazon was feeling as the peloton snaked out of Charleville-Mezieres earlier on in the day, with the riders averaging 50kph in temperatures approaching 30 degrees.

There were a few early and short-lived breaks including one from the trio of Carlos Da Cruz, Maryan Hary and Unai Etxebarria and a couple of minor scares for two of the top riders in the field.

First, Millar's mechanical gremlins cropped up again and he dropped to the back of the peloton, and then Jan Ullrich's progress was upset by a puncture, but both riders were back on the pace before losing ground.

The only breakaway of note came from 23-year-old Anthony Geslin of the Brioches La Boulangere team, who managed to put almost three-and-a-half minutes between himself and the peloton at one point.

His effort was in vain though, and when he was caught with 15km to go it was clear a sprint finish would decide the stage.

The dangers of the final kilometre were made all to obvious by Sunday's pile-up, and there was another casualty yesterday.

Rene Haselbacher, of the Gerolsteiner team, went clattering into the barriers after jostling with yesterday's stage winner Baden Cooke and Robbie McEwan, who kept his green jersey after the stage.

But ahead of them and out of trouble was Petacchi, who added a second stage win to the six he claimed in the Giro d'Italia which took place earlier this year.