Armstrong’s Tour de France hopes dealt major blow in 8th stage won by Schleck

Armstrong’s Tour hopes dealt major blow

MORZINE, France — Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France hopes have been dealt a major blow after he struggled in the Alps and was caught up in three crashes during an eighth stage won by Andy Schleck of Luxembourg.

World champion Cadel Evans took the yellow jersey at the end of Sunday’s stage, with overnight leader Sylvain Chavanel — like Armstrong — falling off the top contenders on the tough La Ramaz climb.

Seven-time champion Armstrong lost several minutes to his main rivals while he struggled up the steepest part of the ascent — the first of two tough climbs on the day.

Armstrong crashed once, scraping his knee, and got caught up and delayed in two other spills. One of those also brought down Evans.

Evans is 20 seconds ahead of Schleck overall.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LES ROUSSES, France (AP) — Three crashes have dealt a major blow to Lance Armstrong’s hopes for an eighth Tour victory, with his main rivals building a substantial lead during Sunday’s eighth stage.

The Texan went down negotiating a roundabout with under 32 miles to go just before the first big Alpine climb and then was held up by a rider who crashed in front of him with about 12 miles to go.

The seven-time Tour winner had narrowly averted an earlier pileup that occurred about 4 miles into the 117.4-mile run.

Armstrong’s RadioShack team quickly got him another bike after the second incident and he returned to the race — with the back of his jersey and his bib numbers torn.

Three teammates escorted him back to the pack, with just a few miles to go before the climb that Armstrong had called “key” during the stage — the 8.8-mile ascent of La Ramaz pass.

Cadel Evans — who was second overall — fell in the first crash, ripping his shorts and scraping up his elbow and knees.