Looking back on his similar position in 1986, he insisted he had been true to his word. “To be honest, I’m convinced I could have won this Tour, but I had promised Greg I would help him,” he said.

Hushovd wins sixth stage

Norway’s Thor Hushovd defied the rain and treacherous conditions to win the sixth stage in a mass sprint finish on Thursday. Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland kept the yellow jersey, with just a split-second lead over Lance Armstrong after the race entered Spain with a 181.5-km trek from Gerona to Barcelona.

Hushovd, of the Cervelo team, collected his seventh Tour stage win by edging out two Spaniards — three-time world champion Oscar Freire in second, and Jose Joaquin Rojas in third. “I’m just too, too happy,” said Hushovd. “It was a nervous day too, because it was raining and the roads were slippery.”

They clocked 4 hours, 21 minutes, 33 seconds, the same time as 40 other riders including Armstrong and Cancellara.