Armstrong Hits The Front, Then Fades

He finished 64th in his comeback race on Sunday, a 51-km criterium, then came 120th in Tuesday`s opening stage.

American Lance Armstrong briefly took the lead at the Tour Down Under on Wednesday before fading to finish in the middle of the main bunch.

The seven-times Tour de France winner provided a glimpse of his former glory days when he surged to the front during the 145 kilometre second stage of the six-day event in South Australia.

Although he only led the race for a few seconds and eventually finished 45th, Armstrong said he had wanted to launch the attack to test himself in his comeback to racing after three and a half years away.

"I probably spent a little energy going in that little move, but again it was just a tough day, going up and down all day -- not exactly cool, but not bad altogether," the Texan said.

"It felt pretty good, maybe not the smartest thing I could have done, but I followed wheels and ended up getting into a little move."

Armstrong, 37, announced last year he was making a comeback to promote cancer awareness but has not ruled out the possibility of an eighth Tour de France win.

He finished 64th in his comeback race on Sunday, a 51-km criterium, then came 120th in Tuesday's opening stage.

He has warned against expectations of a fairytale win in the Tour Down Under but said the 800-km race was an ideal warmup for the rest of the season.

"It's a suffer-fest, so it's going to take me a little time," Armstrong said.

"I like to suffer, I know it sounds weird."

"But I can tell you this, if I am racing next year, I will be back."

Wednesday's stage was won by Allan Davis, just ahead of fellow Australian Graeme Brown and Martin Elmiger of Switzerland. Davis also took over the outright race lead.

"We came here with an objective of winning a stage and we've done that on the second stage so we're very happy as a team," Davis said.

Thursday's third stage is a 136-km trip from Unley to Victor Harbour, south of Adelaide.