CYCLING/TOUR DE FRANCE: Controversy seems to follow in Lance Armstrong's wake as the little lamb went after Mary. Yesterday it was the turn of the race judges to become involved in a spat with the Texan, who claimed he had been threatened with expulsion from the race unless he wore the yellow jersey during the stage, as the Tour's rulebook stipulates.

Whether the organisers would have dared to follow this through seems unlikely, but it is yet another first for Armstrong who was, after all, merely following a chivalric tradition.

In the past in the Tour, after the race leader had lost the jersey due to a crash, his successor would usually refuse to wear the maillot jaune the following day as a gesture of respect, in recognition that he was the beneficiary of circumstance. This was what Armstrong felt had happened on Tuesday, when his fellow American David Zabriskie fell during the team time-trial.

"After watching the race last night I realised David had been very unlucky," he said. "It didn't feel right to take the jersey on someone else's misfortune."

The Texan signed on without the jersey and left the start wearing the blue and white of his Discovery Channel team.

The stage began against the backdrop of the magnificent Chateau de Chambord, one pinnacle piled on another like a magnificent wedding cake, but not even this could instil a spirit of romance in the men in blazers. The race was stopped after rolling three miles to the point on the edge of the Chambord park where the flag was to be dropped for racing to begin and Armstrong was made to change into yellow.

"There was no negotiation," said Armstrong. "Jean Marie (Leblanc, the race organiser) said, 'If you don't start with the jersey, you won't start tomorrow with any jersey'."

Leblanc said: "The decision was made by the president of the (judges') jury, not by me. You can talk about the spirit of chivalry in the past, but the rule did not exist at the time."

The winner of yesterday's stage, Robbie McEwen, is another less than happy with the way the rules are being applied. The mischievous-looking Australian is still angry at the decision to relegate him to 186th place in Tours on Monday for headbutting and leaning on his fellow Australian Stuart O'Grady at 40mph in the finish straight.

Yesterday he kept his head and elbows to himself and responded in the most stylish manner in the final metres by overtaking Tom Boonen of Belgium, winner of the opening two stages, to win the sixth Tour stage of his career. Boonen began his run for the line too early in the slightly uphill finish and the Australian, twice a winner of the points prize, came out of his slipstream with just enough time to pip him on the line.

McEwen quoted Eddy Merckx and Sean Kelly - not the most compromising of sprinters - as sharing his view that "no one should have been disqualified". He added: "It was pretty harsh. I want to make it clear that I don't want to place blame, but I didn't make the first move, it didn't affect the classification of the stage and it didn't affect other riders. They should have let sleeping dogs lie."

The stage finished amid something akin to national mourning after the Olympic vote, but French sports fans were spared the news of another victory for the British capital yesterday. The Tour organisers said a newspaper report that London will be formally confirmed next week as the start location for the 2007 race was "totally false".