The Associated Press

NEVERS, France - Lance Armstrong's team has plenty of champagne in stock.

But although the four-time champion is in good position for another Tour de France victory, he is not about to start popping corks with more than two weeks to go.

The Texan remained in second place overall behind teammate Victor Hugo Pena, playing it safe and finishing 53rd in Thursday's fifth stage of cycling's showcase event.

Alessandro Petacchi, an Italian proving to be the sprint king of this centennial Tour, took the stage for his third stage victory in five days.

Armstrong is preserving his strength for the mountains, using his U.S. Postal Service teammates to shield him from accidents.

"We're in good shape," teammate George Hincapie said. "Our main strategy is to keep Lance out of trouble and let him do the least work possible. Keep him out of trouble and out of the wind."

Armstrong was sandwiched between teammates Hincapie (52nd) and Pavel Padrnos (54th) in the 122.03-mile race to Nevers. In the overall standings, U.S. Postal holds the top eight spots.

"It worked out well today," teammate Floyd Landis said. "We didn't have to push too hard or do too much work."

The team routed its rivals in time trials Wednesday when squads raced against the clock. The win, the team's first in the event, put Armstrong 38 seconds ahead of Jan Ullrich, the 1997 winner, and three minutes ahead of Gilberto Simoni, winner of this year's Giro d'Italia.

Simoni is strong in the mountains, but so is Armstrong. The Italian will have trouble making up the lost time in the Alps' painful climbs that begin Saturday.

Pena took the leader's yellow jersey Wednesday and kept it Thursday, his 29th birthday.

Pena, the first Colombian to lead the Tour in the race's 100-year history, is a second ahead of Armstrong because he was that much faster in the first race, a sprint through Paris last Saturday.

At the finish in Nevers, Petacchi beat Jaan Kirsipuu of Estonia and Baden Cooke of Australia with a burst in the last 200 yards.

Petacchi, of the Italian Fassa Bortolo team, completed the 121.8-mile hilly course in 4 hours, 9 minutes, 47 seconds. Petacchi also won sprint finishes in the first and third stages of the 20-stage race, which covers 2,125 miles.

"A sprint is a question of centimeters. ... You need just a little problem for it to go badly," he said. "Up until now, it's gone well. But I can't say that I'm the king of the sprinters because there are other good sprinters."

At a glance

Stage: Troyes to Nevers, a 122.03-mile route through Burgundy toward central France.

Winner: Italy's Alessandro Petacchi, in 4 hours, 9 minutes, 47 seconds; it was his third stage win of the Tour.

How others fared: Four-time winner Lance Armstrong finished in 53rd place; Germany's Jan Ullrich, a 1997 Tour winner, was 39th; American Tyler Hamilton of Team CSC rode with a fractured collarbone and placed 105th.

Quote of the day: "It's a really fantastic birthday, you know. I feel like I'm living in a dream." - Overall leader Victor Hugo Pena, who celebrated his 29th birthday Thursday.

Next stage: Nevers to Lyon, a 142.6-mile trek.