PARIS – Lance Armstrong (search) finished 140th Sunday in the prologue of the Paris-Nice cycling race, a key tuneup for the Tour de France (search) in July when he will go for a record seventh straight title.
Armstrong, who previously raced in this event in 1999, has not placed a priority on winning. In the prologue, the Texan was 27 seconds behind winner Jens Voigt of Germany.
Voigt of Team CSC completed the 2.47-mile race around Issy-Les-Moulineaux in 5 minutes, 15.41 seconds. He was two seconds ahead of Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland and three ahead of Erik Dekker of the Netherlands.
The race resumes Monday with a 115-mile ride from Etampes to Chabris and ends March 13.
Team CSC, directed by 1996 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, won the race last year with another German, Jorg Jacksche.
"It was not a very technical course," said Voigt, who recovered from an upset stomach to take part. "I was decisive in the first two kilometers. I used my speed and power and then I was able to maintain my rhythm."
Voigt's teammates also did well — Vladimir Gusev was fourth, David Zabriskie eighth and Kurt-Asle Arvesen 12th.
"It is not just Jens who can win the race," Riis said. "We have two or three others in a good position."
Alexander Vinokourov of the T-Mobile team, a two-time Paris-Nice winner, finished seven seconds behind Voigt in 16th spot. Jaksche was eight seconds behind in 20th.
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