Armstrong's participation in New Mexico race back on

Armstrong has said the priority of his comeback is to spread the message of the fight against cancer more than to win his eighth Tour de France in July or his first Giro d'Italia.

But two stage races into his comeback, he said he feels in pretty good shape.

"I think overall we're happy with where we are," Armstrong said. "If you compare Feb. 22 to any other year, we're well ahead of that."

Third place overall went to Michael Rogers of Team Columbia-High Road, who was 45 seconds behind Leipheimer.

The Tour of California visited San Diego County for the first time. The 96.8-mile final stage from Rancho Bernardo to Escondido featured a gut-busting ride up snowcapped Palomar Mountain, where the cyclists reached the 5,123-foot level on a two-lane highway with 21 switchbacks.

Frank Schleck of Team Saxo Bank won the eighth stage in 3:48:39. Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas was second and George Hincapie of Team Columbia-High Road was third.

Floyd Landis finished 29th in Sunday's stage and 23rd overall in his first race since being stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone. Landis won the first Tour of California in 2006.

Tour de France troubles

Armstrong believes French doping officials may ban him from riding in this summer's Tour de France over a report that he violated protocols during a recent drug test.

"There's a very high likelihood that they prohibit me from riding in the Tour," a somber Armstrong said Friday in a video statement posted on his Web site. "It's too bad. The Tour is something I love dearly."

Leipheimer was so guarded about his aspirations, he spent nearly an entire interview with The Associated Press downplaying his chances of victory.

"When I stack up against the Italian favorites, I don't think I'm quite the favorite," Leipheimer said. "There's a lot of guys who are focused on the race and it's their big objective. There's a long list of guys ahead of me.

"The Tour (de France) is the biggest objective for myself and the team. If I'm in good shape and I find myself in the hunt in this race, I definitely won't pass it up, but I'm not expecting much and not putting a lot of pressure on myself."

Yet with Armstrong still regaining his form after three and a half years of retirement and surgery to repair a broken collarbone, Leipheimer is the Astana squad's leader for the Giro.

The 35-year-old is one of the world's leading time trialers and he is capable of staying with the other favorites in the mountains, the two key ingredients necessary to win a major tour.

Leipheimer finished third in the 2007 Tour de France and was second to teammate Alberto Contador in last year's Spanish Vuelta. He's won all three races he's entered this year — the Tour of California, the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon and the minor Tour of Gila.

Leipheimer and Armstrong teamed well together to produce a third-place result for Astana in the team time trial that opened the Giro on Saturday.

Leipheimer stood 18th entering Monday's third stage, 40 seconds behind overall leader Mark Cavendish.

He'll likely be the favorite for the marathon-like individual time trial that could decide the Giro. Stage 12 on May 21 is a 37.6-mile, highly technical race against the clock along the coastal area known as Cinque Terre.

"It's almost perfect for him," said Armstrong, who tested the time trial course a couple months ago. "The downhill is a little tricky.

Columbia covered the 12.7-mile route along the Lido beachfront in 21 minutes, 50 seconds. Garmin was six seconds back and Astana was 13 seconds behind.

"I felt all right for an old man," said Armstrong, who is 37 and recovering from a broken collarbone. "Yeah, I think we're pleased with that, considering the amount of preparation we put into it, which was minimal but as much as we could."

Armstrong, riding in his first Giro, crossed the line first for Astana and is 15th in the overall standings.

Columbia and Garmin don't have any aspirations for overall victory. Though Armstrong has said he also doesn't have any designs on winning, he and teammate Levi Leipheimer are higher in the standings than any other favorites.

Italian overall favorites Ivan Basso, Damiano Cunego, Danilo Di Luca and Gilberto Simoni each lost time to Armstrong and Leipheimer.

Armstrong's Astana team must straighten out its financial crisis by May 31 or risk being suspended.

Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel said Monday that the International Cycling Union sent a warning letter to Kazakhstan's cycling federation.

"That's the deadline to arrange the whole financial situation. If it's not taken care of by then, the letter says that the team will be suspended," Bruyneel said. "At least we're going to be able to finish the Giro."

The Giro d'Italia, which Armstrong is racing for the first time, ends May 31.

Astana and Kazakhstan

Astana receives most of its financial support from Kazakh state holding company Samruk-Kazyna, but the Central Asian nation's economy has been badly hit by the ongoing global financial crisis. The team has not paid its employees lately.

Di Luca, the 2007 Giro winner, dedicated the victory to his Abruzzo region. The area was hit by an earthquake early last month that killed nearly 300 people and drove some 50,000 from their homes.

"I wanted to win for my territory today," said Di Luca, who twisted his body as he crossed the line to show the words printed on the side of his jersey — "Forza Abruzzo" or "Go Abruzzo."

Armstrong said before the race he would ride in support Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer. Leipheimer was sixth Tuesday with the same time as Di Luca; Armstrong was 32nd. The other race favorites finished in the lead pack.

"Lance looked really good all day," said Astana team member Chris Horner, dismissing the amount of time Armstrong lost. "That's really small."

Leipheimer is fifth overall, 26 seconds behind Lovkvist. Overall race favorite Ivan Basso is 11th, 53 seconds back.

"Levi looks fantastic as always — real smooth," Horner said. "I don't think you'll see a whole lot of action from our team until you get a little further into the race."

Di Luca and the other top Italians want to take time from Armstrong before the two individual time trials later in the race.

"We're trying to cut him out completely," Di Luca said. "It's tough, but we're going to try again tomorrow. It's going to be a very competitive Giro. This first week is very important for me, because the time trial doesn't suit me."

Petacchi, who also rides for LPR, won the past two stages in sprints. Team Columbia's Mark Cavendish wore the pink jersey after the first two stages.

"I had very good legs," Lovkvist said. "We got the jersey back for the team again and we're not going to give anything away."

E-mail Tim Korte at tkorte@ap.org.

This article appeared on page C1 of the Houston Chronicle.