Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen won the sixth stage of the Tour de France on Friday -- his third stage victory in this race -- while Tom Boonen of Belgium kept the overall lead.
McEwen consolidated his lead in the green-jersey competition for sprinters by winning the final dash to the line in the 189km race through Normandy. He has won 11 stages in nine Tours.
The Davitamon-Lotto cyclist clocked 4 hours, 10 minutes, 17 seconds for the stage from Lisieux to Vitre, in northwest Brittany, at an average speed of 45.3kph.
Italian rider Daniele Bennati -- who still felt pain in his left thigh after a crash during Thursday's stage -- was second, with Boonen third. They clocked the same time as McEwen, whose win vaulted him to second in the overall standings, 12 seconds behind Boonen.
Boonen, the Quickstep star still winless in this Tour, was to wear the race leader's yellow jersey for a fourth straight day yesterday in the first long time trial.
That race against the clock should provide the first solid indication of the favorites in a field stripped of its stars by a doping scandal before the three-week race began on July 1.
Scamps rob policemen
Two Luxembourg policemen on Tour de France duty had their guns and uniforms stolen from a hotel in Strasbourg, a police source from the little land-locked country revealed on Friday.
The two officers were staying in a hotel in Lingolsheim, just outside Strasbourg, which they left unattended just before the race's start last Sunday.
Two minors, well known to police in the area, have been caught but they had already sold one of the guns, as well as a camera stolen at the same time.
However, an investigation was launched and the buyers, two men, have also been apprehended and appeared before magistrates on Friday, as did the two minors.
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