Armstrong looks to the sky

VICTOR HARBOR, AUSTRALIA —  Lance Armstrong made his presence felt today in the third stage of the Tour Down Under. He was part of a 14-man breakaway that led the peloton for a good hour during the middle of the race. In fact, Armstrong was peeved enough at a hovering helicopter that was causing a downdraft that he managed to get the copter to move.

Shortly after the chopper moved away, the gathering peloton moved up on the lead group and caught Armstrong and his pack for the final 20 miles of windy riding to a massive sprint finish taken by Australian Graeme Brown of the Rabobank team.

Another Aussie, Allan Davis, held on to the leader’s ocher jersey even though he was part of an early crash that knocked defending champion Andre Greipel of the American Team Columbia out of the race because of a separated shoulder. Greipel ran into a race course motorcycle.

Armstrong, who finished 32nd today, said he didn’t want to make a big deal out of his copter complaint but noted that the course was already difficult because of gusting winds.

“With the deep wheel wells we have now, some of the little guys could be blown to New Zealand,” Armstrong said. Armstrong again pronounced himself content with his conditioning and his racing desire. He said he enjoyed being part of the first breakaway and that he also had no need to be part of the final attack.

“They were all sprinters in there,” he said. “I was content to let them go.”

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diane.pucin@latimes.com