Rinaldo Nocentini defends lead in 10th stage of Tour de France

Nocentini defends lead in Tour’s 10th stage

ISSOUDUN, France — Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy set off in the yellow jersey Tuesday, with Tour de France organizers banning rider earpieces for this stage and forcing cyclists to devise tactics without radio instructions from team cars.

The flat, 121-mile course from Limoges and Issoudun favored sprinters, meaning the overall standings were not expected to change significantly.

Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong started the 10th stage in third place, trailing teammate and rival Alberto Contador of Spain by two seconds. Nocentini leads Contador by six seconds.

Armstrong is coming out of 3½ years of retirement and chasing an eighth Tour title. Contador is aiming for a second crown after winning in 2007. The Spanish mountain specialist was unable to defend his title last year because Astana was barred from the race because of doping scandals.

The Tour hoped to inject drama into this race by eliminating earpieces in the 10th and 13th stages. Many riders, including Armstrong and Contador, saw the measure as dangerous.

“I can’t hear anything, I don’t know anything. … I feel naked,” Armstrong joked as he got off his Astana team bus and mounted his bike to go to the start line. “I think it’s a lot to do about nothing.”

Astana team director Johan Bruyneel had campaigned for the ban to be overturned. But it was upheld and is also scheduled for Friday, a tricky stage featuring one big climb and possibly many attacks. Teams are still pressuring organizers to overturn the ban.

“My impression is that we’ll have the radio on Friday,” Armstrong said.

With the backing of the cycling’s governing body, Tour organizers decided last month that rider radios and TV sets in cars would be banned for stages 10 and 13. Earlier in the race, Bruyneel said the Tour was “not the place to have an experiment” of this kind.

Earpieces allow riders to be linked to their directors in the team cars. Popularized by Armstrong when he won his first Tour in 1999, some riders and former champions have recently criticized them for making the sport too clinical.

Riders can be informed of developments and told when they need to attack or chase riders in a breakaway.

“There are arguments to both sides, to have them or not to have them. But on balance, I think it’s better to have them,” Armstrong said. “In cycling, we have other, more important, things to care about.”

AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report.