ADELAIDE, Australia, Jan 21, 2009 (AFP) – American Lance Armstrong cranked up the speed in a bid to further test his form in the second stage of the Tour Down Under, won by Australian Allan Davis here Wednesday.

Armstrong was among several riders to have a go at attacking the peloton late in the day after a three-man breakaway had been reeled in with less than 50km to race.

But the seven-time Tour de France winner eventually decided it was not a great move.

“It was maybe not the smartest thing I could have done but I just followed a couple of wheels and found myself in a little group,” he said.

“I probably spent a bit of energy going in that little move.”

The 37-year-old American — making his professional comeback from retirement after a three-and-a-half year hiatus — admitted he still has a way to go in terms of reaching full fitness.

“It’s going to take a while to adapt to race speed, I think today proved that. In the race it’s fast, the guys are strong, it’s a suffer-fest,” said Armstrong, who admitted that he has only once queried his decision to return to the sport.

“The only time I thought that was yesterday, when I was doing 106 kph (66 miles per hour) going downhill,” he said.

“I like to suffer… If I wasn’t enjoying it I would pack it in, despite the bigger reason,” he said in reference to his cancer-awareness drive for the Lance Armstrong/Livestrong Foundation (LAF).

At the end of another day of racing in hot temperatures, the race — despite the demands of its undulating profile — ended in a small bunch sprint.

Davis, who signed for the Belgian team Quick Step last year, dominated his rivals at the end of a slightly uphill finish to the 145 km race from Hahndorf to Stirling.

It means Davis, the only rider to have participated in all 11 editions of the six-stage race, takes over the race leader’s ochre jersey from defending champion Andre Greipel of Germany, who rides for Columbia.

Davis now leads Greipel by three seconds in the overall classification, with Rabobank sprinter and compatriot Graeme Brown, who was second on the stage, in third place at four seconds behind.

Davis’s win, in his first race for Quick Step, will help soothe the pain of what has been a frustrating past two years.

Once caught up in the ‘Operation Puerto’ drugs investigation in Spain in 1996, Davis was later cleared of any implication.

“This is my first race for the team, we came here with the objective of winning a stage and whatever happens now is a bonus,” said the 28-year-old.

“The team did a great job here today and I want to thank them and the management for the trust they’ve put in me.”

Near the end of a 20km circuit that the peloton had to race three times, Davis’s chance emerged after fellow Aussie Michael Rogers, of Columbia, helped close the gap to Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez after his attack from 600 metres out.

From there it was a case of hanging on, and launching at the right moment, said Davis.

“With 250 metres to go I thought, ‘stuff it, I’m going’, and I just put the head down and concentrated on the finish line and hoped to get there ahead of anyone else,” he said.