SANTA ROSA, California, Feb 15, 2009 (AFP) – Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong emerged from a frigid, frustrating day lying fifth in the Tour of California – a far cry from lying on a nice, warm beach.

“I think a year ago I was in St. Barths on the beach,” said Armstrong, who this year launched a return to cycling after a three-year hiatus.

His appearance in the Tour Down Under in Australia in January marked his first race since his 2005 Tour de France Triumph, and the Tour of California continues his build-up to a European campaign slated to include the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.

Retirement might have been looking good to the 37-year-old by the end of the day Sunday, when he woke to find his time-trial bike had been stolen, then suffered a puncture and a fall as cold wind and rain turned stage one into an exercise in survival.

“Holy hell. That was terrible,” Armstrong exclaimed on his Twitter feed shortly after finishing. “Maybe one of the toughest days I’ve had on a bike, purely based on the conditions. I’m still freezing.”

However the Texan held on to finish fifth in the stage won by Spain’s Francisco Mancebo and move from 10th into fifth overall, 1min 05sec behind.

Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer, the two-time defending champion, was second overall, 1:02 back, after he and Armstrong came up short in their bid to close the gap on Mancebo.

“We were going hard downhill, but at the end it was full-on team time trial,” Armstrong said of the chase.

Armstrong’s day started badly, when he learned the bike he had used in Saturday’s prologue in Sacramento had been stolen overnight from a truck along with those of three teammates.

Armstrong revealed the theft before the start of the stage on Twitter, the social networking website, and posted a picture of the distinctive machine.

“There is only one like it in the world therefore hard to pawn it off,” he wrote. “Reward being offered.”

Sacramento Police Department spokesman Konrad Von Schoech said it wasn’t clear whether the thieves were targeting Armstrong, whose presence has focused attention on the race.

“We don’t have any information that would indicate they specially went after his bike,” he said.

At the end of the day, Armstrong said he wasn’t too worried about the loss of the bike, adorned with his Livestrong foundation logo.

He said he expected it to turn up, and even if it doesn’t before Friday’s individual time trial stage in Solvang he has a back-up.

“A bike is replaceable,” he said. “I just expect that bike will come back.

There is no way you can steal a one-of-a-kind bike unless you want to keep it to yourself or burn it.

“I have a spare bike which I actually spent more time on. It is ready to go. So it’s all right.”

Photo by: VeloImages