Haussler shines on rainy Tour stage

COLMAR, France (Reuters) - German Heinrich Haussler overcame the rain and cold to win Friday's hilly 200-km 13th stage of the Tour de France as the weather blunted the ambitions of the main contenders for overall victory.

The Australian-born Haussler crowned his best professional season with a stage win in Colmar after a long break during which he dropped his companions one by one to finish on his own.

With several tricky climbs, including the first category Platzerwasel 60 km from the finish, the stage looked a promising terrain for attacks.

But the favourites seemed content to stick together until the finish line and as a result, Italian Rinaldo Nocentini retained his six seconds lead over Alberto Contador of Spain.

"It was a hard day as we lost 20 degrees in 24 hours. Nobody took any risks with the rain and I managed to keep my jersey," Nocentini told reporters.

Seven-times champion Lance Armstrong, who looked very fit in the day's climbs, stayed third, two seconds behind his Astana team mate.

Cervelo team rider Haussler, winner of a Paris-Nice stage and runner-up in the Tour of Flanders and Milan-San Remo this season, finished four minutes 11 seconds ahead of Spain's Amets Txurruka, who chased behind him in the last two climbs.

France's Brice Feillu, winner of the seventh stage in Andorra, was third, 6:13 adrift, closely followed by the main pack.

"It's a big, big day for me," said Haussler. "I was lucky in spite of the bad weather or perhaps because of it.