MULHOUSE, France - Lance Armstrong surrendered the overall lead in the Tour de France to take some pressure off his team.

The six-time defending champion fully intends to wear the yellow jersey again soon.

Germany's Jens Voigt - not a contender to win in Paris - took the jersey by finishing three minutes ahead of Armstrong in the ninth stage Sunday.

"I felt like (Sunday) might be the day when the jersey would be given away, and it turned out it was," Armstrong said. "We don't need the yellow jersey. We don't need to keep it in the Alps, we need to have it at the end."

Denmark's Mickael Rasmussen won the stage with a gutsy solo ride. He was first over the six climbs, covering the 106.3-mile route from Gerardmer to Mulhouse in eastern France in 4 hours, 8 minutes, 20 seconds.

Voigt finished 3:04 later, just behind France's Christophe Moreau. Armstrong, who had worn yellow for five days, finished in 28th place, crossing the line comfortably in a pack with his main rivals.

On the first of three punishing Alpine stages starting Tuesday, Armstrong will let Voigt's team do the defending while he picks off riders he considers more dangerous rivals.

"Let's see how the race unfolds," Armstrong said. "The first priority is that the guys feel better and get their confidence back."

Wednesday's stage is one of the hardest this year, with three ascents in quick succession peaking with the monstrous Col du Galibier, the Tour's highest point at 8,677 feet.

The good news for Armstrong is that his Discovery Channel teammates appeared to have recovered quickly from their collapse on a climb Saturday, when all eight abandoned him, unable to match the quick uphill pace. That left Armstrong alone to fend off his rivals.

"We were better," Armstrong said. "That's good going into the rest day: regroup and get ready for the big climbs."

Rivals said Discovery's blowout probably was nothing more than a temporary bout of fatigue after a fast first week of racing, and Armstrong remains the man to beat.

"Don't sell the bear's skin before you've killed the bear," Moreau said.

"That won't happen again," U.S. rider Bobby Julich of Team CSC said. "You can maybe disappoint Lance once, but it's better not to disappoint him twice."

Discovery rode hard Sunday at the front of the main pack, strategically allowing Rasmussen and then Voigt and Moreau to pedal off ahead, confident they cannot challenge Armstrong for the overall Tour title.

"Today was my very last chance to take the jersey," Voigt said.

Moreau is second overall, 1:50 behind Voigt. Because they finished together in a group, the time differences between Armstrong and his main rivals - Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Alexandre Vinokourov - remained unchanged.

Rasmussen won a stage for the first time. By being first over the day's six ascents, he also accumulated points for the Tour's mountain-climbing competition. That contest awards a polka dot jersey to the rider with most points, currently Rasmussen.

"It's the only thing I'm good at, climbing mountains," Rasmussen said.

Among the ascents Sunday - and the hardest of the race so far - was the famed Ballon d'Alsace, first climbed on the Tour 100 years ago. Rene Pottier ascended first that day in 1905, but later dropped out of the race with tendinitis. The Frenchman won the Tour the next year.

Five riders dropped out Sunday, including American David Zabriskie of Team CSC. Zabriskie won the yellow jersey on the Tour's first day but lost it to Armstrong three days later when he fell in the team time trial. Zabriskie had struggled with injuries from the crash.

"It's been a real rollercoaster for me," Zabriskie said.

AP-ES-07-11-05 0405EDT