Lance Armstrong's yellow jersey collection will grow if sprinters again steal the honours in the 200.5-km fifth stage of the Tour de France between Amiens and Chartres.

The American five-times Tour winner will spend his 54th day in yellow on the flat stage taking the 183 riders left in the race away from the North and close to Paris where Armstrong hopes to be crowned for a record sixth time on July 25.

Even though Tour organisers only count the jerseys worn on the race, other calculations include the five yellow jerseys won by the Texan with each one of his Tour victories, bringing the figure of jerseys won by the American to 59.

"I never thought about it and I didn't know I was close to my 60th yellow jersey," said Armstrong. "But actually, the only ones that count are the ones you get in Paris."

It would take a long breakaway for the American to lose the overall lead, but the terrain in Thursday's stage and the weather forecasts, pointing at heavy rain throughout the day, should not favour attacks.

Armstrong, who leads compatriots and team mates George Hincapie and Floyd Landis by 10 and 16 seconds respectively in the overall standings after their US Postal victory in Wednesday's team time trial, would also be delighted to see one of them slip into the yellow jersey.

"After a team time trial you often see a team trade the jersey, it goes from one guy to the other," Armstrong said.

Among the five-times Tour winners, Armstrong is only fourth in terms of days spent in the Tour lead.

Belgian Eddy Merckx sported the yellow jersey for 96 days. France's Bernard Hinault wore it for 78 and Miguel Indurain of Spain for 60.