Italy's [Images] Lorenzo Bernucci steered clear of a pile-up on the final bend to win a rain-soaked sixth stage of the Tour de France [Images] on Thursday.

The stage looked set for a mass sprint finish after the 199-km run from Troyes, only for riders to start skidding out of contention in a treacherous final kilometre in Nancy.

France's Christophe Mengin, who had led for more than 160 km and was bidding to win his second Tour stage in his home town, was the first to crash into a barrier near the finish line.

The front of the chasing peloton then piled up in turn, a crash which involved the Tour's best sprinters -- Belgian Tom Boonen and Australian Robbie McEwen.

Six-times Tour champion Lance Armstrong [Images] avoided the crash. The American will take his overall leader's yellow jersey to Germany [Images] in Friday's seventh stage, which ends in Karslruhe.

"We were all very nervous with the rain and the turns and the crashes at the finish," said Armstrong, who added that team manager Johan Bruyneel had warned him and his team mates of the dangers ahead.

Bernucci, 25, took advantage of the confusion to finish on his own, with a three-second lead over Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov. Germany's Robert Foerster was third, seven seconds behind.

It was Bernucci's first success since his professional debut three years ago.

"It's my first victory, I'm very happy. I did not expect it," said the Fassa Bortolo rider.

"When I reached the finish line, I realised there was nobody else and the victory was mine. When I saw the others fall, I gave it my all."

Second place moved Vinokourov, who came third in the Tour two years ago, into second place overall, 53 seconds behind Armstrong, who finished in the main bunch in the same time as Foerster.

BREAKAWAY BID

As in previous days, a small group of riders tried their luck to avoid another mass sprint at the finish.

This time, they were Dutchman Karsten Kroon, France's Mengin and Stephane Auge, Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu and Italian Mauro Gerosa, who broke clear of the main bunch after 38 kilometres.

In heavy rain over eastern France, the five took a lead of eight minutes and 20 seconds before the pack, led by the sprint specialist teams and Danish team CSC, launched the chase.

While the main group caught four of the breakaways in the last of three climbs on the stage, Mengin, who lives in the Nancy region, launched his attack in the hope of finishing on his own and repeating his stage win in Freiburg in 1997.

Just as he was about to be caught, the 37-year-old rider slipped at the last corner and was quickly joined by a dozen others.

More rain is forecast for Friday's Tour run into Germany.