CANNES, France — Floyd Landis won back the lead of the Tour de France yesterday on the race’s most storied climb, under the watchful eyes of retired champion Lance Armstrong, whose controversial visit nearly overshadowed his one-time teammate’s achievement.

Even if did, it is unlikely that Landis cared. There was some question as to whether Landis even would try to regain the yellow jersey on the Alpe d’Huez, as it would put exhausting pressure on his Phonak team. It was all but certain he wouldn’t try for a stage victory.

That honor went instead to Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck, followed by Italy’s Damiano Cunego, 11 seconds behind, and then Landis and three other top contenders.In the end, Oscar Pereiro showed up 10 seconds late to the finish line on the Alpe d’Huez, and surrendered his title to the American.

With only a hint of a smile, Landis measured his response.

“I have to be careful what I say, because the upcoming stages are pretty tough,” he said of the two remaining days through the Alps.

During Monday’s rest day, Landis announced that he had no intention of winning an Alpine stage, preferring to give those away to potential allies and simply remain within striking distance for the time trials on Saturday. Since so many of the top riders finished close together yesterday, this unbridled edition of the Tour de France might indeed come down to the final weekend, something cycling fans haven’t seen since Armstrong began his seven-year reign.

“I think the race is still wide open,” Armstrong said, sporting sunglasses and a Discovery Channel team hat, before watching the action from a van.

French commentators complained that the Texan’s visit was in poor taste — and not only because he risked coming off as a recent college graduate returning to his fraternity’s blow-out party of the year.

He said he was coming back only “as a fan,” though he was received as nothing less than a star, and then, as one whose popularity ratings have suffered ever since his appearance at a nationally televised sports awards ceremony earlier this week.

Hosting the ESPY awards, Armstrong opened with a joke about anal sex, with a nod to Jake Gyllenhaal, a member of the audience who played a gay cowboy in the film “Brokeback Mountain.” By Monday, the Texan was on a roll, calling French soccer star Zinedine Zidane an “a–hole” for his now-famous head butt of Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final. That wound is still fresh here, on the losing side of the Alps, where Zidane is seen more as a victim of Materazzi’s taunts.

“They just don’t understand the point, which is to have a sense of humor,” the cycling champion turned show host said in defense of his remarks yesterday, in front of French reporters. “It’s part of the spectacle, that’s the whole point.”

Today, Armstrong will ride in the Discovery Channel team car with manager Johann Bruyneel, even if the American squad appears entirely out of the running for a victory in Paris. Discovery’s Yaroslav Popovych is in 13th place, 7:36 behind, while George Hincapie is now a distant 26:18 behind, despite a lastgasp effort yesterday.

Hincapie was part of an early attack of about 25 rides that took off near the start. Most of them had tailed off by the time the riders coasted down the slick backside of the Col du Lautaret, the race’s penultimate mountain. There, it started to sprinkle, turned into a downpour, and the riders slowed up to avoid disaster on some of the Tour’s most treacherous curves.

At the base of the Alpe d’Huez, the lead group, containing Hincapie, Schleck, and Cunego had a three-minute advantage, as Landis, Andreas Kloden (T-Mobile), and Butte, Montananative Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) started to close in.

Seconds behind were the Tour’s other top guns, Carlos Sastre (CSC), Cadel Evans (Davitamon), and Pereiro. The Spaniard seemed in shape to retain his overall lead, but on the Alpe d’Huez, fortunes are won and lost in just a few steep kilometers.

Pereiro immediately faded as Landis, Kloden, and Leipheimer zig-zagged their way past the imploding escapees. With about 10km to the summit, Kloden frequently pulled over to let Landis pass. The two exchanged words, but Landis, who enjoys a 2:30 lead on the German, remained tight on his rear wheel.

“Why would he [want to pass]?” Laurent Jalabert, a two-time climbing champion of the Tour, wondered aloud to French television audiences. “Kloden is the one who needs to attack here. Let’s not forget that Landis is the strongest time trialist.”

Soon, Evans and Sastre — Landis’s nearest competitors — closed in, and the American favorite put on the steam. He sprinted ahead to join his teammate Axel Merckx, an early escapee who waited back for his captain.With Merckx setting the pace, the group then swallowed up Hincapie. With less than 5 km to go, Kloden and Sastre closed the gap on Stefano Garzelli and increased their advantage on the overall leader to a jerseystripping 1:39.

When the classifications were posted, Landis had just slim leads over his other rivals, as well: 2:02 on surprise candidate Cyril Dessel (A2R) of France; 2:12 on the extraordinary Russian climber Denis Menchov (Rabobank); and less than three minutes on Sastre, Kloden, and Evans.

Leads like those can change hands quickly in the remaining mountain stages.Today, the riders will have plenty of shots at the lead between Bourg d’Oisans and La Toussuire: They face two beyond-category climbs, including the 2,646-meter Col du Galibier, the highest mountain yet on this 93rd edition of the Tour. The weather forecast: the hottest temperatures so far this summer, with scorching sun for the mid-day start.