PATRICK HERTZOG / AFP/Getty Images

Lance Armstrong rides ahead of Fabian Cancellara and Andy Schleck during the 17th stage.

So Armstrong waited — for a while anyway. With about 8.7 miles remaining, the seven-time Tour champ stepped on the gas to leave Wiggins behind and cut his gap on the Schlecks, who are threatening his top-three ambitions.

“I couldn’t find my acceleration to go with the other guys,” Armstrong said. “I was there stuck with Wiggins. I had to wait until it got steeper, when you knew you could definitely go away.

“I probably should have gone with the early acceleration.”

On his Twitter feed, Armstrong wrote that the stage from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornand was “No fun!!” and that he “had some cramps at the end.” He repeatedly shook out his 37-year-old thighs on the final downhill.

Alain Gallopin, a sporting director for Astana, praised Armstrong’s performance — one that could have jeopardized his podium hopes.

“Enormous teamwork from Lance — who had a good finish,” Gallopin said. “He stuck with Wiggins. We didn’t want him to be close to Alberto.”

Rain doused the pack on occasion during the day, and several riders crashed, including American George Hincapie, who hurt his collarbone, and Russia’s Denis Menchov — who went down twice. Both riders rejoined the race.

Norwegian sprint specialist Thor Hushovd pressed the pace most of the day with a solo breakaway, adding points for a stronger grip on the green jersey given to the race’s best sprinter.

On Thursday, riders will race against the clock in Annecy.

Armstrong, Kloeden and Wiggins are stronger time-trial riders than the Schlecks — and could make up ground during the 25.2-mile stage.

In the other individual time trial this Tour, the first stage in Monaco, Armstrong was 20 seconds faster than Andy Schleck and nearly a minute quicker than Frank Schleck. That stage was just 9.63 miles.

If the Schlecks perform poorly in the time trial, they believe they could recover Saturday on the uphill finish at the Mont Ventoux, which Armstrong calls the toughest climb in France.

“Tomorrow’s the time trial. It’s true we’re not great specialists,” Andy Schleck said. “But I’m not afraid. It’s a good course, and we’re as motivated as we were today. We’ll go all out.”