TRIESTE, Italy — Lance Armstrong gained time on his rivals at the Giro d’Italia on Sunday, yet the seven-time Tour de France winner still maintains he has no designs on winning the three-week race.

“I still don’t think I’m a contender for the overall, but I feel better than I thought I would feel,” Armstrong said.

Alessandro Petacchi edged Mark Cavendish to win the second stage in a mass sprint and Cavendish retained the overall leader’s pink jersey.

Armstrong finished in the main pack with the same time as Petacchi, while overall race favorite Ivan Basso and Armstrong’s Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer each finished 13 seconds behind, dropping back when the group was split by a crash with just over 3 miles remaining.

Astana finished third in the team time trial that opened the Giro on Saturday, with Basso’s and the other Italian favorites’ teams trailing.

Bend’s Chris Horner, an Astana team member riding in support of Armstrong and Leipheimer, is 119th, 47 seconds behind the leader.

— From wire reports