Posted on 07/07/2009 1:36:24 PM PDT by lewisglad
Lance Armstrong moved level with Fabian Cancellara at the head of the overall standings after helping Astana to a team time-trial success on stage four of the Tour de France.
Cancellara, of Saxo Bank, retains the yellow jersey going into tomorrow's fifth stage but Armstrong, the seven-time winner of the Tour, was able to wipe out a 40-second deficit on the roads of Montpellier.
Astana posted a time of 46 minutes and 29 seconds to win the 39km stage, with Garmin-Slipstream finishing second 18 seconds back and Saxo Bank third, a further 22 seconds behind.
Alberto Contador, Armstrong's team-mate, moves into third place in the overall standings while Andreas Kloden and Levi Leipheimer, who also ride for Astana, make up the top five
Britain's Bradley Wiggins and David Millar, who both ride for Garmin-Slipstream, finished the day in sixth and tenth place respectively. Mark Cavendish, the winner of the second and third stages, retains the green jersey.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Wow. One second.
I wonder if we will see a day in the mountains where Astana drops everyone else and lets Lance and Alberto settle this at the top. I’m thinking it is very likely.
2 competitors that can kill you with a glare: Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong.
Lance is one hell of a competitor!
Amazing.
I hope he smokes the Europeons.
One.
Amazing.
Athelete.
Astana rider Lance Armstrong (C) of the U.S. celebrates with team mates on the podium after the 39 km team time-trial for the fourth stage of the 96th Tour de France cycling race between Montpellier and Montpellier, July 7, 2009
I don’t know if an exception can be made for thread titles to put “TDF Stage 3 Spoiler” or something, but since this is the 2nd day in a row that I’ve seen the results in a title, I’m a little aggravated.
Please be mindful of people who record the race and want to watch it at night.
Thanks,
Chris
Team riding and the peloton mean little when climbing at 12-15mph.
They both want the #1 spot on this team and they'll fight for it in the mountains.
This should be settled by stage 15...or not:)
It MOST CERTAINLY MUST be settled by stage 18 or so.
No rider is good enough to win on his own.
sorry my bad about the title, Versus will have a special tonight with all of the main competitors interviews...
Armstrong was saying today that there are top riders already out of the Tour because of the time gaps...
For my money, that'll be the best part of this Tour. Contador (world' s greatest climber) versus Armstrong (astonishing climber and proven killer on the mountains).
Sometimes, before a long ride, I watch the video of Lance's conquest of Alpe D'Huez in 2001 just to get pumped!
No big deal. The outcome is what I expected due to the strength of their team.
I’ll watch it on fast forward. I don’t need to hear all the commentary :)
Question: Doesn’t the team manager pretty much designate who the #1 rider is?
I’ve followed a lot of Tours and I can’t remember a 2-headed Dragon approach ever working all that well. I expect that the manager will allow a rivalry, but after a few mountain stages he’ll put his foot down for the sake of the team. The #2 will have to wait for “The Word” to go for it if the #1 guy falters. This is why cycling, while interesting, can never be anything more than a curiousity to the average American sports fan.
That's quite a statement. Until you get to the mountains the riders are dicing for seconds each stage. In the mountains riders can 'break' and give up huge chunks of time to the leaders. The fact that Lance is this close to the lead BEFORE the mountains has to be worrying to the peleton. OTOH, he is 37 and his chief rival in the mountains is also a teammate. Should be interesting.
That is, best for a day. Think marathon.
However, this race runs 21 days of enormous effort and physical breakdown. I wonder if an "old man" of 37 can keep it going in the final stages...he not supposed to be able to recover as well, or as fast, as his younger rivals.
If he does, no doubt one of the greatest sports feats EVER.
I don’t think they could either, but they could set up a pretty interesting duel by making a move as a team in the middle of the stage.
It would be interesting to see Contador get “the look”. At least as a spectator.....probably make his blood run cold.
I think it is probably as much a statement about the strength of Astana as anything. Really who is going to be able to run down the guy they are protecting?
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