Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong tosses flowers to the crowd after moving within a fraction of a second of the overall lead in the Tour de France.
(Christophe Ena/Associated Press)
Tour de France
Armstrong suddenly a whisker off the lead
Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong tosses flowers to the crowd after moving within a fraction of a second of the overall lead in the Tour de France.
(Christophe Ena/Associated Press)
MONTPELLIER, France - For the first time in four years at the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong stood atop the podium and raised his arms high. In one hand was the trophy for winning yesterday’s Stage 4. In the other was a bouquet of flowers.
He would have been celebrating in the yellow jersey, too, slipping on that familiar color in front of a cheering crowd. But a split-second kept him from the top spot.
Armstrong’s team, Astana, won the team time trial in commanding fashion by finishing the 24.2-mile course in 46 minutes 29 seconds. If Astana had crossed the finish line just a whisper faster, Armstrong would have moved into first place overall. But he is in second now, less than a second behind Fabian Cancellara.
“It’s a little bit of a disappointment,’’ the seven-time Tour winner said afterward. “But I have seven of the yellow jerseys at home.’’
Armstrong and Cancellara share an overall time of 10 hours 38 minutes 7 seconds, although the Swiss rider was deemed a fraction ahead as a result of Saturday’s opening time trial in Monaco, where results were calculated to the thousandth of a second.
Cancellara, a time-trial specialist who won the Monaco stage, let out a sigh after hearing he would not have to give up the precious maillot jaune. His team, Saxo Bank, finished third in the time trial, with a time of 47:09.
Cancellara joked about the clock favoring him, hailing what he called “the precision of Swiss timing.’’
After two mostly flat stages (today’s Stage 5 is a 122-mile ride along the Mediterranean from Le Cap d’Agde to Perpignan), the three-week race reaches the Pyrenees Friday. That’s when the rivalry between the 37-year-old Armstrong and teammate Alberto Contador, the 2007 Tour winner, could emerge. They are both far better climbers than Cancellara.
“It’s not going to be easy,’’ Armstrong said. “That’s as honest as I can say it.’’
“We’re smart enough to know we have to come together, unite, if we want to win this Tour,’’ Contador has said.
And that’s exactly what Astana did yesterday on the narrow, windy, bumpy roads around Montpellier. The course was slick, with wicked crosswinds causing problems for many teams. Several riders lost control when wind hit them, crashing into a field on one of the turns. Others fell on the turns, which were tight and tricky to maneuver.
Astana now has four of the top five riders in the overall standings: Armstrong, Contador (third, 19 seconds behind), Andreas Kloden (fourth, 23 seconds back), and Levi Leipheimer (fifth, 31 behind).
Defending champion Carlos Sastre is 2:44 back, two-time runner-up Cadel Evans is 2:59 behind, and Giro d’Italian champ Denis Menchov is 3:52 astern.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
