Tour de Lance....is it over
 

Dude took the lead after the fourth stage..................this puppy is over :)

Armstrong, Discovery Channel Team Win Time Trial
American Takes Yellow Jersey; Early Leader Zabriskie Takes a Tumble
By JAMEY KEATEN, AP SPORTS

BLOIS, France (July 5) - Lance Armstrong took the overall lead in the Tour de France on Tuesday when his Discovery Channel squad won the team time trial in the fourth stage in record time.

"So I can clearly see how it happened, but it's clearly a bad one for him," he said of Zabriskie.

With the win, Armstrong will wear the yellow jersey for the 66th time in his Tour career. Discovery teammate George Hincapie is second overall, 55 seconds behind Armstrong.

Now, Armstrong and Discovery will decide whether they want to maintain the race lead or give up the yellow jersey until later in the race, which finishes on July 24 finish in Paris.

"It's always nice to be in yellow," Armstrong said. "There are three or four flat stages coming, so it will not be easy to defend the jersey."

Armstrong heaped praise on his teammates, citing Hincapie in particular, and dedicated the victory to Russian veteran Vyacheslav Ekimov, who is out with an injury.

Under overcast skies, the nine-man teams set off one-by-one through the Loire River valley, known for its majestic medieval and Renaissance castles, and through the town of Amboise, where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life.

The Discovery teammates took turns leading the single-file pack of riders. Seven of the nine riders rode with Armstrong under U.S. Postal team colors last year, before the change of the lead sponsor.

"It was a very tight matchup as we expected. We kept a good rhythm," Discovery team director Johan Bruyneel said. "We stayed together ... It was a beautiful machine operating."

The riders will now embark on three relatively flat stages toward Germany, which the race enters on Friday, starting with a 183-kilometer (113.46-mile) the fifth stage Wednesday from the Chambord castle to the industrial town of Montargis.

"There's still a lot of racing to go, a lot of nervous days, anything can happen, crashes here, crashes there, especially the stages in the few days which are tricky," Armstrong said.


07/05/05 11:12 EDT

The man is a machine.

A lot can happen between now and the end of the grueling race (24th), but I'm of the opinion that Armstrong & his team will win an unheard of 7th victory.

:thumb:

Sans a crash or illness, yes.

If Zabreski (sp?) hadn't have fallen, he and Armstrong would have had exactly the same GC time. That would have been weird. Two yellow jerseys?

Armstrong rules, I really hope he wins this.

Dang. I just heard that Zabriskie broke some ribs when he crashed. Tour's over for him.

Awesome. Really early to call the race, but sure looks good for #7.

They time to the nearest 1/100 of a second, so in all likelihood they would have been able to detrmine a true leader.


It is far from over yet. Armstrong won't really be tested until the mountain stages. In the 1996 Tour, Miguel Indurain had a string of 5 consecutive tour victories going that were every bit as convincing as Lance's. He looked for all the world like he was riding to his 6th victory until the first mountain stage where he was clearly unable to match the top riders. Tried as he might on subsequent stages, he just could not do it. Old age had finally caught up to him. He retired following the Tour at age 32.

But yes, everything so far is pointing to a victory for Lance.

Aren't the mountain stages where Lance really kicks ass though?

I'd say that today the most likely reason for him to not win may be crowd interference. His dominance is driving the Euro-weenies nuts. Didn't some Germans last year whack his bike with an umbrella?

Very happy for LA and team Discovery. Very saddened for David Z. What a way to lose the maillot jaune.
Can anyone confirm Donger's post? Carp!

It is early still, I would get too excited until the mountains. Those are the best stages, in terms of entertainment, I think.

As long as he keeps the wheels upright, it will be his.

Yes he is very good in the mountains. The toughest terrain is where slight differences in rider's abilities can result in minutes of difference in finishing time. So even though he has enjoyed an advantage there in years past, it is also where any weakening of his ability due to age will most likely show.

It was two years ago, it was a lunch bag, and it was accidental. The fan was an idot, but not malicious.

Yes, but Indurain was never as a good a climber as Lance is.

Or one of those crazy ass French don't try to pick him off.

"Fuggin' Americans stealing everything."

The German fans got pretty nasty last year, especially on the individual time trial up.