Tour de Lance....is it over

[ChiTown]

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