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07-07-2009, 04:22 PM
If Lance wins this event, after the four years off and the major crash at his last event, I have got to put this at the top of my Sports stories for 2009. He has put himself in the competition during the most difficult part of the race for him. In years past, Armstrong is usually way down the leaderboard during this stage..
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2009/ne...NHeadlines
MONTPELLIER, France -- Lance Armstrong surged within a second of the Tour de France lead after his Astana squad won Tuesday's team time trial in a dramatic finish.
Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara of the Saxo Bank team narrowly kept the yellow jersey lead following the fourth stage, a 24.2-mile ride in and around Montpellier.
Tour de France Tracker
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Astana needed to beat Saxo Bank by more than 40 seconds for Armstrong to take the yellow jersey. The seven-time champion started the stage in third place, and Astana exactly matched that 40-second deficit. Cancellara's team finished third.
"That's Swiss timing," Cancellara said, laughing. "Time is on my side."
Armstrong credited his teammates but acknowledged he had hoped to move in front after the first team time trial on the Tour since 2005.
"This is a little bit of a disappointment," he said. "That's cycling."
The 37-year-old Texan said the many tight turns along the course made for "tricky" riding. Three crashes marred the start of the stage, including one involving Giro d'Italia winner Denis Menchov.
Lance Armstrong is within one second of the yellow jersey after his Astana team won Tuesday's time trial at the Tour de France.
The U.S. team Garmin was second in the stage, 18 seconds after Astana, despite only five of the nine riders being able to keep up the pace.
The stage finished with a flair. At the last intermediate time check, at the 19-milemark, Astana was 41 seconds faster than Saxo Bank, putting Armstrong in the lead at that point and setting up the tense finale.
Armstrong and Cancellara share an overall time of 10 hours, 38 minutes, 7 seconds, although the Swiss rider was deemed a fraction ahead. Organizers examined Saturday's opening time trial in Monaco that was won by Cancellara. Those results were calculated to the thousandth of a second.
After Cancellara, the next four riders are from Astana: Armstrong; 2007 winner Alberto Contador of Spain is 19 seconds back in third; 2004 runner-up Andreas Kloeden of Germany is fourth, 23 seconds back; and Levi Leipheimer of the United States is fifth, 31 seconds behind.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2009/ne...NHeadlines
MONTPELLIER, France -- Lance Armstrong surged within a second of the Tour de France lead after his Astana squad won Tuesday's team time trial in a dramatic finish.
Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara of the Saxo Bank team narrowly kept the yellow jersey lead following the fourth stage, a 24.2-mile ride in and around Montpellier.
Tour de France Tracker
Get all the information you need on every rider and team, plus real-time results from every stage of the 2009 Tour de France. Launch »
Astana needed to beat Saxo Bank by more than 40 seconds for Armstrong to take the yellow jersey. The seven-time champion started the stage in third place, and Astana exactly matched that 40-second deficit. Cancellara's team finished third.
"That's Swiss timing," Cancellara said, laughing. "Time is on my side."
Armstrong credited his teammates but acknowledged he had hoped to move in front after the first team time trial on the Tour since 2005.
"This is a little bit of a disappointment," he said. "That's cycling."
The 37-year-old Texan said the many tight turns along the course made for "tricky" riding. Three crashes marred the start of the stage, including one involving Giro d'Italia winner Denis Menchov.
Lance Armstrong is within one second of the yellow jersey after his Astana team won Tuesday's time trial at the Tour de France.
The U.S. team Garmin was second in the stage, 18 seconds after Astana, despite only five of the nine riders being able to keep up the pace.
The stage finished with a flair. At the last intermediate time check, at the 19-milemark, Astana was 41 seconds faster than Saxo Bank, putting Armstrong in the lead at that point and setting up the tense finale.
Armstrong and Cancellara share an overall time of 10 hours, 38 minutes, 7 seconds, although the Swiss rider was deemed a fraction ahead. Organizers examined Saturday's opening time trial in Monaco that was won by Cancellara. Those results were calculated to the thousandth of a second.
After Cancellara, the next four riders are from Astana: Armstrong; 2007 winner Alberto Contador of Spain is 19 seconds back in third; 2004 runner-up Andreas Kloeden of Germany is fourth, 23 seconds back; and Levi Leipheimer of the United States is fifth, 31 seconds behind.
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07-08-2009, 12:10 PM
MONTPELLIER, France â Calling his team "simply awesome," Lance Armstrong was nearly decked out in yellow again.
The seven-time champion surged from third place to second at the Tour de France on Tuesday after his Astana squad won a team time trial in a dramatic finish.
Armstrong erased all but a sliver of his 40-second deficit behind leader Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland in the fourth stage. The only thing separating him from the yellow jersey is a fraction of a second.
http://www.kentucky.com/sports/story/855929.html
The seven-time champion surged from third place to second at the Tour de France on Tuesday after his Astana squad won a team time trial in a dramatic finish.
Armstrong erased all but a sliver of his 40-second deficit behind leader Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland in the fourth stage. The only thing separating him from the yellow jersey is a fraction of a second.
http://www.kentucky.com/sports/story/855929.html
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