Stage Four
Don't mess with Lance.
It was fun while it lasted, as teams like FDJ and AG2R fought for podium slots. Sprinters wore the yellow jersey. The heavy hitters sat back in the pack and came nowhere near winning a stage. Normally, this kind of behavior lasts until the mountains, but the Team Time Trial gave the Posties a chance to blow everyone's doors off.
And they did.
Only two teams finished within one minute of their time. The closest, ONCE, was out by 30 seconds. Only half of the field was even within two minutes. It was just a punishing perfomance. Now, the top eight riders in the GC are all from US Postal. Lance is in second place, exactly one second behind Pena, the first Colombian to ever wear the yellow jersey. The field has just spotted Armstrong a half-minute lead before they even get to the mountains. That's very bad.
Beloki's ONCE team rode well, so he's 32 seconds behind Armstrong. Ullrich's new team rode well as well, so he's only 38 seconds behind the four-time champ. But the other contenders are in a much deeper hole. Botero and Mancebo are a minute and half back. David Millar is two minutes out. Vino is a minute and three-quarters down. Simoni is over three minutes back, in 106th place. In the first real showdown of the Tour, Lance laid down the law.
Don't mess with Lance.
It was fun while it lasted, as teams like FDJ and AG2R fought for podium slots. Sprinters wore the yellow jersey. The heavy hitters sat back in the pack and came nowhere near winning a stage. Normally, this kind of behavior lasts until the mountains, but the Team Time Trial gave the Posties a chance to blow everyone's doors off.
And they did.
Only two teams finished within one minute of their time. The closest, ONCE, was out by 30 seconds. Only half of the field was even within two minutes. It was just a punishing perfomance. Now, the top eight riders in the GC are all from US Postal. Lance is in second place, exactly one second behind Pena, the first Colombian to ever wear the yellow jersey. The field has just spotted Armstrong a half-minute lead before they even get to the mountains. That's very bad.
Beloki's ONCE team rode well, so he's 32 seconds behind Armstrong. Ullrich's new team rode well as well, so he's only 38 seconds behind the four-time champ. But the other contenders are in a much deeper hole. Botero and Mancebo are a minute and half back. David Millar is two minutes out. Vino is a minute and three-quarters down. Simoni is over three minutes back, in 106th place. In the first real showdown of the Tour, Lance laid down the law.
posted by Poseur at 12:39 PM
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