It had been speculated for weeks that Team Astana could not possibly act as a cohesive unit while supporting more than one team leader. Astana answered by winning the 39km Team Time Trial by 18-seconds over Garmin in a stunning display of precision, power and team work.
Lance Armstrong just missed taking another maillot jaune by one one-hundredth (.01) of a second to Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) who remains in yellow.
Garmin and Team Astana were even on time at the first check point, just behind leaders Caisse d’Eparge by seven-seconds. By the 2nd time check Astana had grabbed the lead and were 23-seconds ahead of Garmin. Still in front at the 3rd check point the advantage had gone down to 17-seconds where it held through the finish. Gregory Rast and then Dmitriy Muravyev were the first team riders to drop off with the remaining seven powering on until the final kilometer when Yaroslav Popovych lost contact with the team of six. With Armstrong repeatedly taking long pulls throughout the stage, it was Contador who led through the last rise to the finish line with the clock stopping at 46:29 on the fifth man, who happened to be Armstrong.
On the win Contador said, " I am more than happy. We did a superb race. A lot of contenders for the GC are at a big distance now. I think this is an answer to yesterday. We proved that we are a team. A lot of the speculation yesterday was because (of people) misunderstanding. I really regret Lance just missed the yellow jersey. Now recuperation. Tomorrow another dangerous day with the wind. "
Armstrong checked in too, saying, "The team was simply awesome today. Consistent, fluid, mistake-free. We love this event and are stoked to win." He continued with "Popo and Klodi were on fire. And they might need to repair the pavement on the sections where Alberto was pulling." Leipheimer also savoured the victory, saying "I’m honestly lost for words! That was an incredible lifetime experience. I have to say it was a mixture of excitement, aggression, fear and elation. You couldn’t do what we did without a unified and comitted team. It’s been a dream to win the team time trial in the Tour de France."
Wednesday’s stage 5 looks to be a recovery day after the big efforts used in the time trial. The peloton will ride 196.5km/122mi from Le Cap d’Agde to Perpignan in what should be another day for the sprinters.
Top Ten Team Results
1 Astana 0:46:29
2 Garmin – Slipstream 0:00:18
3 Team Saxo Bank 0:00:40
4 Liquigas 0:00:58
5 Team Columbia-HTC 0:00:59
6 Team Katusha 0:01:23
7 Caisse d’Epargne 0:01:29
8 Cervelo Test Team 0:01:38
9 AG2R-La Mondiale 0:01:49
10 Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:02:10
General Classification after Stage 4
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 10:38:07
2 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:19
4 Andreas Kl?den (Ger) Astana 0:23
5 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 0:31
6 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 0:38
7 Haimar Zubeldia Aguirre (Spa) Astana 0:51
8 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 0:52
9 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 1:06
10 David Millar (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 1:07
