Tour de France 2005 - Stage 4
- Thread starter N8 v2.0
- Start date
Damn... I wish I had video here... :mumble:
Official: Lance takes YELLOW!
Zabriskie falls back to 9th in the GC.
suxorsMcGRP01 said:
yup.N8 said:suxors
It would have been interesting to have two guys TIED for the lead as Discovery made up the two seconds Lance was behind Zeb and CSC. Sucks about the crash. Hope he's okay to continue. No aud/vid here at work, so I'm basically out of the loop.
Armstrong In Yellow For Stage FiveMcGRP01 said:
Dave Zabriskie has lost his yellow jersey in dramatic fashion. Its hard to say what caused his crash but he has lost a lot of skin because of the accident.
Road rash is just the worst. I couldn't imagine racing at those speeds on tires that skinny over asphalt w/o armor or leathers. My three wrecks on asphalt and the resulting road rash have convinced me that epidermis and cheese-grater roadways do not go together. I won't even ride a motorcycle any more on roads.
looks like he got unclipped man that sucks
N8 said:
What the hell....I am not near a TV. What made him fall?!?!Sounds like he got up....think he is OK?
Crap....DVNT said he tapped tires with a team mate. I guess I will watch it tonight.
sounds like he's got some mad road rash
Atleast he's still in 9th place. I think we can definitely have high hopes for Zabriskie and being he's only about 1:28 back that I think he'll be able to make up some of the time.McGRP01 said:
Lance was riding really good though.
Definitely seems like he's got the tour in the bag. 
American Lance Armstrong (Discovery Channel/USA)(C) and his teammates sprint towards the finish line of the fourth stage of the 92nd Tour de France cycling race, a team-time-trial between Tours and Blois. Discovery Channel won the stage ahead of Danish CSC team.
STANDINGS
1. Lance Armstrong 9:59:12
2. George Hincapie :55 behind
3. Jens Voigt 1:04
4. Bobby Julich 1:07
5. Jose Luis Rubiera 1:14
6. Yaroslav Popovych 1:16
7. Alexandre Vinokourov 1:21
8. Benjamin Noval Gonzalez 1:26
9. David Zabriskie 1:26
10. Ivan Basso 1:26
1. Lance Armstrong 9:59:12
2. George Hincapie :55 behind
3. Jens Voigt 1:04
4. Bobby Julich 1:07
5. Jose Luis Rubiera 1:14
6. Yaroslav Popovych 1:16
7. Alexandre Vinokourov 1:21
8. Benjamin Noval Gonzalez 1:26
9. David Zabriskie 1:26
10. Ivan Basso 1:26
Armstrong dedicates time trial win to absent Ekimov
By Pierre Serisier
BLOIS, France, July 5 (Reuters) - Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, wearing the yellow jersey once more, dedicated the record-breaking triumph of Discovery Channel in Tuesday's team time trial to absent colleague Vyacheslav Ekimov.
The 39-year-old Russian, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, suffered severe injuries during a training session in April and had to pull out from what would have been his 15th Tour.
"I want to dedicate our win today to Ekimov," Armstrong told a news conference. "We definitely missed him today.
"He is the best guy of the team. That's not to say he is the strongest but he is the steadiest. When he got injured we had to find out who to slot in his place."
Armstrong opted for 25-year-old Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych and the overall strategy paid off as the Discovery Channel won the day in a record average speed of 57.31 kph.
It was the American's third success in a row in the Tour team trial and he took the yellow jersey off the shoulders of compatriot David Zabriskie, the Team CSC man who crashed with only two kms left, losing almost a minute and an half.
Armstrong said: "Everybody was on the limit at the finish. There were several turns in the city and it was easy to make a mistake like that.
"The CSC team were flying and it took everything we had to catch up with them. Zabriskie is a young and gifted rider I'm sure he will wear the yellow jersey again in the future."
By Pierre Serisier
BLOIS, France, July 5 (Reuters) - Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, wearing the yellow jersey once more, dedicated the record-breaking triumph of Discovery Channel in Tuesday's team time trial to absent colleague Vyacheslav Ekimov.
The 39-year-old Russian, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, suffered severe injuries during a training session in April and had to pull out from what would have been his 15th Tour.
"I want to dedicate our win today to Ekimov," Armstrong told a news conference. "We definitely missed him today.
"He is the best guy of the team. That's not to say he is the strongest but he is the steadiest. When he got injured we had to find out who to slot in his place."
Armstrong opted for 25-year-old Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych and the overall strategy paid off as the Discovery Channel won the day in a record average speed of 57.31 kph.
It was the American's third success in a row in the Tour team trial and he took the yellow jersey off the shoulders of compatriot David Zabriskie, the Team CSC man who crashed with only two kms left, losing almost a minute and an half.
Armstrong said: "Everybody was on the limit at the finish. There were several turns in the city and it was easy to make a mistake like that.
"The CSC team were flying and it took everything we had to catch up with them. Zabriskie is a young and gifted rider I'm sure he will wear the yellow jersey again in the future."
Injured Zabriskie to decide on Tour fate
By Stephen Farrand
BLOIS, France, July 5 (Reuters) - A decision on whether injured former race leader David Zabriskie can continue in the Tour de France will be made on Wednesday.
Zabriskie crashed in the final two kms of Tuesday's 67.5-km team time trial and needed stitches in a cut to his right arm.
"He's not well and is completely devastated by what happened," CSC team press officer Brian Nygaard said.
"The team doctor has applied stitches to a cut in his right arm and the most important thing now is to see what is causing him pain in right knee. He's also going to have X-rays on his right elbow and wrist."
Zabriskie's team mate Jens Voigt said the American may also have fractured some ribs.
"He's hurt because he crashed at 60 kph," Voigt said. "The doctor carried out a short examination and he thinks he's got some broken ribs.
"He needed some stitches in one of his wounds and lost a lot of skin. He's really hurting."
Zabriskie had worn the yellow jersey since winning Saturday's prologue but lost the race lead to six-times champion Lance Armstrong, whose Discovery Channel team won the fourth stage ahead of CSC.
The 26-year-old, who went into the stage two seconds ahead of Armstrong, is now ninth, 1:26 down on his compatriot.
"I'm extremely disappointed because we were very, very close to winning the stage and I was close to keeping the yellow jersey," Zabriskie said.
"I'm in pain after the crash but if the X-rays don't show any broken bones I'm going to start tomorrow."
Armstrong suggested the sheer physical effort needed to ride stage could have played a part in Zabriskie's downfall.
"Team time trials are so hard that at the end of it you are at your limit and everybody is cross-eyed," Armstrong said.
"There were a lot of turns in the final kilometres and it's easy to make a mistake like that."
By Stephen Farrand
BLOIS, France, July 5 (Reuters) - A decision on whether injured former race leader David Zabriskie can continue in the Tour de France will be made on Wednesday.
Zabriskie crashed in the final two kms of Tuesday's 67.5-km team time trial and needed stitches in a cut to his right arm.
"He's not well and is completely devastated by what happened," CSC team press officer Brian Nygaard said.
"The team doctor has applied stitches to a cut in his right arm and the most important thing now is to see what is causing him pain in right knee. He's also going to have X-rays on his right elbow and wrist."
Zabriskie's team mate Jens Voigt said the American may also have fractured some ribs.
"He's hurt because he crashed at 60 kph," Voigt said. "The doctor carried out a short examination and he thinks he's got some broken ribs.
"He needed some stitches in one of his wounds and lost a lot of skin. He's really hurting."
Zabriskie had worn the yellow jersey since winning Saturday's prologue but lost the race lead to six-times champion Lance Armstrong, whose Discovery Channel team won the fourth stage ahead of CSC.
The 26-year-old, who went into the stage two seconds ahead of Armstrong, is now ninth, 1:26 down on his compatriot.
"I'm extremely disappointed because we were very, very close to winning the stage and I was close to keeping the yellow jersey," Zabriskie said.
"I'm in pain after the crash but if the X-rays don't show any broken bones I'm going to start tomorrow."
Armstrong suggested the sheer physical effort needed to ride stage could have played a part in Zabriskie's downfall.
"Team time trials are so hard that at the end of it you are at your limit and everybody is cross-eyed," Armstrong said.
"There were a lot of turns in the final kilometres and it's easy to make a mistake like that."
Lance is back in the Yellow jersey. Five Disco's in the top ten in the GC. It just doesn't get much better than that. If it weren't for the tail wind Zabo got, Lance might have worn the Yellow from Start to finish.
Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Gaps
1 001 ARMSTRONG Lance DSC USA
2 004 HINCAPIE George DSC USA 00' 55"
3 028 VOIGT Jens CSC GER 01' 04"
4 023 JULICH Bobby CSC USA 01' 07"
5 008 RUBIERA José Luis DSC ESP 01' 14"
6 007 POPOVYCH Yaroslav DSC UKR 01' 16"
7 019 VINOKOUROV Alexandre TMO KAZ 01' 21"
8 005 NOVAL GONZALEZ Benjamin DSC ESP 01' 26"
9 029 ZABRISKIE David CSC USA 01' 26"
10 021 BASSO Ivan CSC ITA 01' 26"
Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Gaps
1 001 ARMSTRONG Lance DSC USA
2 004 HINCAPIE George DSC USA 00' 55"
3 028 VOIGT Jens CSC GER 01' 04"
4 023 JULICH Bobby CSC USA 01' 07"
5 008 RUBIERA José Luis DSC ESP 01' 14"
6 007 POPOVYCH Yaroslav DSC UKR 01' 16"
7 019 VINOKOUROV Alexandre TMO KAZ 01' 21"
8 005 NOVAL GONZALEZ Benjamin DSC ESP 01' 26"
9 029 ZABRISKIE David CSC USA 01' 26"
10 021 BASSO Ivan CSC ITA 01' 26"