[N8 v2.0]

Welcome To Stage Four Of The 2004 Tour de France!
The 64.5km fourth stage of the 91st Tour de France is scheduled to start at 2.15pm. Today the challenge is the team time trial from Cambrai to Arras. The first squad to begin is Euskaltel-Euskadi. Teams then leave at five-minute intervals.

The order of departure is determined by the combined positions of riders from each team in the prologue on Saturday.

The final squad to leave Cambrai is US Postal Service-Berry Floor. The US-registered team won the equivalent stage of the 2003 Tour. Their start time is at 3.55pm local time (8:55 AM Central Standard Time in the US).

 

[N8 v2.0]

15 H 01 - Saeco Only 2" Behind Euskaltel
Five teams have passed the first time check. The best is still the 1st squad to start, Euskaltel. They lead Saeco by just 2" at the 18.9km mark.

 

[N8 v2.0]

15 H 10 - Yesterday's Stage Winner Racing...
The AG2R team of Jean-Patrick Nazon has just begun the 4th stage. It is now raining heavily in Cambrai. The early teams haven't suffered such bad conditions... but that was what the weather bureau forecast; the rain is expected to get heavier as the day progresses.


That's NOT good news for the Posties....

 

[Westy]

15 H 10 - Yesterday's Stage Winner Racing...
The AG2R team of Jean-Patrick Nazon has just begun the 4th stage. It is now raining heavily in Cambrai. The early teams haven't suffered such bad conditions... but that was what the weather bureau forecast; the rain is expected to get heavier as the day progresses.


That's NOT good news for the Posties....

They can only lose 2 minutes.

 

[N8 v2.0]

15 H 20 - Quickstep 34" Behind At 18.9km
The Quickstep team has just passed the 1st time check 34" slower than Alessio-Bianchi. The current top five at the 18.9km mark is:
1. Alessio-Bianchi 21'27"
2. Euskaltel at 30"
3. Brioches la Boulangere at 31"
4. Saeco at 32"
5. Quickstep at 34"

 

[N8 v2.0]

Ugggggggg.... more rain!



15 H 21 - McGee Leads His Team Away From Cambrai
The FDJeux.com team has just begun the 64.5km ride from Cambrai to Arras. It's now pouring rain at the start. Brad McGee, the rider who has been suffering badly with back pain early in this year's Tour, has gone to the front to take the first turn of pace on the wet roads.

 

[N8 v2.0]

15 H 30 - Ullrich's Team Now Racing...
The T-Mobile team has just begun the 4th stage. Rolf Aldag has gone straight to the front of the magenta-colored train.



15 H 31 - Euskaltel At The Finish
Iban Mayo has survived today's stage without incident. His Euskaltel team has finished the time trial in 1h14'39".

 

[N8 v2.0]

15 H 35 - Credit Agricole's Finishing Time...
Credit Agricole raced the 64.5km course at an average speed of 51.2km/h. They are 56" slower than Euskaltel.

Also....
The Euskaltel team had the benefit of some dry conditions during its time trial. At the first time check they were 30" behind Alessio, but at the second time check Iban Mayo's squad was 2" faster than Magnus Backstedt's.

 

[N8 v2.0]

15 H 39 - Rear Disc Wheels For Liberty Seguros
The Liberty Seguros team is riding with rear disc wheels and what looks like a four-spoke aerodynamic carbon front wheel. They are not the only squad taking this approach today. In fact, it seems as though most teams are opting for the disc rear today despite warnings of high winds for the 4th stage.

 

[N8 v2.0]

15 H 43 - Cofidis Almost Three Minutes Behind
At the finish, Cofidis have recorded an average speed for the 64.5km course of 49.86km/h. This is 2'58" slower than the time recorded by Euskaltel.

 

[N8 v2.0]

More bad news for the Posties... rain at the finish as well as the start...[/b]

15 H 45 - Pouring Rain In Arras
Rain is now pouring down at the finish of the stage in Arras. It's been a light drizzle for the early teams but the finishing straight - a rough cobbled surface - is now getting drenched by a big downpour.

 

[N8 v2.0]

15 H 47 - T-Mobile Down To Eight Riders...
Rolf Aldag has punctured out on the course. His T-Mobile colleagues haven't opted to wait for the German veteran and it will be a long, wet ride for the tall victim of the mechanic problem.

 

[COmtbiker12]

Team Euskatel did not have a good day yesterday. It'll be interesting to see if they'll be hurting more today or if they make any improvements at all. Im goin to watch it right now (late, yes I know but still live)

 

[N8 v2.0]

15 H 50 - Simoni Falls!
Gilberto Simoni has fallen near the finish of today's stage. He didn't lose much time and has finished just behind his colleagues. Saeco's time is just 1" off the leading margin so far (set by Euskaltel).


Posties get ready to start now...

Listen Live:
mms://adv.mirrorimage.net/event/mimg/evt20040702/audio

 

[N8 v2.0]

15 H 55 - US Postal Now Racing
The final team to start the stage is US Postal Service. They have begun in light drizzle but the conditions are expected to turn feral before Lance's mob reach the finish. The weather bureau has stated that conditions are only going to deteriorate through the day.

 

[N8 v2.0]

15 H 58 - McEwen Leads Lotto Home
The Lotto team has recorded an average speed of 50.02km/h for the time trial. Robbie McEwen led the Belgian-registered squad across the line in Arras with a time of 1h17'23" - 2'43" slower than Euskaltel.

McEwen not expected to be in the Yellow Jersey after today...

 

[llkoolkeg]

http://www.letour.fr/2004/us/index.html

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 01 - Guerini Punctures
Giuseppe Guerini has punctured. The T-Mobile rider has a new wheel and is now attempting to catch is colleagues.

 

[splat]

N8 , we don't need a play by play ! we can get that our selvs online

 

[Mtbkngrl]

Are you on OLN's payroll? :devil:

 

[I Are Baboon]

ESPN.com's live tracker is pretty cool.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Well some are too lazy to find the news themselves apparently.. but ok whatever...

 

[Westy]

For once I must say that I apreciate N8's cut and paste skills.

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 17 - CSC 58" Behind At 18.9km
So far 20 teams have passed the 1st time check. Only US Postal are yet to get to the 18.9km mark. The crash has cost CSC dearly, they are now in 11th place, 58" behind the time set by Illes Balreas.


Check Point 1 - US POSTAL in 5th place at 00:21:59 at 37"

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 20 - Eight In Postal Paceline...
Benjamin Noval has lost contact with his Postal colleagues. There are now eight riders in the Postal team's paceline. They are reportedly 5th best at this stage of the team time trial.

 

[golgiaparatus]

16 H 20 - Eight In Postal Paceline...
Benjamin Noval has lost contact with his Postal colleagues. There are now eight riders in the Postal team's paceline. They are reportedly 5th best at this stage of the team time trial.

What happens in a TT when a team loses a rider?

 

[MTB_Rob_NC]

N8 , we don't need a play by play ! we can get that our selvs online

Speak for yourself! Go N8

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 22 - T-Mobile 2nd At 2nd Check
The T-Mobile team has come back in the last few kilometers. They are now just 11" off the pace set by Illes Balreas at the 41.8km mark.


This puts T-Mobile in 2nd place at Check Point 2...

 

[N8 v2.0]

More bad news for Tyler Hamilton....

16 H 27 - Phonak At 2nd Check...
At the 2nd time check, the Phonak team is back down to just six riders. Oscar Pereiro Sio has punctured and is out of the main group. The team of Tyler Hamilton has posted the 3rd best time of the day at the 41.8km mark. They were 22" slower than Illes Balreas. That's an eight-second improvement on their deficit at the 1st check.

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 29 - Top Five At 41.8km...

With Phonak past the 2nd check the top five at the 41.8km mark is:
1. Illes Balreas 46'58"
2. T-Mobile at 11"
3. Phonak at 22"
4. Liberty Seguros at 31"
5. Rabobank at 37"

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 30 - Six Riders With Ullrich
Sergei Ivanov is just off the back of the T-Mobile team which is now down to seven riders...

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 31 - Crash For Gerolsteiner
A Gerolsteiner rider has fallen on the same turn that claimed Simoni. It is in the final 500m of the stage and it's an extremely slippery left-hander that is causing all sorts of trouble today

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 35 - FDJ Caught And Passed
The Liberty Seguros team has just ridden passed FDJ. Liberty's time at the 3rd check was 1'00" slower than Illes Balreas at the 56.8km mark.

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 38 - The Top 5 At 56.8
So far 16 teams have reached the 3rd time check. The top five at this stage is:

1. Illes Balreas 1h04'35"
2. T-Mobile at 15"
3. Liberty Seguros at 1'00"
4. Saeco at 1'21"
5. Alessio at 1'22"

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 40 - Liberty Seguros With 2nd Best Time So Far
At the finish, Liberty Seguros have posted a time 1'10" slower than Illes Balreas. It's good enough for second place at this stage.

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 42 - US Postal At 2nd Time Check
At the 41.8km mark, the US Postal team posted a time of 46'30" - that's the best by 28"! Lance and his crew did this section of the course at an average speed of 54.19km/h.

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 44 - 20km To Go For Postal
The US Postal team is dominating the day despite losing Noval early in the stage. They are now less than 20km from the finish. At the 2nd time check they had the best time by 28".

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 44 - T-Mobile 4" Behind Illes Balreas At Finish
Jan Ullrich and his team have finished with the 2nd best time of the day so far. They are 4" behind Illes Balreas.


Will the Posties win the day...???

 

[douglas]

16 H 42 - US Postal At 2nd Time Check
At the 41.8km mark, the US Postal team posted a time of 46'30" - that's the best by 28"! Lance and his crew did this section of the course at an average speed of 54.19km/h.

pffft

33.7 mph/avg in the rain.....

 

[N8 v2.0]

16 H 51 - Only Five In The Phonak Posse
The Phonak team has just 2km to go in the stage but there are only five riders in the lead group from this Swiss-registered team. Tyler is present but Perez and Jalabert are two of the riders who have been dropped (and, just recently, passed by the CSC team