Cycling Tour de France, Stage Four: A blow-up shark brandished by American fans followed Lance Armstrong's triumphal march to Paris last year, and it made its first appearance at the start of yesterday's team time trial. It has bred over the winter, and now has two little sharks for company. Next year, presumably, there will be an entire school.
Yesterday, the voracious carnivore who has gobbled up the last four Tours smelled blood, and duly left the opposition in pieces. With all the precision and devotion of pilot fish alongside their master, the Texan's US Postal Service team dominated the stage.
It was also a good day for Armstrong's domestique Victor Hugo Pena. Thanks to the fact that he finished a second faster than Armstrong in Saturday's prologue time trial, he will today become the first Colombian to wear the yellow jersey.
Armstrong has been circling hungrily around a team time trial since the discipline was brought back into the Tour in 2000. "For three or four years, we've been second or third. I was second in 1994 with the Motorola team as well. It's been a huge frustration."
Significantly, all nine Postmen finished together, whereas the other squads in the top four all shed a couple of weaker elements.
The team time trial can be pitiless, and the biggest price was paid by Gilberto Simoni. The Giro d'Italia winner was, until yesterday, the main threat to Armstrong on paper, but his Saeco Coffee Machines team blended poorly and Simoni now has three minutes to pull back on the American.
Joseba Beloki and Once were expected at least to race creditably and duly finished only 30 seconds adrift, having posted the fastest times until the final 20 kilometres, but the big surprises yesterday came from Jan Ullrich's Bianchi and the Spaniards of Miguel Indurain's old Banesto team.
Ullrich looked back to his best as he pulled his eggshell blue train along: face impassive under mirror glasses, no movement in the shoulders. He cut his losses to just 43 seconds, while Banesto - now known as iBanesto.com - raised memories of the days of Big Mig with fourth, meaning their young leader Francisco Mancebo is handily placed, 90 seconds behind Pena.
Sudden heat baked the riders over the mainly flat route from Joinville to Saint-Dizier. The direct route up the Marne valley is about 15 miles, but the Tourmen meandered out into the plains known as the Pays de Der. A warm breeze got up during the day, prompting the mechanics to fit higher gears at the last minute, and it blew in the teams' faces for the final 12 miles.
This was where US Postal profited from their decision to start gently and save their strength for these frequently dead-straight roads.
Jean-Patrick Nazon's tenure of the maillot jaune was brief, as his Jean Delatour team finished 20th, and Pena's time in yellow may also be curtailed.
Armstrong and Bruyneel have a classic dilemma as the race heads south today: defend Pena's yellow jersey, and risk tiring the team, or relinquish the race lead to a breakaway on the assumption that Armstrong will regain it for good on Sunday at l'Alpe d'Huez. It is Pena's 29th birthday today, and yesterday's gift may be cruelly snatched from him.
Guardian Service
STAGE FOUR: LEADING PLACINGS (Joinville to Saint-Dizier, TTT, 69km) 1 US Postal 3hr 55min 21sec, 2 ONCE at 1min 30sec, 3 Team Bianchi 2:09, 4 iBanesto.com 3:15, 5 Quick step - Davitamon 4:09, 6 Team Telekom 4:30, 7 Caldirola - So.Di 4:36, 8 Credit Agricole 4:36, 9 AG2R Prevoyance 4:54, 10 Team CSC 5:15. OVERALL (yellow jersey): 1 V Hugo Pena (Col) US Postal Service 13 hours 44 minutes 44 seconds 2 L Armstrong (US) US Postal Service 1 second behind 3 V Ekimov (Rus) US Postal Service 5 4 G Hincapie (US) US Postal Service same time 5 J L Rubiera (Spa) US Postal Service 23 6 R Heras (Spa) US Postal Service 27 7 P Padrnos (Cze) US Postal Service same time 8 F Landis (US) US Postal Service 28 9 J Beloki (Spa) ONCE 33 10 J Jaksche (Germany) ONCE 38 KING OF THE MOUNTAINS (polka-dot jersey) 1 C Mengin (Fra) FDJeux.com 15 points 2 W Beneteau (Fra) Brioches 10 3 F Finot (Fra) Jean Delatour 8 4 L Jegou (France) Credit Agricole 8 5 A Flickinger (Fra) AG2R 5 LEADING POINTS (green jersey): 1 R McEwen (Aus) Lotto 86 points 2 E Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom 74 3 A Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 72 4 J-P Nazon (Fra) Jean Delatour 72 5 B Cooke (Australia) FDJeux.com 62 LEADING TEAMS: 1 US Postal Service 41:14:18 2 ONCE 1:49 behind 3 Team Bianchi 2:17 4 iBanesto.com 3:45 5 Quick Step 4:31 LEADING UNDER-25 YOUNG RIDER (white jersey): 1 VKarpets (Rus) iBanesto.com 13:45:55 2 D Menchov (Rus) iBanesto 8 seconds behind 3 E Petrov (Rus) iBanesto 10 4 MRogers (Aus) Quick Step 19 5 A Flickinger (Fra)
