ONCE captures yellow jersey

Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano: "I am very happy. We did a very good job as a team." AP

CHATEAU-THIERRY, France (AP) -- Spain's Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano took over the leader's yellow jersey in the Tour de France after his Once team won Wednesday's fourth stage -- a team time-trial through the heart of champagne country.

The Spanish team finished the 67.5-kilometer (41.85-mile) stage from Epernay to Chateau-Thierry in 1 hour, 19 minutes and 49 seconds, 16 seconds ahead of the U.S. Postal Service team of defending champion Lance Armstrong. Denmark's CSC Tiscali was third, 30 seconds after USPS.

"I am very happy. We did a very good job as a team," said Gonzalez de Galdeano, racing in his second Tour. In an individual time trial in the Midi Libre race in May, the 29-year-old Spaniard defeated a pack of riders including Armstrong, who finished second.

Gonzalez de Galdeano had an overall time of 14 hours, 51 minutes and 50 seconds, allowing him to overtake German sprinting specialist Erik Zabel for the overall lead. The USPS's second place finish allowed Armstrong to climb to third, 7 seconds behind, from fifth after Tuesday's stage.

Gonzalez de Galdeano's Once teammate Joseba Beloki, also of Spain, was in second overall, 4 seconds off the leader's pace.

Armstrong, who is widely expected to win his fourth straight Tour victory when the 21-day event finishes in Paris on July 28, said he was happy with his team's performance.

"The team was fluid and consistent," Armstrong said in French on France-2 television, breathing heavily just after finishing. "I'm not disappointed."

"We didn't have any accidents, we didn't get any flats. There were no problems," he said.

The stage took place under cloudy skies, with a brief shower near the finish line. A year earlier, a downpour during the team time trial made the roadway slick and caused some riders to fall.

In the 2001 Tour, two U.S. Postal racers tumbled on a slippery stretch of a highway. Armstrong was at the head of a nine-man pack when Christian Vande Velde skidded along a rain-soaked road and fell, bringing down teammate Roberto Heras. The team finished in fourth place after waiting for the two riders to get back on their bikes and catch up.

Thursday's fifth stage takes the 189 Tour cyclists along a 195-kilometer (120.9-mile) stretch from Soissons, the capital city of the first French king, Clovis, to the Normandy city of Rouen.

 

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