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  Wednesday   July 9   2003       10: 56 AM

tour de france

Lance and US Postal have put themselves in a dominant position with a 30 second win in the team time trial.

Colombian Pena takes yellow

Lance Armstrong's US Postal team won the team time trial on stage four of the Tour de France, clocking a time of one hour 18 minutes and 27 seconds.
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Overall Results
1. Victor Hugo Peña COL US Postal 13:44:44
2. Lance Armstrong USA US Postal +00:01
3. Viatcheslav Ekimov RUS US Postal +00:05
4. George Hincapie USA US Postal +00:05
5. José Luis Rubiera ESP US Postal +00:23
6. Roberto Heras ESP US Postal +00:27
7. Pavel Padrnos CZE US Postal +00:27
8. Floyd Landis USA US Postal +00:28
9. Joseba Beloki ESP ONCE +00:33
10. Jörg Jaksche GER ONCE +00:38
11. Manuel Beltrán ESP US Postal +00:39
12. Jan Ullrich GER Team Bianchi +00:39

US Postal has the top 8 positions. Two of the riders that are threats, Beloki and Ullrich, are 32 seconds and 38 seconds down on Lance and they haven't even hit the mountains yet. Any other riders that may have been a threat are more than a minute down and are essentially out of the race for the Yellow Jersey. Not ony does Lance have a significant lead, at this point, but his team is incredibly strong, which will be very important in keeping Lance fresh for the mountains.

The next two stages are very long and flat. This will mean lots of breakaways and US Postal will be working to control the race and to keep Lance on top of the standings. Then there will be Saturday and Sunday which could cement the lead for Lance.

Tour de France | Stage 7
Saturday 12th July | 230km
Lyon - Morzine

The overall leaders will be bidding to stake their claim in the race on the first mountain stage, with a string of harsh climbs set to finish off the stragglers in the latter stages.
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The route has several category 2 and 3 climbs with the category 1 climb at Cote de la Ramez. Lance, Beloki, and Ullrich should start putting time on everyone but it will be Stage 8 that will be the big test.

Tour de France | Stage 8
Sunday 13th July | 219km
Sallanches - L'Alpe d'Huez

Any stage with the Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and Alpe d'Huez in it is torture personified. This day could be more important than any for deciding whether Lance Armstrong can win a fifth Tour.
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Col du Telegraphe is a category two climb and Col du Galibier and Alpe d'Huez are beyond category. Only two riders have won at Alpe d'Huez and the Tour in the same year: Coppi and Armstrong. Sunday will be the day to watch!