Cycling: James Raia Reports from the Tour de France - Stage IV

Publisher's Greeting

The sunny weather at the Tour de France lasted one day. The rain fell hard and caused many crashes during the team time trial Wednesday . But that was hours after I arrived safe, dry and satisfied in Arras.

The reason: With only an hour's travel from Roubaix to the finish of stage 4, there was plenty of extra time today to post new feature content.

Take a look at the Q&A interview I did with Levi Leipheimer, the Santa Rosa, Calif., rider and leader of the Rabobank squad.

I've also posted a humorous essay provided by Kiril Kundurazieff. He's commonly known as the The Cycling Dude and is the Costa, Mesa, Calif., publisher of the unique web site, The Cycling Dude

And I've also posted a column I was asked to write prior to the Tour for the Austin-American Statesman, the hometown newspaper of Lance Armstrong. The idea was a point-counterpoint perspective and I was assigned to write: "Why Lance Armstrong Won't Win The Tour de France."

Here are the links to today's new posts:
Why Lance Won't Win The Tour De France
Lance Decides Tour No Longer A Priority
A Converstion With Levi Leipheimer

Lastly, a subscriber asked, so here are some simple conversion guidelines:

1 kilometer = .6204 miles, 50 kilometers = 31.2 miles, 100 kilometers = 62.4 miles. If a stage is 210 kilometers in length, multiple 210 by .6204. It's 130.2 miles.

To convert temperatures from celsius to fahrenheit, multiple the celsius number by 9, divide that amount by 5 and add 32. An example: 21 degrees celsius multiplied by 9 = 189, divided by 5 = 37.8. Add 32 and the temperature in fahrenheit is approximately 70 degrees.

Tour News, Notes And Quotes

It took only five days this year, but Lance Armstrong moved into the race lead following the U.S. Postal Service victory in rainy and slick 64.5-kilometer fourth stage team time trial.

Following a steady, if unspectacular start, the Posties surged into the lead after the second time check and increased their lead despite teammate Benjamin Noval falling off pace.

Armstrong, who became the race's fourth wearer of the yellow jersey, possessed the jersey for the final 13 days last year en route his fifth title. The U.S.P.S. squad also won the TTT last year.

The U.S.P.S contingent defeated Tyler Hamilton's Phonak squad by one minute and seven seconds. But under the new team time trial guidelines instituted this year, only a 20-second gap was allowed between the first and second-place teams. The last-place squad among the 21 teams could lose a maxium of 2 1/2 minutes . . .

As the defending titlists, the Posties were the last group to ride and the heavy rains subsided as their journey progressed. Several teams suffered in poor and Levi Leipheimer crashed for the second time in the Tour, but was unhurt.

Quotes from Armstrong:

"Our objective is not to defend the jersey for the next week or until the mountains but for Paris." . . .

"I would like keep the jersey, but it's not in the best interests of the team. It's difficult to defend, and we will conserve the strength of the team. We will not sacrifice the team to defend the jersey in the north of France. The time to defend is in the Pyrenees." . . .

"We got 20 seconds and 20 seconds it is. The only consolation (of losing an additonal 47 seconds) is knowing your team is strong and that you have the best team in the race." . . .

Twenty-seven countries are represented at the Tour de France, with the host country's 37 riders the most by any nation. And just in anyone forget, Bernard Hinault in 1985 was the last Frenchman to claim the overall title . . .

For nearly a decade, Rob Arnold, an Australian journalist and cycling magazine editor, has provided closed-caption text of each stage to the press room and to outside entitities interested in purchasing the service. It's estimated he writes about 10,000 words per day while constantly updating the stage in brief reportorial style and with flashes of lively commentary. Consider one of Arnold's entrants as the weather worsened during Wednesday's fourth stage: "Conditions are expected to turn feral before Lance's mob finishes." . . .

The fifth stage Thursday will take the riders 200.5 kilometers from Amiens to Chartres in another flat stage again to conducive to sprinters' strengths. It will also provide an ideal opportunity to watch U.S.P.S. defend Armstrong's jersey.

Postcard From Le Tour

Will return on 7/8.

Americans In The Tour De France

 
Individual Stage Results
Stage 4, Cambrai-Arras, 64.5 kilometers
Stage Results
1. U.S. Postal Service, 1 hour, 12 minutes and 3 seconds at 53.71 kph (33.32 mph)
General Classification
1. Lance Armstrong, Austin, Texas, U.S.P.S.
2. George Hincapie, Greenville, S.C., U.S.P.S. @ 10 seconds
3. Floyd Landis, San Diego, Calif., @ 16 seconds
8. Tyler Hamilton, Marblehead, Mass., Phonak @ 36 seconds
18. Bobby Julich, Reno, Nev., CSC, @ 1:00
21. Levi Leipheimer, Santa Rosa, Calif., @ 1:08
93. Christian Vande Velde, Lemont, Ill., @ 5:28

For complete results, visit the web sites:

CyclingNews.com
LeTour.fr
ProCycling.com
VeloNewws.com
More TDF Links

Previous reports:
Cycling: James Raia Reports from the Tour de France - Stage III
Cycling: James Raia Reports from the Tour de France - Stage II
Cycling: James Raia Reports from the Tour de France - Stage I

© Copyright 2004, James Raia

Posted with the permission of James Raia.

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