Posted: July 5, 2005

Cycling: TOUR DE FRANCE TIMES - Volume 3, No. 4 (July 5, 2005)

By James Raia
www.ByJamesRaia.com

Publisher's Greeting

Lance Armstrong has assumed the leader's yellow jersey in the 92nd Tour de France and misfortune has again stymied former race leader David Zabriskie.

With Armstrong lunging at the finish line, his Discovery Channel Cycling Team claimed its third Tour team time trial in Armstrong's title reign — this time by two seconds over Team CSC.

The Discovery Channel team, third after the first time split and second after the next two splits, rode extraordinarily well in the final segment to set a Tour TTT record of 57.32 kph (35.61 mph).

But Zabriskie, who had held the race lead since his opening-day individual time trial win July 2, crashed as the sixth rider in the single-file procession of his team as it approached the finish. He fell to ninth place.

Dozens of slow-motion replays of the incident showed not contact between Zabriskie and his teammates' wheels. Likewise, the team mechanic said the bike didn't have a mechanical problem.

Zabriskie, who held a two-second margin over Armstrong entering the stage, returned to his bike, but rode slowly and dejectedly in the final 3/4 miles. He didn't speak with the media, but teammates reported he may have been suffering as much mentally as physically.

Zabriskie, who has suffered several previous serious injuries during his career, hurt his left hip, knee and elbow. The extent of his injuries were unknown. He was taken to a local hospital for examination. His left knee and elbow reportedly were swelling rapidly.

For today's full results, visit the Tour's official web site: www.letour.fr.

News, Notes & Quotes

With the bizarre occurences, here are the Americans' overall standings after four stages:

1. Lance Armstrong, Discovery Channel, 9 hours, 59 minutes, 12 seconds.
2. George Hincapie, Discovery Channel @ 55 seconds.
4. Bobby Julich, CSC @ 1:07
9. David Zabriskie, CSC @ 1:26
20. Floyd Landis, Phonak @ 1:50
30. Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner @ 2:31
68. Fred Rodriguez, Davitamon-Lotto @ 3:57
103. Chris Horner, Saunier Duval-Prodir @4:54 . . .

Bobby Julich, commenting on his teammate's crash:

"To lose like that is like a punch in the guts. It's just fate — the yellow jersey can put pressure on you. I don't know exactly what happened, but it was just one of those things.

"David's incredibly disappointed. He feels responsible for losing the jersey, but I've told him not to worry and that everything he's done up until now has been brilliant." . . .

Tour de France Times publisher on the radio: In addition to print reports for several daily newspapers, I will be providing radio reports during the race for Capital Public Radio in Sacramento (KXJZ, 88.9FM), National Public Radio (KXJZ 88.9FM) and Sacramento station KTKZ (Newstalk 1380AM).

The network's respective web sites: www.capradio.org, www.npr.org and www.ktkz.com. Dates and times vary.

Postcard From The Tour

The horde of media vehicles finds unique ways to park at race finishes. If there's a way to fit another car into area that already has too many vehicles, someone will find a way.

Last night I parked on a side street along a row of street front hotels and other businesses. Dozens of other media vehicles were also parked in the area, but last night after dinner I noticed my car had been "keyed."

This morning in the breakfast room at my hotel, two French policemen identified my vehicle via its make and license number and asked me to move it. Remarkably, they were overwhelmingly polite. It seems the media "parking lot" was the location of a daily morning farmers' market, and I had unknowingly parked in the middle of it.

The two officers provided an escort as I made my way in reverse to the street and then to a nearby spot. The two officers and I shook hands, and everyone involved was satisifed.

More from: Tour de France Times

© Copyright 2005, James Raia

Posted with the permission of James Raia.

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