Armstrong misses out on yellow jersey

American cyclist Lance Armstrong narrowly failed yesterday to regain the yellow jersey of the Tour de France's leading rider, after finishing the fourth stage of the race just 0.138sec behind race leader Fabian Cancellara.

Armstrong's Astana won the team time trial by 18 seconds from Garmin-Slipstream in second and 40 seconds from Cancellara's Saxo Bank. Both riders have a cumulative time for the Tour of 10hr 38min 07sec, but the Swiss just kept hold of the maillot jaune.

British interest is still high in the event, with both Bradley Wiggins (6th) and David Millar (10th) in the Top 10, within a minute of the lead. Mark Cavendish, winner of stages two and three, could challenge for another win in today's leg, a flat run down the coast from Cap d'Agde to Perpignan.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Richard Williams, the Guardian: "For about a dozen minutes today, Lance Armstrong had an arm through one sleeve of the yellow jersey. At the three-quarter-distance checkpoint of the 39km team time-trial he and his Astana team-mates were looking at a time 38 seconds faster than the one already recorded by the Saxo Bank team of Fabian Cancellara, the overall leader of the Tour de France since the race began in Monaco on Saturday. They needed only to push that advantage over 40 seconds in the remaining 10km to give Armstrong the jersey and complete a historic comeback for the seven-times winner, who announced his retirement four years ago but now plans, at the age of 37, to win it for an eighth time."

Brendan Gallagher, Daily Telegraph: "Cancellara defended the maillot jaune like a champion and his reward, barring something very unusual happening, should be a few more days in yellow before the mountain stages rear up. It was a close thing though. Just over five miles from home Armstrong, looking increasingly like the powerful and aggressive athlete of four years ago, wore the yellow jersey “on the road” but Astana, like all the teams, found it tough going over the final section and dropped a few crucial seconds. Armstrong will be cursing, but he will also be delighted by his return to form."

Jeremy Whittle, the Times: "It was a magnanimous and conciliatory Lance Armstrong who finally deigned to visit the Tour de France press corps after the Astana team's success in the Montpellier team time-trial stage yesterday. Armstrong, now placed within less than a second of the Tour leader's yellow jersey, is pondering his chances of victory. 'This Tour will be exciting,' he said. 'You're not going to write your final story until we're all on the top of Mont Ventoux: that's a guarantee.' But any cliff-hanging finale seems more likely to be centred on the battle between Armstrong and Alberto Contador, his team-mate, than a rider from a rival team, so comprehensive is Astana's superiority at present. 'Alberto came to win and, to be honest, so did I,' Armstrong said. 'Johan [Bruyneel, the Astana team manager] will have to manage the situation.'"