I guess it wasn’t any surprise that Lance Armstrong’s Team Discovery won the team time trial today. What was surpising was the average speed of 35.55 mph for 42 miles was the fastes stage in Tour history. Ever. It’s even more surpising to learn that 12 teams broke the previous record. Just for fun tonight, I lumbered up the 2.21 mile Snoqualmie Parkway climb (in the freakin’ rain) and on my way down, noticed how fast 36 mph was. Then I thought what it would be like to travel that fast for 42 miles. I couldn’t finish the thought…

Poor David Zabriske though. About 1.9 miles from the finish, David clipped the rear wheel of a teammate and bit it. Just like that, his stint in yellow was over. I’m betting that was the first time in Tour history that a team left behind their rider in yellow during a team time trial. Zabriske’s CSC team finished just two seconds down on Discovery but also putting Lance in yellow. It is unlikely that Lance will want to expend the energy required to defend the Maillot Jaune and would be smart to let someone get away during a break away tomorrow. There are four flat stages remaining until the mountains begin.

STAGE 4 RESULTS :

1, DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 00′00″
2, TEAM CSC, 00′ 02″
3, T-MOBILE TEAM, 00′ 35″
4, LIBERTY SEGUROS – WÜRTH TEAM, 00′ 53″
5, PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS, 01′ 31″
6, CREDIT AGRICOLE, 01′ 41″
7, ILLES BALEARS-CAISSE D EPARGNE, 02′ 05″
8, GEROLSTEINER, 02′ 05″
9, FASSA BORTOLO, 02′ 19″
10, LIQUIGAS – BIANCHI, 02′ 26″
11, DAVITAMON – LOTTO, 02′ 32″
12, RABOBANK, 02′ 48″
13, DOMINA VACANZE, 03′ 04″
14, QUICK STEP – INNERGETIC, 03′ 05″
15, BOUYGUES TELECOM, 03′ 08″
16, EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI, 03′ 59″
17, LAMPRE – CAFFITA, 04′ 09″
18, COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE, 04′ 28″
19, FRANCAISE DES JEUX, 04′ 46″
20, SAUNIER DUVAL – PRODIR, 05′ 06″
21, AG2R PREVOYANCE, 05′ 23″

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 4:

1, ARMSTRONG Lance, DSC, USA,
2, HINCAPIE George, DSC, USA, 00′ 55″
3, VOIGT Jens, CSC, GER, 01′ 04″
4, JULICH Bobby, CSC, USA, 01′ 07″
5, RUBIERA José Luis, DSC, ESP, 01′ 14″
6, POPOVYCH Yaroslav, DSC, UKR, 01′ 16″
7, VINOKOUROV Alexandre, TMO, KAZ, 01′ 21″
8, NOVAL GONZALEZ Benjamin, DSC, ESP, 01′ 26″
9, ZABRISKIE David, CSC, USA, 01′ 26″
10, BASSO Ivan, CSC, ITA, 01′ 26″
11, ARVESEN Kurt-Asle, CSC, NOR, 01′ 32″
12, PADRNOS Pavel, DSC, CZE, 01′ 32″
13, SAVOLDELLI Paolo, DSC, ITA, 01′ 33″
14, ULLRICH Jan, TMO, GER, 01′ 36″
15, SASTRE Carlos, CSC, ESP, 01′ 36″
16, AZEVEDO José, DSC, POR, 01′ 37″
17, ROBERTS Luke, CSC, AUS, 01′ 38″
18, GONZALEZ GALDEANO Igor, LSW, ESP, 01′ 44″
19, BODROGI Laszlo, C.A, HUN, 01′ 45″
20, LANDIS Floyd, PHO, USA, 01′ 50″

OTHER GC NOTABLES :
27, BOTERO Santiago, PHO, COL, 02′ 18″
28, KLÖDEN Andréas, TMO, GER, 02′ 29″
30, LEIPHEIMER Levi, GST, USA, 02′ 31″
33, BELOKI Joseba, LSW, ESP, 02′ 43″
36, HERAS Roberto, LSW, ESP, 02′ 58″
53, EVANS Cadel, DVL, AUS, 03′ 29″
58, MANCEBO Francisco, IBA, ESP, 03′ 39″
67, HONCHAR Serhiy, DOM, UKR, 03′ 56″
76, GARZELLI Stefano, LIQ, ITA, 04′ 08″
147, MAYO Iban, EUS, ESP, 05′ 48″