Stage 4 Review
By Paul Sherwen

I never thought that I would be uttering the name of Lance Armstrong again in association with the yellow jersey at the Tour de France- but it happened today. In fact at 9kms to go to the finish in Montpellier Lance was actually in the lead by a single second.

However over the last kilometres Fabian Cancellara must have "dug deep into his suitcase of courage" because he literally dragged his team into the finish line to pull back that single second and on the count back he and Armstrong were credited with the same total time. Counting further back Cancellara kept his overall lead by the fractions of a second recorded in the time trial stages.

It would have been a fairy tale ending to see the former king of July grab the jersey today but I have to say that Cancellara deserved to keep his lead with a stunning performance. It was a very exciting race to call and I wonder if Lance can get the jersey before we head into the hills.

Garmin- Slipstream also did a great job on the day taking second place with only five riders of which four did most of the pace making. They came out so fast that their sprinters, Julian Dean and Tyler Farrar couldn't hold the pace and had to survive the course alone.

Tomorrow should return to the sprinters but the day after there is a hill top finish at Montjuich,  Barcelona that may give Armstrong another crack at the Maillot Jaune- this has always promised to be a great Tour and it's only just beginning.