Team Astana delivered Lance Armstrong to the finish line for Tuesday's team time trial in the exact time that he trailed Tour de France leader Fabian Cancellara -- 40 seconds -- and not a second faster.
That made the finish so close that race judges had to rely on fractions of a second to decide the overall leader. The decision went to Cancellara, who has held the yellow jersery since the finish of Stage 1.
[The difference was .18 of a second, about one revolution of a bicycle wheel.]
Cancellara certainly earned the honor of wearing the yellow again. His Saxo Bank team finished in third place in the 24-mile team time trial largely on his efforts at pulling them through the final couple of miles on the course.
Astana hit the last time check before the finish line 41 seconds ahead of Saxo Bank, but lost a second to Cancellara's team over the final section. That's were the Swiss time trial specialist had hunkered down and led his team home.
In the team time trial, the first five teammates across the finish line all get the same time based on the fifth cyclist. Armstrong was the fifth rider across the line for Astana.
Podium
Had Astana been able to maintain that 41-second advantage over Saxo Bank, Armstrong would have been back in the yellow jersey. He last wore it on the podium in Paris at his retirement in 2005.
Astana finished in first by 18 seconds over second-place Garmin-Slipstream. Saxo Bank was third at 40 seconds back, followed by Liquigas in fourth and Columbia-HTC in fifth.
Astana's efforts did put five cyclists in the top 10. Levi Leipheimer reaction at the end:
"I'm honestly lost 4 words! That was an incredible lifetime experience, I have 2 say it was mixture of excitement, aggression, fear & elation."
Crashes
The loop ride around Montpellier was a twisting course on narrow roads. Some of the early teams on the course suffered some problems.
Rabobank's Denis Menchov crashed, reminiscent of his fall during the individual time trial that closed the Giro d'Italia this year. The Russian won that race in May; but he's no where near the front at the Tour de France.
Cadel Evans' Silence-Lotto team struggled through the course and finished far back with Evans driving them across the finish line. One rider suffered a fall.
The lead cyclist for the BBox team lead them right off the road after taking the wrong line into one of the many corners on the narrow and winding course. Three riders followed him into the grass; one of the four actually didn't fall.
Garmin
Garmin-Slipstream allowed four riders to drift off the back -- including Tyler Farrar -- early on and charged ahead with the top five, which included Christian Vande Velde, David Zabriskie, David Millar, and Bradley Wiggins.
Top 10 overall
1. Fabian Cancellara, Saxo Bank
2. Lance Armstrong, Astana - 00:00
3. Alberto Contador, Astana - 00:19 behind
4. Andreas Kloden, Astana - 00:23 behind
5. Levi Leipheimer, Astana - 00:31 behind
6. Bradley Wiggins, Garmin - 00:38 behind
7. Haimar Zubeldia, Astana - 00:51 behind
8. Tony Martin, Columbia - 00:52 behind
9. David Zabriskie, Garmin - 01:06 behind
10. David Millar, Garmin - 01:07 behind
Early favorites
2. Lance Armstrong, 00:00
3. Alberto Contador, 00:19
5. Levi Leipheimer, 00:31
12. Christian Vande Velde, 01:16
20. Andy Schleck, 1:41
25. Frank Schleck, 2:17
29. Carlos Sastre, 2:44
35. Cadel Evans, 2:59
72. Denis Menchov, 3:52
