Armstrong poised as Tour hots up

Lance Armstrong is already in a strong position to claim a fourth successive Tour de France victory after his US Postal team finished second in the fourth stage team time trial from Epernay to Chateau-Thierry.

That lifted the American (above) up to third place overall and he said: "I'm very happy and I'm happy with the performance of the team. We did a great job out there."

The stage was won by the Spanish ONCE team, but Armstrong is now only seven seconds behind leader Igor Gonzalez Galdeano and four seconds adrift of Joseba Beloki, both of the ONCE team.

He said: "Third at seven seconds is the perfect place to be. By having the lead, ONCE will have to take responsibility for controlling the racing. I just have to be careful not to let any dangerous riders gain a lot of time."

Scotland's David Millar has dropped back to 23rd overall, 1min 40secs off the pace