Armstrong closes in on Tour leader

ON STAGE: American seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, far left, and Spaniard Alberto Contador, right, strain as they ride with their Astana teammates to win a Tour de France team time-trial Tuesday. Armstrong and Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland now have the same time in the overall standings but Cancellara retains the yellow jersey as the tour leader.

MONTPELLIER, France – Calling his team “simply awesome,” Lance Armstrong was nearly decked out in yellow again.

The seven-time champion surged from third place to second at the Tour de France on Tuesday after his Astana squad won a team time trial in a dramatic finish.

Armstrong erased all but a sliver of his 40-second deficit to leader Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland in the fourth stage. The only thing separating him from the yellow jersey now is a fraction of a second.

“Boo-YA!!!” Armstrong wrote on Twitter. “Well, what can I say? The team was simply awes...

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July, 2009