Stage four
Lance Armstrong took the overall leader's yellow jersey after his Discovery Channel team won the team time-trial - but only after David Zabriskie dramatically crash in the final 2km.

Your Tour experiences and comments
Saw the Tour live for the first time on 5/7. Helicopters overhead like Apocalypse Now and such a rush of wind as the cyclists went past.
david cousins, exeter

Earlier this week I watched the stage finish and the team time trial in Tours. I've been to see stages for the last 10 years and each year seems to just get better. If you enjoy it on television, go to a stage finish - you'll be amazed - if only at the publicity caravan and the weird things they dream up to give out.
Lee Barrass, Doncaster

I really do think that Jean Marie Le Blanc only keeps the TTT in to benefit USPS/Discovery there can be no other reason because all it does is get 7 or 8 of those boys up in the top 10 overall.
Martin, Manchester

If the TDF organisation are going to keep with the Team Time Trial, then it would be better to have this as the first stage instead of a prologue ot as this year. This would give all teams a fair crack at the TTT as no riders would have had a chance to crash out or retire, and give a straight comparison as to the strength of all teams.
Tony Sheehan, Bristol

I am sorry , but these TTT's are soooo boaring on TV (maybe not for the spectators "sur place")....I only watch to see the surroundings.
Misseghers, Gent, Belgium

the ttt is an awsome spectacle, seven riders working hard as one, boring?, what are you talking about man? it's never good to see a rider drop off the back. until you have made the effort yourself you just cannot comprehend how hard these boys play. heart rate @100%, vo2 beyond what is humanely possible for the rest of us, not to mention the lactic acid. respect all round.
tony ward (10km personal best 17 minutes 01 seconds), cornwall uk

This will be my 4th TDF, but I have been following it since Greg Lemond. Judging by the initial individual TT this may be the best TT USPS/Discovery has ever had. With the strategic way the past 2 stages had to be ridden I expect DSC to try and make a statement today.
Michael-Stephen Dempsey, Orlando Florida USA

I have just returned from seeing stage one and three of the tour. The time trial at Normoutier was a spectacle with the tension building all afternoon until Ullrich and Armstrong came on stage. Day three saw us at the finsh line in Tours having driven there from Magny Cours along the the banks of the Loire. People were already camped at the side of the Loire for stage 4 before stage three had got underway! Tours had a carnival atmosphere with the race shown on a big screen at the finish line. As the peloton swallowed up the break away riders the crowd applauded their efforts. The sprint for the finish line brought a noise more like a goal in extra time at a cup final, it was deafening. If you are thinking about going to see the tour do it. You will not be disappointed.
Martin Medland, Horton, Ilminster, Somerset.

I've never watched a team time trial but my passion for the Tour was ignited on a family holiday in this area at the age of 12. We'd heard from the campsite we were staying in that the Tour was passing through so, with nothing better to do, decided to check it out. It was remarkable to see rider after rider storming through at break-neck speed with pure determination on their faces. But even as a cycling novice, I could tell Miguel Indurain was a class above the rest. He went on to comfortably win the stage and the Tour.
Martin, Woking

The team time trial is a really great spectator event. I was there on holiday in 2001 for Credit Agricole's win in the rain and again in 2003 when US Postal beat the intense heat and everyone else. This area, the Loire valley, has all the scenery you'd expect from one of France's famous areas and the chateau at Blois is one of the most acclaimed. The riders must be hoping for a tailwind blowing in from the coast and up the valley.
Chris Russell, BBC Sport

My first experience at the tour was the team time trial in 2002 - Epernay to Chateau Thierry. The background was the Champagne region of France and acres of beautiful vineyards. I arrived the day before in France (for the first time) with my bike, and the morning of the stage I biked from Paris to Chateau Thierry. It was truly unforgettable. The experience of watching the teams go by one by one at incredible speeds and with pain etched in every rider's face was something I'll have with me for the rest of my life. Every cyclist must go and see a Tour de France. I don't plan on ever missing another.
Keith Klotzle, Laguna Beach, CA

As an ex cyclist who visited Paris for the end of the tour from 1968-74, I always like to watch the tour. What a fantastic performance by Armstrong. After Tuesdays team time trial we will see if there are any challengers. Then we only have the mountains to worry about. His form was in doubt, but not anymore.
Brian Bates, Sucre, Bolivia

You can get an outstanding view from the gardens and terrace of the Ch�teau of Chaumont sur Loire, which also has an origami exhibition and is hosting a Festival of Gardens.
Audrey Leblanc, France

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