BBC SPORT | Other Sports | Cycling | De Galdeano takes yellow jersey

Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano took the yellow jersey as leader of the Tour de France after ONCE-Eroski dominated the team time trial from Epernay to Chateau-Thierry.

Stage 4 results

ONCE took the 67.5km fourth stage in a time of 1h19.49, averaging 48kph and making De Galdeano the first Spaniard to wear yellow since 1995, when Miguel Indurain won the race.

Erik Zabel relinquished the jersey he had gained in Tuesday's sprint finish after a disappointing showing from Telekom, who ended the stage 12th, 2'47" behind.

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Frenchman Laurent Jalabert had looked like moving up from fourth spot overall after a strong start from his CSC-Tiscali formation.

But the Danish team lost powerhouse Michael Sandstodt to a puncture and finished third, 45 seconds back.

"I'm really disappointed because we had it in our legs to win this time trial," said Jalabert.

Erik Zabel and his Telekom team
Zabel reliquished yellow after a single day
The 28-year-old De Galdeano, in his second year on the tour, now holds a four-second lead over team-mate Joseba Beloki, with American favourite Lance Armstrong a further three seconds back.

Another ONCE man, Isidro Nozal, collected the white jersey for the best young rider, ahead of Scotland's Robert Millar, whose Cofidis team finished fifth.

US Postal finished in second place after a steady time trial that saw leader Armstong concentrate on keeping his team together for the tougher challenges ahead in the mountains.

"I'm a little bit surprised but I'm not disappointed," said Armstrong.

"We had a good ride but apparently others had a better one. It's not too bad, we had no accidents, no punctures."

The Texan can be content with beating other strong opponents like Santiago Botero and Oscar Sevilla, whose kelme team lost more than two minutes.


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