Spanish teamwork puts Igor to the fore

SPAIN took the honours on the fourth stage of the Tour de France yesterday with ONCE-Eroski claiming the team time trial and Gasteiz-born Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano taking over the yellow jersey.

ONCE came home in a time of one hour 19 minutes and 49 seconds to allow Gonzalez de Galdeano to move to the top of the general classification ahead of team-mate Joseba Beloki and US Postal Service’s Lance Armstrong, the man going for his fourth successive Tour title.

Gonzalez de Galdeano was quick to note the contribution of his teammates as he became the first Spaniard to wear the yellow jersey since the legendary Miguel Indurain set off on the prologue in 1996.

‘‘It is a yellow jersey for the team, because thanks to them I have it,’’ he said. ‘‘It is an important victory for ONCE-Eroski. It has been a great time trial, we have a great director, we knew that we could do something important and we have done it.

‘‘There is not a yellow jersey for everyone, but in a time trial if the team does not work there is no possible leader.’’

While the lead at this early stage is a great achievement, Gonzalez de Galdeano has his sights set on other goals.

He said: ‘‘The aim is the podium in Paris. Tomorrow we have to go out as if we have not achieved anything.’’

Beloki was also optimistic of his chances of success.

‘‘The important thing is that we have got this yellow jersey with a victory, things are looking good for us in this Tour de France,’’ he said.

Armstrong, moving ominously up the general classification, was pleased with his day’s work and that of his team. ‘‘I’m happy with the team’s performance,’’ claimed the American. ‘‘I’m not disappointed at all. We had no accidents, no punctures, so nothing’s really been lost.’’

Behind ONCE yesterday came US Postal service, 16 seconds back, with CSC Tiscali in third.

CSC’s Laurent Jalabert, who began the day in fourth, looked set to pip Gonzalez de Galdeano for the lead but his team faded away in the final 20km.

Leading by six seconds at the 40.5km mark, they dropped almost a minute in the closing stages to disap-point the large crowd.

Gonzalez, 28, trailed overnight leader Erik Zabel by 26 seconds when they set off from Epernay on the 67.5km stage.

Green jersey holder Zabel finished the day with his Telekom team in 12th, dropping down to 39th in the overall standings, 2:21 behind the leader.

Meanwhile, sprint specialist Mario Cipollini has announced his retirement from cycling following his team’s failure to secure an invite to compete in this year’s Tour de France.

The 35-year-old Acqua and Sapone rider was one of Italy’s most successful cyclists with 177 victories during his career.

“The bitterness of not being able to compete to win ... together with the sense of delusion my team gets from its sponsors who don’t recognise how great a sacrifice I make, has led me to take the drastic decision and give up cycling,” he said.

But Acqua and Sapone team manager Vincenzo Santoni said later yesterday that he was considering taking legal action against Cippollini if he retired.

“We can’t stop him retiring but he signed a two-year contract with us last year and we would take legal action to defend ourselves if he quit,” said Santoni.