Schumacher Steals Show In Time Trial, Nabs Yellow Jersey After Stage 4

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:34:44 +0000
Norman Vergara - AHN Sports Writer

Cholet, France (AHN) - Stefan Schumacher jumped to the overall lead in the 2008 Tour de France on Tuesday by winning the individual time trial nobody expected him to win, easily dethroning one-day leader Romain Feillu from the top post.

The German Schumacher roamed around this scenic city in a 29.5-kilometer route in 35 minutes and 44 seconds. In the first of only two individual time trials in this year's race, Schumacher showed he's also a force to reckon with in a race against the clock, apart from his specialty in blitzing through sprint stages.

The result was a surprise yellow jersey, supplanting the Frenchman Feillu, who donned the jersey for one day following his conquest of the third stage in Nantes. Schumacher now takes his 12-second lead into the fifth stage, where the remaining riders head 232 kilometers to Chateauroux-another flat route.

Schumacher outperformed Kim Kirchen and David Millar, who wound up tied for second place in Cholet, 18 seconds off the German's pace. Feillu lagged nine places out of the tailender, nearly five minutes behind Schumacher. The two-day holder of the yellow jersey, Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, finished 23rd, 1:34 back of the stage winner.

Cadel Evans, the runner-up in last year's race, is 21 seconds off Schumacher for fourth place in the general classification standings. Rounding out the top 10 are Fabian Cancellara (33 seconds off Schumacher), Christian Vandevelde (37 seconds), George Hincapie (41), Thomas Lovkvist (47), Vincenzo Nibali (58) and Ivan Gutierrez (1:01).

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