DAVID MILLAR'S ambitions for the hilly stages tomorrow and on Friday remain intact and credible after he lifted himself to within reach of the yellow jersey by finishing third in yesterday's time-trial here, his best performance in a Tour contre la montre since his victory just down the road in Nantes in 2003.
Millar's performance on the first stage on Saturday had hinted at good form, and he confirmed this yesterday by finishing ahead of the main contender for the overall title, Cadel Evans of Australia, and in front of the world time-trial champion, Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland.
"I was two years away and I think it's taken two years to get back," said Millar, referring to the doping ban which put him out of racing between June 2004 and June 2006. "I feel that I'm back on top of it now."
Second in the time-trial and second overall in the same time as the Scot is the Luxembourgeois Kim Kirchen, the leader of Mark Cavendish's Columbia sportswear team. Kirchen, who finished seventh overall in last year's race, is an outside contender for the overall title but he may, like Millar, try to take the yellow jersey tomorrow.
As expected the standings were shaken up on the rolling course around the town, and the biggest loser proved to be Romain Feillu of France. Today he will be back to obscurity after a single day in the race lead, having finished 169th, almost five minutes behind the stage winner Stefan Schumacher.
On Monday Feillu had ridden what amounted to a 200km time-trial with three companions to take the yellow jersey and, not surprisingly, the effort told yesterday. The time-trial, said the 1984 winner Laurent Fignon, "is terrible, terrible" as he watched Feillu struggle, his legs buckling as he tried to turn the gear in a way that made one fear for his dodgy knee.
Schumacher, on the other hand, is built for speed, having taken a bronze medal in last year's world road-race championships as well as a one-day Classic, the Amstel Gold race, and a string of minor stage events. Unfortunately, Schumacher is associated with speed in another sense, having tested positive for amphetamines - taken recreationally it seems - while driving his car last year.
Overall the cards were reshuffled and Cadel Evans came out on top, as might have been expected after his victory in last year's time-trial stage in Albi. But he gained only seven seconds on the Russian Denis Menchov and the pair will be watching each other intently as the race heads towards the Massif Central.
While Damiano Cunego of Italy limited his losses yesterday, most significant of all was Alejandro Valverde's relative weakness. So imperious on Saturday's hilltop finish at Plumelec, he struggled yesterday in a manner that was actually reassuring, given that a performance in the Miguel Indurain style would have had tongues wagging.
He is one minute six seconds adrift of Evans, close enough to be optimistic if the Australian struggles in the hills, but far enough to make it clear that he will need a massive margin going into the penultimate day's time-trial. As for the young Italian Riccardo Ricco, he is probably out of the picture after coming 115th yesterday, with more than three and a half minutes conceded.
Today it is back to flat roads, with the longest stage of the race across central France to Chateauroux. Gerolsteiner, in theory, will attempt to shut down the race to keep Schumacher in the yellow jersey, and that may create a chance for Cavendish to shine if there is a bunch sprint.
Guardian Service
STAGE FOUR DETAILS
Stage Four (29.5km time-trial) - 1 S Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner ) 35 mins 44 secs, 2 K Kirchen (Lux) Columbia +18 secs, 3 D Millar (Bri) Garmin - Chipotle same time, 4 C Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto ) +27", 5 F Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC +33", 6 D Menchov (Rus) Rabobank +34", 7 J Voigt (Ger) Team CSC +35", 8 C Vandevelde (USA) Garmin - Chipotle +37", 9 G Hincapie (USA) Columbia +41", 10 V Nibali (Ita) Liquigas +47".
Overall standings - 1 S Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 14 hrs 4 mins 41 secs, 2 K Kirchen (Lux) Columbia +12 secs, 3 D Millar (Bri) Garmin - Chipotle same time. 4 C Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto ) +21", 5 F Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC +33", 6 C Vandevelde (US) Garmin - Chipotle +37", 7 G Hincapie (USA) Columbia +41", 8 T Lovkvist (Swe) Columbia +47" 9 V Nibali (Ita) Liquigas +58", 10 J Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne +1:01".
King of the Mountain: 1 T Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 19 points, 2 S Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 11, 3 B Schroeder (Ger) Milram 9, 4 D De la Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval 4, 5 L Jegou (Fra) Francaise des Jeux 3, 6 C Moreau (Fra) Agritubel 3, 7 G Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel 1, 8 D Le Lay (Fra) Agritubel 1, 9 D Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1.
Sprinter standings: 1 K Kirchen (Lux) Columbia 81 points, 2 T Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 64, 3 O Freire (Spa) Rabobank 55, 4 A Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 49, 5 E Zabel (Ger) Milram 46, 6 S Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis 43, 7 R Hunter (SA) Barloworld 40, 8 J Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 39, 9 W Frischkorn (USA) Garmin - Chipotle 38, 10 R Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 36.
Team standings: 1 Garmin - Chipotle 42 hrs 13 mins 59 secs, 2 Columbia +1 min 44 secs, 3 Team CSC +2:35", 4 Cofidis +3:20", 5 Gerolsteiner +3:31", 6 Caisse d'Epargne +3:43", 7 Liquigas +4:30", 8 Quick-Step +5:08", 9 Barloworld +5:31", 10 Euskaltel +6:14".
