LANCE ARMSTRONG is breathing easier.

The four-time Tour de France winner is only a second behind the leader, U.S. Postal teammate Victor Hugo Pena, with the hardest part of the three-week race still ahead.

In Wednesday's fourth stage ¡ª a 68.8-kilometer team time trial from Joinville to Saint-Dizier ¡ª Armstrong and his teammates blew the competition away, recording their first ever win in the speed and teamwork-orientated discipline.

Armstrong, closing in on Spaniard Miguel Indurain's record of five-straight Tour victories, is peaking at the right time ¡ª with the weekend's mountain stages lying in wait.

"I had some problems before the Tour that I didn't elaborate on," Armstrong said after the win. "I didn't talk about them because it's really not important. But I'm getting better. I feel better every day."

With the Postals hogging the top eight places in the overall rankings, Armstrong and his teammates are in great shape to tackle the next five stages, which begin with some modest climbs Thursday and Friday before the first of three daunting alpine stages.

The danger has almost passed for Armstrong ¡ª fortunate not to be seriously hurt in Sunday's first stage when the Texan was among around 35 riders caught in a pileup.

Armstrong will hope to avoid further mishap in Thursday's fifth stage ¡ª a 190-kilometer route from Troyes toward Nevers in central France. The course is relatively flat with some minor hill climbs.

Friday's sixth stage sees the first noteworthy climb.

Riders must tackle the Cote des Echarmeaux before arriving in Lyon.

Saturday's haul from Lyon to the ski resort of Morzine-Avoriaz is the first of three days of alpine ascents.

After several medium-difficulty ascents, the riders face two mammoth climbs in the last 19 kilometers of the stage: the Col de la Ramaz and Cote des Gets. A downhill dash then carries tired limbs to the finish line.

As the Postals crossed the finish line Wednesday, they immediately dismounted and then screamed in delight as a swarm of spectators, some waving U.S. flag, engulfed them.

Armstrong's American teammates, George Hincapie and Floyd Landis, jumped into each others arms.

Pena took the yellow jersey awarded to the Tour's overall leader because he was a second faster than Armstrong in the prologue, a sprint through Paris last Saturday.

Pena is the first Colombian to have earned the jersey in the Tour's 100-year history.  

Editor: Wings