Australian riders took a relative battering on the fourth stage team time trial of the Tour de France - but for some, including Baden Cooke, the action's just beginning.

Lance Armstrong led his US Postal troops to a devastating victory in the 69km ride from Joinville to hand an historic yellow jersey to Colombian teammate Victor Hugo Pena.

In second place was the ONCE team of Spaniard Joseba Beloki who finished at 30secs adrift while Bianchi, the Italian team of 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich, placed third at 43.

US Postal now occupy the first eight places in the overall standings, with Armstrong only one second behind Pena ahead of Saturday's first of three days in the Alps.

But while the 31-year-old American inches closer to the jersey he is trying to win for a fifth straight time, a duel of the sprinting heavyweights is shaping up for the green points jersey.

Cooke, the 24-year-old sprinter who won his first stage on the Tour on Monday, said he didn't suffer as much as the rest of his fdjeux.com team on the team event in which they finished over three minutes behind US Postal.

The Franco-Australian team was hit early on when Frenchman Carlos Da Cruz suffered an asthma attack and with no medicine on him the team had to hold up until he got his breath back.

Their poor result - in an event which Cooke described as "not our forte" - means that Bradley McGee, who wore the yellow jersey for three nights, spiralled from second to 111th overall.

However since the team's plans are already shaping around Cooke's bid for more stage wins - and a possible green jersey - McGee's overall time matters little.

Nevertheless, the 27-year-old Sydney native and his bunch will have to get Cooke back in among the action if he is to compete with the likes of compatriot Robbie McEwen and German sprint star Erik Zabel.

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