Lance Armstrong (Photo: Team Discovery Channel)

COURCHEVEL, Jul 12 (CP) - After a day of perfect racing that put 6-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong back into the yellow jersey and into a comfortable overall lead, the 33-year old American revealed some of the race tactics that has turned Team Discovery yet again into an unbeatable force. "We never go into the day with a true order of guys for the last climb. We start the stage and see how guys are doing and see how guys are feeling on the road. Johan talks to every guy and then he sets the order. It was complicated because 'Popo' crashed on the descent and we were not sure how he was. George told us he was very good, 'Chechu' said he was good, so Johan set the order and we went with that and it worked out." Especially Yaroslav Popvych's final accellaration impressed his captain. "It was like a sprint," Armstrong said. The excellent effort of Team Discovery crushed Team T-Mobile, which in stage 8 had still appeared to be strong enough for a serious assault on the defending champion. Armstrong, though, continues to see a major threat in the German squad. "I don't think they are finished. Like we had, three days ago, I suspect they had a bad day today. I'm going to be the last person to write them off. They may have lost some time today but they are not going away. They are going to make life difficult and we will continue to watch them and continue to respect them."

© Kathrin Bomans