Germany's Andre Greipel won the fourth and longest stage of the Tour Down Under Friday, increasing his overall lead and trumping a bold play by Lance Armstrong. Armstrong and Radioshack teammate Tomas Vaitkus made an audacious bid for victory with less than 15 kilometers of the 149.5-kilometer stage remaining. But in buffeting winds, they were dragged back and absorbed by the peleton. Seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong finished 50th on the stage, 17 seconds behind Greipel's winning time of 3 hours, 30 minutes, 29 seconds and was 29th on general classification after four of six stages. That was 47 seconds behind Greipel's accumulated time of 13 hours, 23 minutes, 57 seconds. Friday's stage began in the Adelaide suburb of Norwood, then wound into the hills above the city until it flattened out on the sun-parched plains between the city and the seaside town of Goolwa. At the small community of Milang, residents lined the verandah of the town's only pub to cheer riders by. Armstrong tried to win the stage as it swept toward its finish in the crowded main street in Goolwa. But with only two men in his desperate breakaway, he was forced to battle into a gusting sea breeze and couldn't defend a margin which peaked at 15 seconds.
