Montpellier, France — Calling his team “simply awesome,” Lance Armstrong was nearly decked out in yellow again.

The seven-time champion surged from third place to second at the Tour de France on Tuesday after his Astana squad won a team time trial in a dramatic finish.

Armstrong erased all but a sliver of his 40-second deficit to leader Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland in the fourth stage. The only thing separating him from the yellow jersey now is a fraction of a second.

“Boo-YA!!!” Armstrong wrote on Twitter. “Well, what can I say? The team was simply awesome today. Consistent, fluid, mistake-free. We love this event … and are stoked to win.”

The performance was reminiscent of Armstrong’s dominance in the team time trial for the last three years of his string of victories from 1999 to 2005. He has been retired the last 31/2 years.

Astana was timed in 46 minutes, 29 seconds for the 24.2-mile ride in and around Montpellier. That was 18 seconds better than runner-up Garmin, with Saxo Bank third.

Armstrong entered the day 40 seconds behind Cancellara of Saxo Bank, meaning ownership of the yellow jersey came down to split seconds.

Armstrong and Cancellara share an overall time of 10 hours, 38 minutes, 7 seconds, although the Swiss rider was deemed a fraction ahead.

Cycling

Armstrong rips Tour boss

Montpellier, France — Lance Armstrong lashed out at former Tour de France boss Patrice Clerc on Tuesday, saying he should take responsibility for the doping scandals at the race during the American’s three-year absence.

Armstrong was responding to comments made by Clerc that Armstrorng’s return meant “reopening a troubled chapter of the Tour history.”

“Was the Tour and was ASO in a perfect situation when I was gone?” Armstrong asked. “When you look at any company or any organization, and you have dissension among the ranks, corruption among the ranks, you have to look at the boss. He was the boss. Under his reign, and under his leadership, cycling was not perfect.”

NFL

Lack of motive slows case

Nashville, Tenn. — Tennessee’s state medical examiner said Tuesday that investigators have been hesitant to conclude that Steve McNair’s girlfriend killed the NFL star and herself because she didn’t appear to have a motive, but that murder-suicide is the most likely scenario.

Levy said an apparent lack of motive by McNair’s girlfriend, Sahel Kazemi, has made investigators careful about exploring every possibility, including the unlikely scenario that a third party could have staged the scene. Their relationship lacked typical indicators of trouble — such as concerned family members or police reports and protection orders.

Yahoo, players union settle

Minneapolis — Yahoo Inc. and the NFL Players Association have reached a settlement over the use of players’ statistics, photos and other data in Yahoo’s popular online fantasy football game, but details were not released Tuesday.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Yahoo sued the NFLPA last month in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, claiming Yahoo shouldn’t have to pay royalties to use the data because the information is already publicly available.

New trial in Biletnikoff case

San Francisco — An appeals court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of murdering the daughter of former NFL star Fred Biletnikoff.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made the ruling Tuesday, citing racial discrimination in the trial of Mohammed Haroon Ali.

Ali admitted to strangling his girlfriend, 20-year-old Tracey Biletnikoff, in 1999. Ali is currently serving a 55 years-to-life sentence.

Stallworth tape has details

Miami — Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth told police he drank up to four shots of premium tequila while partying with friends at a Miami Beach club but did not feel drunk in the hours before he struck and killed a pedestrian with his car.

In a recorded interview with police, Stallworth said he met friends at a hotel sometime after 2 a.m. on March 14.

Lab tests later showed Stallworth had a blood-alcohol level of .126, above Florida’s .08 limit.

Stallworth, 28, is serving a 30-day jail sentence after pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter in the death of 59-year-old Mario Reyes.

Golf

Olazabal longshot for Open

Troon, Scotland — Jose Maria Olazabal’s only remaining chance of qualifying for the British Open is by securing one of the exempt spots available through the Scottish Open later this week.

The two-time Masters champion missed out Tuesday on one of the four places available at the 288-man British Open qualifying event at Kilmarnock Barassie, Scotland.

College basketball

Miss St. recruit, NCAA meet

Jackson, Miss. — The attorney for Mississippi State signee Renardo Sidney, whose eligibility to play for the Bulldogs is being investigated by the NCAA, and his parents say meetings with the NCAA on Monday and Tuesday were “productive.”

The NCAA is looking into the 6-foot-10 power forward’s amateur status after newspaper reports based on anonymous sources questioned how the Sidneys were living in million-dollar homes after leaving Jackson for Los Angeles while their son played at Fairfax High.

Sidney is expected to enroll at Mississippi State next month and hopes to play next season for the Bulldogs. If the NCAA finds his amateur status has been compromised, he could be forced to sit out part or all of next season.

Baseball

Fan, New York settle

New York — A baseball fan has settled a lawsuit that claimed he was kicked out of Yankee Stadium by a police officer because he left his seat to use the bathroom during the playing of “God Bless America.”

Bradford Campeau-Laurion had named the Yankees and New York City in his federal lawsuit, which argued that he was a victim of political and religious discrimination and that his rights were violated at the August 2008 game.

Cards shelve DeRosa

St. Louis — The St. Louis Cardinals are placing newly acquired utilityman Mark DeRosa on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 1, because of a strained left wrist.

Halladay mulling options

St. Petersburg — Roy Halladay wants to keep pitching for Toronto, but is willing to consider accepting a trade if approached by the Blue Jays.

“I want to stay, but I think it’s a situation you have to evaluate,” Halladay said Tuesday. “I’m really not at that situation just yet. If something does come up, you weigh your options at that point.”

Halladay is 10-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 16 starts.

Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi on Tuesday said he’s willing to listen to offers for Halladay.

“I don’t think anything has changed, I just think, ‘You know what, why not listen? The worst we can say is no,”‘ Ricciardi told The Canadian Press on Tuesday.

La Russa drops lawsuit

St. Louis — St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has quietly dropped his lawsuit against the social networking site Twitter Inc.

A one-paragraph statement filed June 26 with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco said La Russa had dropped all claims — and that San Francisco-based Twitter did not compensate him in exchange. It also said he could not refile the same complaint.

NBA

Detroit, Kuester talking

Detroit — The Detroit Pistons are close to ending their search for a new boss on the bench.

The Pistons and John Kuester were nearing an agreement Tuesday night to make him their coach, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press.

The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal was not done, said the contract could be completed as soon as today.

Kuester spent the past two seasons as a Cleveland assistant.

Hawks, Bibby agree

Atlanta — The Atlanta Hawks have reached an agreement to re-sign Mike Bibby to a three-year deal.

Hawks general manager Rick Sund said Tuesday he could not comment on the status of the talks with Bibby.