LA GRANDE MOTTE, France, July 6, 2009 (AFP) – Lance Armstrong will Tuesday get reacquainted with the Tour de France team time trial, an exercise which played a small but important role in his seven yellow jersey triumphs.

During reign on the race between 1999-2005 a team time trial was held six times, over an average distance of 64km, and Armstrong’s team came out top on the past three occasions.

Armstrong’s former team Discovery Channel won the event the last time it was held in 2005, when organizers decided to help the weaker teams by limiting the amount of time they could lose on the stage.

In 2004 US Postal, another of Armstrong’s teams, won the stage ahead of Phonak and Iles Balreas.

A year earlier US Postal beat Spanish outfit ONCE and the Bianchi team of Jan Ullrich, who lost the race to Armstrong by just 1min 03secs.

In 2002 ONCE beat US Postal to first place while in 2001 Credit Agricole won the race ahead of ONCE and Festina, a result which did not stop Armstrong from winning his third yellow jersey.

In 2000 US Postal finished second to ONCE, with the German Telekom team of Ullrich in third.

This year, given its relatively short distance of 39km, organizers have reverted to the old team time trial rules meaning all time gaps at the end of the stage around Montpellier will be applied to the riders’ overall times.