Two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong put himself in a commanding position Tuesday as he won the eighth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, a 25.5km uphill time trial to Crans-Montana.

The 29-year-old American, who will be bidding for a third successive Tour de France triumph next month, took the overall leader's yellow jersey off Italian Wladimir Belli (Fassa Bortolo), who could finish in only the fifth fastest time. Armstrong now leads Giro d’Italia champion Gilberto Simoni, second on the stage, by 1:02 overall. Simoni was 1:25 back of Armstrong on the stage, followed by Tyler Hamilton, at 1:26.

Simoni

Photo: Graham Watson

Armstrong, who added this stage win to the prologue he won at the beginning of the race, dominated the time-trial increasing his lead on the final climb of 15km.

Armstrong, who recently announced the second pregnancy of wife Kristin, due in December, admitted that he was currently on cloud nine.

"I am about to become a father of twins, I have a fantastic team as we saw on Monday when they reeled in anyone who was a threat and I am winning races," he said.

Armstrong should retain his lead through to the final stage in two days time, as both remaining stages are pretty straightforward. Wednesday will feature a 166.8km ride between Sion and Lausanne with one climb, the Col des Mosses, 90km from the finish.