Dahlonega — American Floyd Landis inched closer to a Tour de Georgia championship Friday, retaining the yellow leader's jersey and adding precious seconds to his margin over Lance Armstrong and others.

But a mountain of potential problems stand in the way as the race shifts to Brasstown Bald. The nearly 4,000-foot accent today, once again, should favor Armstrong.

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But Thursdays' time trials figured to favor Armstrong, as did Friday's jaunt up and down the north Georgia mountains.

Armstrong's ninth and seventh place finishes on those stages have left him in eighth place overall.

Perhaps Armstrong is right. Perhaps the fittest athlete in the world is not as fit as he needs to be to win this race.

For two days, Armstrong has talked about his legs not being strong enough and his conditioning not good enough. But he and his teammates were also quick to point out that the summer's Tour de France was their No. 1 goal.

Friday, after the stage, Armstrong said his stomach was bothering him and that with the current conditions he was not really looking forward to today.

Friday, Armstrong's Discovery Channel teammate Jose Luis Rubiera acknowledged that the team was not in ideal shape.

"This race is more with heart than with our legs," he said. "We're not 100 percent in shape."

Added teammate Viatcheslav Ekimov: "Some of our riders always are better in the summer months."

Brian Vanborg, of CSC won Friday's stage with a time of 5.32. The Discovery Team, known for having several strong climbers, had three of the top seven finishes.

Overall, David Zabriskie is in second place and Bobby Julich in third place. The current top five are all Americans. Armstrong is 1:42 behind Landis.

Last year, Armstrong finished third in the stage that went from Athens to Brasstown Bald, 16 seconds behind the stage winner.

As for Landis, today's challenge will be new to him. Having not ridden in the Tour de Georgia before, he said he was unfamiliar with the climb that he'll have to make today.

"Though I've never been on that climb, I've heard how difficult it is," he said. "How I feel when I get to the base of that last climb depends on how nice my teammates are. I doubt I'll start with ideal feeling in my legs."

Armstrong thought Landis might struggle today - not because he's not a strong cycler, but because he won't get the necessary support from his team.

"Floyd is very strong," Armstrong said. "He is the strongest, but he has no team. They can roll on the flats but as soon as they go uphill, they all drop.

Parts of Friday's stage were ridden through horrendous weather.

By around noon, riders were racing in heavy rain and sporadic lightning. By 1 p.m., as riders were starting their ascent up Woody Gap, hail was falling and racers could barely see in front of them.

But cycle racing is almost never stopped for the weather.

Landis said the roads remained safe, but seeing where they were going was another matter.

"At one point, it was difficult to even see where we were going," he said.

Today's stage starts in Gainesville at about 1,200 feet above sea level. About four- and-a-half hours later, they'll be at 4,784 feet. The ride lasts 113 miles - the shortest of the non-time-trial stages, but still the most grueling.

At around mile 40, the climb begins. After a series of steady, but not-too steep ascends, the last 13 or so miles shoot straight up Brasstown Bald Mountain, going from about 1,900 feet above sea level to 4,784.

Stage 4 winner: Brian Vanborg

Overall leader: Floyd Landis

Armstrong watch: Seventh place Friday, eight place overall

Stage 5: Gainesville to Brasstown Bald, 113 miles

• Stage 5: Ganiesville to Brasstown Bald, 113.4 miles

• Stage winner: Brian Vanborg, team CSC, 5:33:02.

• Overall leader: Floyd Landis, Team Phonak, 16:47:29

• Today's stage: Blairsville to Alpharetta, 125.2 miles

• Lancewatch: Lance Armstrong finished seventh Friday (5:33:10) and is eighth overall (16:49:11).