| 07/17/2001 | Cycling News for 7/17/01
+ TOUR DE FRANCE
STAGE 10: American Lance Armstrong (US Postal), placed his name amongst the legends of cycling today by taking the mythical stage of Alpe D’Huez, where the first stage in the high mountains finished. Frenchman Francois Simon was able to take the yellow jersey from O’Grady. Team Telekom had a dominating presence in the peloton from the start. The first rider selection occurred on the climb of la Madeleine, where Kevin Livingston & Andreas Kloden imposed a strong tempo for their team leader, Jan Ullrich. Most of the favorites, including Armstrong in the company of teammates Jose Luis Rubiera & Roberto Heras. Also Joseba & Beloki & Igor González de Galdeano (both from ONCE); Santiago Botero & Oscar Sevilla (both Kelme); Francisco Mancebo (iBanesto.com); Iñigo Chaurreau & Roberto Laiseka (Euskaltel) and Kazak Kivilev (Cofidis), fourth ranked overall.
A second chase group was formed which included overall leader O'Grady, with his teammate Bobby Julich and Spaniard Angel Casero, who had to withdraw due to knee problems. Off the front went Laurent Roux and Eladio Jimenez, who would reach the top of the Madeleine 8:16 ahead of the first group. Telekom continued to lead the front group for the climb of Glandon, with Ullrich clearly visible at the front, but Armstrong conspicuously absent from the head of the group. Eventually all the work by Team Telekom would leave a lone Andreas Kloden pulling
in front of Ullrich on the top of the Glandon. Before the first group, Laurent Roux had crossed the top of the climb first, followed by Eladio Jiménez at 2 minutes and a Jalabert-led peloton at 6:28.
Only the Alpe D'Huez was left and Telekom tried to pass on the responsibility at the front, but nobody assumed it, following Ullrich’s domestiques instead. Armstrong looked weak, but nobody was attacking, so the front group remained together until there were 14.1 kms to go. Lance Armstrong, who had been taking an “arm chair” ride all day came to the front launched first by Heras and then by Rubiera, shattering what was left of the front group. The Texan played a cool hand of poker, not having had any trouble at all. His Oscar-winning performance allowed him
to be “rested” to go on the attack. Such vicious attack that he reached and passed Roux and Jiménez. Armstrong would make it to the finish almost 2 minutes ahead of Ullrich, who try as he will to follow Armstrong could not accelerate with the gusto of the American. Joseba Beloki was third, imitating the final podium of the last edition of the Tour. The US Postal rider becomes only the second American to win at Alpe D’Huez, after Andy Hampsten (1992).
Tomorrow’s stage is an individual mountain time trial between Grenoble and Chamrousse, with a climb of 18.7 kms and an average slope of 7.2%.
STAGE 10, Aix les Bains to Alpe d'Huez, 209 km
1.ARMSTRONG Lance (USA/USP) 6h 23:47
2.ULLRICH Jan (GER/TEL) at 1:59
3.BELOKI Joseba (ESP/ONC) at 2:09
4.MOREAU Christophe (FRA/FES) at 2:30
5.SEVILLA Oscar (ESP/KEL) at 2:54
6.MANCEBO Francisco (ESP/BAN) at 4:01
7.ROUX Laurent (FRA/DEL) at 4:03
8.GONZALEZ GALDEANO I.(ESP/ONC) s.t.
9.LAISEKA Roberto (ESP/EUS) at 4:03
10.PIEPOLI Leonardo (ITA/BAN) at 4:07
11.BOOGERD Michael (NED/RAB) at 4:37
12.KIVILEV Andrei (KAZ/COF) at 4:39
13.BOTERO Santiago (COL/KEL) at 5:07
14.MONTGOMERY Sven (SUI/FDJ) at 5:09
15.ROUS Didier (FRA/BJR) at 6:18
16.MERCKX Axel (BEL/DFF) s.t.
17.SERRANO Marcos (ESP/ONC) s.t.
18.BELLI Wladimir (ITA/FAS) s.t.
19.MIKHAILOV Guennadi (RUS/LOT) at 7:05
20.GARZELLI Stefano (ITA/MAP) at 7:54
G.C.
1.SIMON Francois (FRA/BJR) 45h 34:09
2.KIVILEV Andrei (KAZ/COF) at 11:54
3.O'GRADY Stuart (AUS/C.A) at 18:10
4.ARMSTRONG Lance (USA/USP) at 20:07
5.BELOKI Joseba (ESP/ONC) at 21:42
6.MOREAU Christophe (FRA/FES) at 22:21
7.ULLRICH Jan (GER/TEL) at 22:41
8.GONZALEZ GALDEANO Igor (ESP/ONC) at 23:34
9.SEVILLA Oscar (ESP/KEL) at 24:07
10.BOTERO Santiago (COL/KEL) at 25:52
11.BOOGERD Michael (NED/RAB) at 25:58
12.SERRANO Marcos (ESP/ONC) at 26:15
13.MANCEBO Francisco (ESP/BAN) at 27:15
14.JALABERT Laurent (FRA/CST) at 28:06
15.ROUS Didier (FRA/BJR) at 28:40
16.GUTIERREZ Jose Enrique (ESP/KEL) at 29:30
17.MERCKX Axel (BEL/DFF) at 29:48
18.BELLI Wladimir (ITA/FAS) at 29:52
19.HERAS Roberto (ESP/USP) at 29:53
20.MONTGOMERY Sven (SUI/FDJ) at 29:57
MOUNTAIN:
1. ROUX, Laurent (FRA/DEL) 127
2. JALABERT, Laurent (FRA/CST) 106
3. JIMENEZ, Eladio (ESP/BAN) 80
TEAM
1. RABOBANK (NED) 136h 48:08
2. KELME - COSTA BLANCA (ESP) at 37:30
3. FESTINA Watches (FRA) at 53:56
REGULARITY
1. O'GRADY, Stuart (AUS/C.A) 136
2. ZABEL, Erik (GER/TEL) 127
3. NAZON, Damien (FRA/BJR) 90
COMBATIVITY
1. ROUX, Laurent (FRA/DEL) 46
2. JALABERT, Laurent (FRA/CST) 45
3. DURAND, Jacky (FRA/FDJ) 34
YOJNG RIDER
1. SEVILLA, Oscar (ESP/KEL) 45h 58:16
2. MANCEBO, Francisco (ESP/BAN) at 3:08
3. MONTGOMERY, Sven (SUI/FDJ) at 5:50
STAGES SO FAR
STAGE: STAGE WINNER/YELLOW JERSEY
PROLOGUE, Dunkirk, 8.2 km: Moreau/Moreau
STAGE 1, Saint Omer - Boulogne sur Mer, 194.5 km: Zabel/Moreau
STAGE 2, Calais – Antwerp (Belgium), 220 km: Wauters/Wauters
STAGE 3, Antwerp - Seraing, 198 km: Zabel/O’Grady
STAGE 4, Huy – Verdun, 215 km: L. Jalabert/O’Grady
STAGE 5, TTT, Verdun - Bar de Luc, 67 km: Credit Agricole/O’Grady
STAGE 6, Commercy - Strasbourg, 211 km: Kirsipuu/O’Grady
STAGE 7, Strasbourg - Colmar, 162.5 km: Jalabert/Voigt
STAGE 8, Colmar - Pontarlier, 222.5 km: Dekker/O’Grady
STAGE 9, Pontarlier - Aix les Bains, 185 km: Ivanov/O’Grady
STAGE 10, Aix les Bains - Alpe D'Huez, 209 km: Armstrong/Simon
TOUR NEWS
THE WINNER TALKS: Lance Armstrong: “This was an important stage to win, because it is a mythical stage which is always surrounded by a lot of expectation and a special ambiance, with the fans filling the road. I didn’t have any difficulty, what happened was that my team couldn’t work because we only had Roberto Heras and José Luis Rubiera, that’s why we let them take command. Jan Ullrich is a rider that needs to maintain a constant tempo and has a hard time changing the speed, which I can do more easily. He didn’t do bad”. Said Armstrong about his German rival.
+ NEWS
TVM CONDEMNED: The ex-directors and doctor of the now extinct Team TVM were condemned today to 6 to 18 months of suspended sentence and several fines, in the case related to the finding of doping products during the
1998 Tour de France.www.infociclismo.com
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