2003 Tour de France
The Tour de France of 2003 started and ends in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covers 3,350 km, proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages. In the centenary year of the race the route recreates, in part, that of 1903.
Of the 198 riders the favorite is again Lance Armstrong, aiming for a record equalling fifth win. Before the race, it was believed that his main rivals included Alexandre Vinokourov, Iban Mayo, Aitor Gonzalez, Tyler Hamilton, Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich, but Armstrong was odds-on favorite.
List of teams in the 2003 Tour de France
for more information see the official site or http://www.w3os.nl/logos/tour/
Prologue (Paris, July 5)
The opening stage was a short time trial. Covering just 6.5 km the route started under the Eiffel Tower, crossed the river, out to the Place de la Concorde and then back for a finish near to the start.
The trial was won by Bradley McGee of FDJeux edging out Scot David Millar by 0.1 seconds after Millar had briefly lost his chain in the last 500 metres. Haimar Zubeldia, a tour debutant, had set the early pace and held onto first place almost to the end.
1. Bradley McGee (Australia) 07:26 2. David Millar (Scotland) +0:00 3. Haimar Zubeldia (Spain) +0:02 4. Jan Ullrich (Germany) +0:02 5. Victor Hugo Peña (Columbia) +0:06 6. Tyler Hamilton (USA) +0:06 7. Lance Armstrong (USA) +0:07 8. Joseba Beloki (Spain) +0:09 9. Santiago Botero (Columbia) +0:09 10. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Russia) +0:10
Stage 1 (Saint-Denis to Meaux, July 6)
This stage entailed a flat 168 km looping south to Montgeron before heading back north to the village of Meaux.
As expected the race ended in a sprint. An early three man breakaway built up an lead of almost nine minutes before the big teams chased them down, the final man, Andy Flickinger, being caught with 11 km to go. A crash in the last kilometre brought down around 140 riders but most of the main sprinters made it through. Alessandro Petacchi of Fassa Bortolo won his first ever stage, beating Robbie McEwen and Erik Zabel in the final metres. Contender for outright victory Tyler Hamilton broke his collarbone in the big crash.
1. Alessandro Petacchi (Italy) 3:44:33 2. Robbie McEwen (Australia) +0:00 3. Erik Zabel (Germany) +0:00 4. Paolo Bettini (Italy) +0:00 5. Baden Cooke (Australia) +0:00 6. Thor Hushovd (Norway) +0:00 7. Oscar Freire (Spain) +0:00 8. Luca Paolini (Italy) +0:00 9. Romans Vainsteins (Latvia) +0:00 10. Jaan Kirsipuu (Estonia) +0:00
General classification:
1. Bradley McGee 3:51:55 2. David Millar +0:04 3. Haimar Zubeldia +0:06 4. Jan Ullrich +0:06 5. Victor Hugo Peña +0:10 6. Tyler Hamilton +0:10 7. Andy Flickinger +0:10 8. Lance Armstrong +0:11 9. Joseba Beloki +0:13 10. Santiago Botero +0:13
Points classification:
1. Robbie Mc Ewen 36 2. Alessandro Petacchi 35 3. Erik Zabel 26
Mountains classification:
1. Christophe Mengin 13 2. Walter Beneteau 9 3. Andy Flickinger 5
Stage 2 (La Ferté-sous-Jouarre to Sedan, July 7)
One of the longest stages of the 2003 race at 204.5 km, this was another mostly flat stage where a bunch sprint was expected, a few Category 4 climbs or smaller occured in the first and last quarters of the race.
The race was similar to Stage 1. A very early breakaway by two riders, Lilian Jegou and Frederic Finot, built up a lead of over eleven minutes, but their lead was diminished through the afternoon and after Jegou was dropped Finot was finally caught after a breakaway of almost 185 km. In the final mass sprint the Australia FDJeux rider Baden Cooke won, another debutant winner he just beat local rider Jean-Patrick Nazon. Tyler Hamilton completed the race close to last and two other riders injured in the crash on Stage 1 did not start the day's race. They were American Levi Leipheimer, who was considered to have a chance to end in the top-10 and his Dutch team mate from Rabobank, Marc Lotz.
1. Baden Cooke (Australia) 5:06:33 2. Jean-Patrick Nazon (France) +0:00 3. Jaan Kirsipuu (Estonia) +0:00 4. Erik Zabel (Germany) +0:00 5. Thor Hushovd (Norway) +0:00 6. Robbie McEwen (Australia) +0:00 7. Paolo Bettini (Italy) +0:00 8. Stuart O'Grady (Australia) +0:00 9. Fred Rodriguez (U.S.) +0:00 10. Mikel Artetxe (Spain) +0:00
General classification:
1. Bradley McGee 8:58:28 2. David Millar +0:04 3. Baden Cooke +0:04 4. Haimar Zubeldia +0:06 5. Jan Ullrich +0:06 6. Jean-Patrick Nazon +0:06 7. Victor Hugo Pena +0:10 8. Tyler Hamilton +0:10 9. Andy Flickinger +0:10 10. Lance Armstrong +0:11
Points classification:
1. Robbie Mc Ewen 58 2. Baden Cooke 57 3. Erik Zabel 50
Mountains classification:
1. Christophe Mengin 14 2. Walter Beneteau 10 3. Frederic Finot 8
Stage 3 (Charleville-Mézières to Saint-Dizier, July 8)
Another flat stage in northern France, 167.5 km including only one Category 4 climb and three intermediate sprints.
Unlike the two proceeding stages the repeated small breakaways were not allowed to build significant leads. The teams of the main sprinters, notably Jean Delatour, kept the race together to compete for the points and time bonuses of the intermediate sprints. High temperatures and high speeds kept the riders together until after the second sprint when Anthony Geslin makes a lone break. His lead reached a maximum of around 3&12frac; minutes and he was caught with just 16 km to the finish. In a mass sprint Alessandro Petacchi claimed his second win, but Frenchman Jean-Patrick Nazon had won sufficient bonuses on the intermediate sprints to take the yellow jersey.
1. Alessandro Petacchi (Italy) 3:27:39 2. Romans Vainsteins (Latvia) +0:00 3. Óscar Freire (Spain) +0:00 4. Erik Zabel (Germany) +0.00 5. Robbie McEwen (Australia) +0:00 6. Luca Paolini (Italy) +0:00 7. Olaf Pollack (Germany) +0:00 8. Angelo Furlan (Italy) +0:00 9. Salvatore Commesso (Italy) +0:00 10. Stuart O'Grady (Australia) +0:00
General classification:
1. Jean-Patrick Nazon 12:25:59 2. Bradley McGee +0:08 3. David Millar +0:12 4. Baden Cooke +0:12 5. Haimar Zubeldia +0:14 6. Jan Ullrich +0:14 7. Jann Kirsipuu +0:15 8. Robbie McEwen +0:18 9. Victor Hugo Peña +0:18 10. Tyler Hamilton +0:18
Points classification:
1. Robbie Mc Ewen 86 2. Erik Zabel 74 3. Alessandro Petacchi 72
Mountains classification:
1. Christophe Mengin 15 2. Walter Beneteau 10 3. Frederic Finot 8
Stage 4 (Joinville to Saint-Dizier, July 9)
Stage 4 was a team time trial - the riders ride per team, and the time of the fifth rider counts. This is considered by the riders to be one of the most difficult parts of road cycling.
Winner of the stage was the US Postal team of favorite Lance Armstrong. In the general classification, US Postal riders now take places one to eight. Of the other main contenders, Joseba Beloki, Jan Ullrich and Francesco Mancebo did not lose much time, but Gilberto Simoni lost 3 minutes, which he will have a hard time making up for in the mountains.
In the results the main GC contenders of each team are mentioned.
1. US Postal-Berry Floor 1:18:27 (Lance Armstrong, Roberto Heras) 2. ONCE-Eroski 0.30 (Joseba Beloki, Jose Azevedo) 3. Team Bianchi 0.43 (Jan Ullrich, Angel Casero) 4. iBanesto.com 1.05 (Francisco Mancebo) 5. Quick.Step-Davitamon 1.23 (Richard Virenque, Michael Rogers) 6. Team Telekom 1.30 (Santiago Botero, Alexandre Vinokourov) 7. Vini Caldirol-So.Di 1.32 (Stefano Garzelli) 8. Credit Agricole 1.32 (Christophe Moreau) 9. Ag2R Prevoyance 1.38 10. Team CSC 1.45 (Tyler Hamilton)
General classification:
1. Victor Hugo Peña 13:44:44 2. Lance Armstrong +0:01 3. Vjatceslav Ekimov +0:05 4. George Hincapie +0:05 5. José Luis Rubiera +0:23 6. Roberto Heras +0:27 7. Pavel Padrnos +0:27 8. Floyd Landis +0:28 9. Joseba Beloki +0:33 10. Jorg Jaksche +0:38
Stage 5 (Troyes to Nevers, July 10)
After a fast start, a group of five riders, Laszlo Bodrogi, Nicolas Jalabert, Jens Voigt, Ludovic Turpin and Frédéric Finot, got away, but the gap never grew over 3 minutes, the teams of the sprinters keeping a high velocity on the peloton. Again the stage ends in a mass sprint, and again Petacchi manages to take it, showing himself the best sprinter in this year's Tour. Whether he is also the best sprinter overall remains questionable, since the team of Mario Cipollini was not invited to this year's Tour.
1. Alessandro Petacchi (Italy) 4:09:47 2. Jaan Kirsipuu (Estonia) +0:00 3. Baden Cooke (Australia) +0:00 4. Erik Zabel (Germany) +0:00 5. Robbie McEwen (Australia) +0:00 6. Luca Paolini (Italy) +0:00 7. Thor Hushovd (Norway) +0:00 8. Stuart O'Grady (Australia) +0:00 9. Fred Rodriguez (USA) +0:00 10. Jean-Patrick Nazon (France) +0:00
General classification:
1. Victor Hugo Peña 17:54:31 2. Lance Armstrong +0:01 3. Vjatceslav Ekimov +0:05 4. George Hincapie +0:05 5. José Luis Rubiera +0:23 6. Roberto Heras +0:27 7. Pavel Padrnos +0:27 8. Floyd Landis +0:28 9. Joseba Beloki +0:33 10. Jorg Jaksche +0:38
Points classification:
1. Robbie Mc Ewen 108 2. Alessandro Petacchi 107 3. Erik Zabel 98
Mountains classification:
1. Frederic Finot 18 2. Christophe Mengin 15 3. Walter Beneteau 10
Stage 6 (Nevers to Lyon, July 11)
Lyon is the first of the six cities that was also visited in the first Tour de France in 1903. Stuart O'Grady and Anthony Geslin attacked, and seemed to finally be able to have a breakaway attempt succeed, their lead growing to 18 minutes, and still being 8 minutes with 50 kilometers to go, but the teams of the sprinters once again were succesful in catching the attackers, only 500 meters before the finish. Once again Petacchi scored a convincing win in the sprint, and takes his fourth win in five normal stages! Whether he also will be good enough to get across the mountains and attempt for the stages in Bordeaux and Paris in the last week, remains to be seen though. His latest win also gains him the green jersey of the points classification.
1. Alessandro Petacchi (Italy) 5:08:35 2. Baden Cooke (Australia) +0:00 3. Fabrizio Guidi (Italy) +0:00 4. Thor Hushovd (Norway) +0:00 5. Romans Vainsteins (Latvia) +0:00 6. Damien Nazon (France) +0:00 7. Sebastien Hinault (France) +0:00 8. Gerrit Glomser (Austria) +0:00 9. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukraine) +0:00 10. Luca Paolini (Italy) +0:00
General classification:
1. Victor Hugo Peña 23:03:06 2. Lance Armstrong +0:01 3. Vjatceslav Ekimov +0:05 4. George Hincapie +0:05 5. José Luis Rubiera +0:23 6. Roberto Heras +0:27 7. Pavel Padrnos +0:27 8. Floyd Landis +0:28 9. Joseba Beloki +0:33 10. Jorg Jaksche +0:38
Points classification:
1. Alessandro Petacchi 144 2. Baden Cooke 118 3. Robbie Mc Ewen 110
Mountains classification:
1. Christophe Mengin 20 2. Frederic Finot 18 3. Anthony Geslin 15
Stage 7 (Lyon to Morzine, July 12)
The first mountain stage, although not an extremely heavy one, with 5 climbs, of which one of the first category but none of the (even heavier) 'Hors Categorie' (outside category). On the first climb, Benoit Poilvet, Paolo Bettini and Rolf Aldag attack, later joined by Richard Virenque, who drops the others one by one, and takes the stage and the yellow jersey. A group of 45 riders came in at 4 minutes behind Virenque. It contained most contenders for the general classification, but Gilberto Simoni and Santiago Botero were not, and lost over 6 minutes to Lance Armstrong and the others. After the first mountains, their chances in this year's tour seem to be over already. Among the seven riders who dropped during the stage, was Alessandro Petacchi, the wearer of the green jersey. Baden Cooke, who inherited the jersey after Petacchi's retirement, described Petacchi as "soft".
1. Richard Virenque (France) 6:06:03 2. Rolf Aldag (Germany) +2:29 3. Sylvain Chavanel (France) +3:45 4. Michael Rogers (Australia) +4:03 5. Stefano Garzelli (Italy) +4:06 6. Christophe Moreau (France) +4:06 7. Laurent Dufaux (Switzerland) +4:06 8. David Millar (UK) +4:06 9. Georg Totschnig (Austria) +4:06 10. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kazak.) +4:06
General classification:
1. Richard Virenque 29:10:39 2. Lance Armstrong +2:37 3. Rolf Aldag +2:48 4. José Luis Rubiera +2:59 5. Roberto Heras +3:03 6. Joseba Beloki +3:09 7. Jorg Jaksche +3:14 8. Manuel Beltran +3:15 9. Jan Ullrich +3:15 10. José Azevedo +3:17
Points classification:
1. Baden Cooke 118 2. Robbie Mc Ewen 110 3. Thor Hushovd 100
Mountains classification:
1. Richard Virenque 78 2. Rolf Aldag 61 3. Benoit Poilvet 51
Stage 8 (Sallanches to L'Alpe d'Huez, July 13)
The second day in the mountains was a long 219 km including the Col du Telegraphe, the Col du Galibier and a finish on the famous Alpe d'Huez. Richard Virenque was first over the initial climb and the peleton did not break-up until an early attack after the Cote de Megeve split the peleton in two. The leading group contained most of the major names and produced a series of attacks, contender Gilberto Simoni was dropped early on. On the hors categorie Col du Telegraphe a breakaway foursome were caught but the pace told and Santiago Botero and others fell back. After the summit a push by the US Postal team reduced the leading group to about thirty before the Col du Galibier, the group spread out on the ascent but reformed on the other side. On the final ascent up the Alpe d'Huez another US Postal attack reduced the leading group to just eight, with Armstrong seemingly less strong there were a number of attacks and finally Iban Mayo made it off the group. Mayo wins, Alexandre Vinokourov broke from the chasers and secured second while Armstrong led a group in two minutes down, including the injured Hamilton. Armstrong gained the yellow jersey, finishing almost seven minutes up on Virenque.
1. Iban Mayo (Spain) 5:57:30 2. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz.) +1:45 3. Lance Armstrong (USA) +2:12 4. Francisco Mancebo (Spain) +2:12 5. Haimar Zubeldia (Spain) +2:12 6. Joseba Beloki (Spain) +2:12 7. Tyler Hamilton (USA) +2:12 8. Ivan Basso (Italy) +2:12 9. Roberto Laiseka (Spain) +2:12 10. Pietro Caucchioli (Italy) +3:36
General classification:
1. Lance Armstrong 35:12:50 2. Joseba Beloki +0:40 3. Iban Mayo +1:10 4. Alexandre Vinokourov +1:17 5. Francisco Mancebo +1:37 6. Tyler Hamilton +1:52 7. Roberto Heras +1:58 8. Jan Ullrich +2:10 9. Ivan Basso +2:25 10. Jörg Jaksche +3:19
Points classification:
1. Baden Cooke 120 2. Robbie McEwen 110 3. Thor Hushovd 104
Mountains classification:
1. Richard Virenque 134 2. Lance Armstrong 63 3. Francisco Mancebo 61
Stage 9 (Bourg d'Oissons to Gap, July 14)
Although the biggest climbs in this stage were at the beginning, it was the much smaller ones at the end that proved decisive. Several attacks in the early race brought groups ahead, possibly the most important rider in these was Jörg Jaksche. Being a teammate of GC number 2 Joseba Beloki, and himself not very far behind Armstrong, his intention was probably to force Armstrong's team to work, which makes them less capable of defending him against Beloki later in the stage or in the coming stages. On the last climb of the stage, Alexandre Vinokourov goes on the attack, slightly later all other remaining attackers were caught back.
During the descent, Armstrong's closest rival Beloki missed a corner due to a combination of the bitumen road softening in the heat, and a blown tyre. He fell heavily, and was taken to the hospital where it was discovered that he had several fractures and was forced to drop out of the tour. Armstrong, sitting just behind Beloki, went off the road as well. Armstrong managed to keep upright as he manoevered his bike through a field, and carried his bike across a ditch to return to the road. He may have been assisted in his cross-country journey through the practice he gained in a cyclocross event in the months before the tour. Vinokourov kept the lead and takes the stage and second place in the general classification.
1. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz.) 5:02:00 2. Paolo Bettini (Italy) +0:36 3. Iban Mayo (Spain) +0:36 4. Lance Armstrong (USA) +0:36 5. Jan Ullrich (Germany) +0:36 6. Ivan Basso (Italy) +0:36 7. Georg Totschnig (Austria) +0:36 8. Francisco Mancebo (Spain) +0:36 9. Haimar Zubeldia (Spain) +0:36 10. Tyler Hamilton (USA) +0:36
General classification:
1. Lance Armstrong 40:15:26 2. Alexandre Vinokourov +0:21 3. Iban Mayo +1:02 4. Francisco Mancebo +1:37 5. Tyler Hamilton +1:52 6. Jan Ullrich +2:10 7. Ivan Basso +2:25 8. Roberto Heras +2:28 9. Haimar Zubeldia +3:25 10. Denis Menchov +3:45
Points classification:
1. Baden Cooke 120 2. Robbie McEwen 110 3. Thor Hushovd 104
Mountains classification:
1. Richard Virenque 135 2. Jorg Jaksche 75 3. Lance Armstrong 74
Stage 10 (Gap to Marseille, July 15)
A long, largely flat 219.5 km stage after three days in the mountains gave the majority of the riders a chance to recuperate, the pace was somewhat slower than the average to this stage. The roadside temperature was high (around 40° C).
A group of nine riders made a break after just 16 km and slowly built their lead up, to 17 minutes by halfway and to a maximum of around 23 minutes. With such an substantial lead the nine rider group began to fragment with repeated attacks from around 50 km to go, Jose Enrique Gutierrez made a solo break and led into Marseille, he was closed down and passed by Fabio Saachi and then Jakob Piil. These two riders worked together and soon built up a minute lead over the others. Entering the final 2 km to the finish Piil and Saachi shook hands and began to race, Piil led out but managed to hold off Saachi to become the first Danish stage winner since Bjarne Riis in 1996. Bram de Groot broke from the chasers to finish third and the peleton came in over 21 minutes down. The top positions in the general classification were unchanged, the best placed rider in the breakaway was over ¾ of a hour down on Armstrong.
1. Jakob Piil (Denmark) 5:09:33 2. Fabio Sacchi (Italy) +00:00 3. Bram de Groot (Netherlands) +00:49 4. Damien Nazon (France) +02:07 5. René Haselbacher (Austria) +02:07 6. Philippe Gaumont (France) +02:07 7. Serge Baguet (Spain) +02:07 8. José Vicente García Acosta (Sp.) +02:07 9. José Enrique Gutiérrez (Spain) +05:06 10. Baden Cooke (Australia) +21:23
General classification:
1. Lance Armstrong 45:46:22 2. Alexandre Vinokourov +0:21 3. Iban Mayo +1:02 4. Francisco Mancebo +1:37 5. Tyler Hamilton +1:52 6. Jan Ullrich +2:10 7. Ivan Basso +2:25 8. Roberto Heras +2:28 9. Haimar Zubeldia +3:25 10. Denis Menchov +3:45
Points classification:
1. Baden Cooke 140 2. Robbie McEwen 131 3. Erik Zabel 112
Mountains classification:
1. Richard Virenque 135 2. Jorg Jaksche 75 3. Lance Armstrong 74
Stage 11 (Narbonne to Toulouse, July 17)
After the first rest day, one of the shortest stages of the tour at 153.5 km, another flat stage with only one climb, the third category Cote de Saissac at 82 km. The Tour has finished a stage in Toulouse 24 times before, the last time in 1985.
There were a number of early breakaways and one early crash but the US Postal team worked hard to keep the field together. It was not until early afternoon, just before Carcassonne, that a group of eight riders made it clear. They built up their lead to a maximum of around four minutes. With the peleton closing and 10 km to go Juan Antonio Flecha of Banesto attacked from the breakaway and built up a small lead of 20 seconds. Despite the field closing in he held on to win the stage by 4 seconds, the peleton coming in less than a minute behind. Former Tour star Jens Voigt, struggling with illness, abandoned the race.
1. Juan Antonio Flecha (Spain) 3:29:33 2. Bram de Groot (Netherlands) +0:04 3. Isidro Nozal (Spain) +0:04 4. Iñigo Cuesta (Spain) +0:15 5. Carlos da Cruz (France) +0:23 6. Stuart O'Grady (Australia) +0:23 7. Nicholas Portal (France) +0:23 8. Michael Rogers (Australia) +0:23 9. Robbie McEwen (Australia) +0:42 10. Baden Cooke (Australia) +0:42
General classification:
1. Lance Armstrong 49:16:37 2. Alexandre Vinokourov +0:21 3. Iban Mayo +1:02 4. Francisco Mancebo +1:37 5. Tyler Hamilton +1:52 6. Jan Ullrich +2:10 7. Ivan Basso +2:25 8. Roberto Heras +2:28 9. Haimar Zubeldia +3:25 10. Denis Menchov +3:45
Points classification:
1. Baden Cooke 156 2. Robbie McEwen 148 3. Erik Zabel 126
Mountains classification:
1. Richard Virenque 135 2. Jorg Jaksche 75 3. Lance Armstrong 74
Stage 12 (Gaillac to Cap' Découverte, time trial)
The first time trial (not counting the prologue) was late this year, usually it is contested before the first mountain stage. Most expected Armstrong to take it, although in previous days he had shown to be not as strongly reigning as in previous years, but in the end he lost one and a half minutes to Jan Ullrich although winning over the rest of the field. Alexandre Vinokourov took third place and remained with Armstrong and Ullrich in the contest for the final win, putting the other favourites at a little distance. Tyler Hamilton is now in fourth place, hanging on despite a broken collarbone from the fall in stage 2.
1. Jan Ullrich (Germany) 58:32 2. Lance Armstrong (USA) +1:36 3. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz.) +2:06 4. Haimar Zubeldia (Spain) +2:40 5. Tyler Hamilton (USA) +2:43 6. Uwe Peschel (Germany) +3:26 7. David Millar (UK) +3:55 8. Inigo Chaurreau (Spain) +4:01 9. David Plaza (Spain) +4:37 10. Santiago Botero (Colombia) +5:00
General classification:
1. Lance Armstrong 50:16:45 2. Jan Ullrich +0:34 3. Alexandre Vinokourov +0:51 4. Tyler Hamilton +2:59 5. Haimar Zubeldia +4:29 6. Iban Mayo +4:29 7. Francisco Mancebo +5:01 8. Ivan Basso +6:49 9. Denis Menchov +7:24 10. Christophe Moreau +7:55
Points classification:
1. Baden Cooke 156 2. Robbie McEwen 148 3. Erik Zabel 126
Mountains classification:
1. Richard Virenque 135 2. Jorg Jaksche 75 3. Lance Armstrong 74
Stage 13 (Toulouse - Plateau de Bonascre (Ax-3 Domaines), July 19)
The 197.5 km route marked the beginning of four days in the moutains, a flattish first 120 km with two sprints ended in two category one climbs, the Port de Pailheres at 168.5 km and the finish on the Plateau de Bonascre. Again the weather was very hot.
There were a number of early attacks, the peleton chased each escapee down only for another group to try and break. Eventually around midday a group of ten made it clear and after some effort the peleton did not chase them over and the group built up a maximum lead of almost nine minutes. As the first climb was reached the ten-man group had a lead of around six minutes, on the Port de Pailheres the leaders faltered and the group broke up. The group containing the race leaders closed in during the climb and at the summit the leading three (Sastre, Rubiera and Mercado) had two minutes over their chasers. On the start of the 9 km climb to the finish the leaders had retained their two minute advantage. Over the climb the three leaders were gradually caught but Sastre and Mercado held out, with 3 km to go the peleton started to break, attacks from Zubeldia and Vinokourov put the riders under pressure and while Ullrich caught up Armstrong was dropped. Sastre won and Ullrich came second, Armstrong recovered to reduce his loss to 7 seconds. With the time bonus for Ullrich coming second Armstrong's overall lead was reduced to 15 seconds.
1. Carlos Sastre (Spain) 5:16:08 2. Jan Ullrich (Germany) +1:01 3. Haimar Zubeldia (Spain) +1:01 4. Lance Armstrong (USA) +1:08 5. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz.) +1:18 6. Ivan Basso (Italy) +1:18 7. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp.) +1:24 8. Iban Mayo (Spain) +1:59 9. Christophe Moreau (France) +2:32 10. Tyler Hamilton (USA) +2:32
General classification:
1. Lance Armstrong 55:34:01 2. Jan Ullrich +0:15 3. Alexandre Vinokourov +1:01 4. Haimar Zubeldia +4:16 5. Tyler Hamilton +4:25 6. Iban Mayo +5:20 7. Ivan Basso +7:01 8. Francisco Mancebo +7:02 9. Carlos Sastre +8:47 10. Christophe Moreau +9:19
Points classification:
1. Baden Cooke 156 2. Robbie McEwen 148 3. Erik Zabel 132
Mountains classification:
1. Richard Virenque 149 2. Lance Armstrong 92 3. Juan Miguel Mercado 77
Stage 14 (Saint-Girons to Loudenvielle-le-Louron, July 20)
The second day in the Pyrenees, the 191.5 km stage had two category two climbs and four category one climbs spaced thoughout the route. The toughest climbs were the Col de la Core at 67 km, Col de Menté at 118.5 km, the Col du Portillon at 156 km and the final climb and descent of the Col de Peyresourde at 180 km. The route includes the second category Col du Portet d'Aspet, where Fabio Casartelli was mortally injured in 1995.
Just 162 riders started the stage. There was a very early break of seventeen riders, including Richard Virenque, Gilberto Simoni, Jakob Piil and Manuel Beltran. The group steadily increased their lead over the US Postal led pelton in the early part of the race. By the first category two climb they were over nine minutes clear, by the Col de la Core over twelve minutes. When the deficit hits almost fifteen minutes the teams of USP and Euskaltel join together at the front of the peleton, later they are joined by Telekom and then Bianchi. By the Col du Portet d'Aspet the lead was reduced to around eleven minutes and on the Col de Menté the leading 17 were showing signs of fatigue and began to drop riders, a group of twelve being led by Virenque over the summit. Over the the Col du Portillon the leading group broke up with a leading trio of Dufaux, Simoni and Virenque leading the pelton by seven minutes over the summit. The trio remained ahead up the Col de Peyresourde as the field behind them split under repeated attacks, while Armstrong stuck close to Ullrich Vinokourov broke away. Dufaux, Simoni and Virenque kept their lead, they were joined by Peron and fought out the finish, Simoni winning the sprint. Vinokourov led in two others was 41 seconds down and Armstrong and Ullrich came in 1' 24" later.
1. Gilberto Simoni (Italy) 5:31:52 2. Laurent Dufaux (Switzerland) +0:00 3. Richard Virenque (France) +0:00 4. Andrea Peron (Italy) +0:03 5. Walter Beneteau (France) +0:10 6. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz.) +0:41 7. Iban Mayo (Spain) +0:41 8. Steve Zampieri (Switzerland) +0:41 9. Haimar Zubeldia (Spain) +1:24 10. Ivan Basso (Italy) +1:24
General classification:
1. Lance Armstrong 61:07:17 2. Jan Ullrich +00:15 3. Alexandre Vinokourov +00:18 4. Haimar Zubeldia +04:16 5. Iban Mayo +04:37 6. Ivan Basso +07:01 7. Tyler Hamilton +07:32 8. Francisco Mancebo +10:09 9. Christophe Moreau +10:09 10. Carlos Sastre +12:40
Points classification:
1. Baden Cooke 156 2. Robbie McEwen 148 3. Erik Zabel 132
Mountains classification:
1. Richard Virenque 300 2. Laurent Dufaux 163 3. Paolo Bettini 98