Tour de France, Grand Tour

France, July 3-25, 1999

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The Departure Order:

The first rider will start at 16:10 in Puy-du-Fou. The riders then go off at 1 minute intervals until the last rider, Bobby Julich leaves at 19:09 for the 6.8 kms circuit.

16h10: Da Cruz, Di Biase, Bassons, Pinotti, de Los Angeles, Forconi, Calcaterra, Verbrugghe, Schaffrath, Crepaldi, F. Garcia, Hernandez, McEwen, Salmon, Leysen, Arrieta, Backstedt, Vaughters, Rebello, Loder

16h30: Sweet, Baronti, Morin, Verstrepen, Pascual Llorente, Konyshev, Fagnini, De Waele, Hundertmarck, Pellicioli, Salmeron, Huser, Lotz, Oriol, Bramati, Odriozola, Voigt, Vandevelde, Perez Rodriguez, De Wolf, Lebreton, Giunti, Guesdon, Belohvosciks, Contreras, Napolitano, Scirea, Marichal, Elli, Cattai

17h00: Cerezo, Rous, Jonker, Maignan, Faresin, Pena, Vogels, Meinert-Nielsen, S. Gonzalez, R. Meier, Gouvenou, Mazzanti, Mengin, Svorada, Vidal, Artunghi, Secchiari, Van de Wouwer, Wesemann, Sacchi, Aggiano, Jeker, Wauters, Kirsipuu, Fernandez Gines, Mancebo, Hinault, Hamilton, Peron, Desbiens

17h30: Sivakov, Mondini, Casper, Padrnos, Ochoa, Barbero, A. Meier, Wuyts, Jaksche, Martinello, Indurain, Madouas, van Bon, Gougot, Lanfranchi, Garcia-Acosta, Langella, Deramé, M. Garcia, Lelli, Rault, Minali, Michaelsen, Spruch, Gomez, Fincato, Commesso, Demarbaix, Totschnig, Goubert

18h00: Horillo, Lefèvre, Zberg, Chanteur, Steels, Beltran, Vasseur, Livingston, Serrano, Lamour, Capelle, Ljungqvist, Nazon, Piccoli, Pascual Rodriguez, Coppolillo, Savoldelli, Verheyen, Guerini, Brasi, Buenahora, Brochard, Den Bakker, Bessy, Nardello, Navas, O'Grady, Andreu, Diaz Justo, Farazijn

18h30: Auger, Colombo, Robin, Dierckxsens, Castelblanco, Conti, Dufaux, Aerts, Boelts, Gotti, Gonzalez Galdeano, Belli, Dekker, Barthe, Merckx, Solaun, Simon, Hincapie, Etxebarria, Rinero, Bourguignon, Hamburger, Heulot, Serpellini, Escartin, Garzelli, Cipollini, Durand, Zabel

18h59: Virenque
19h00: Casero
19h01: Moreau
19h02: Boogerd
19h03: Vinokourov
19h04: Tonkov
19h05: Zülle
19h06: Boardman
19h07: Armstrong
19h09: Olano
19h09: Julich

Prologue, Puy du Fou, 6.8 kms:

American Lance Armstrong is the first yellow jersey holder in the 1999 Tour de France after his victory in the Prologue at Puy-du-Fou (Vendée). The organisers are happy that the "miracle man" won as he represents something good in cycling. Lance Armstrong has made a successful comeback after having a season and a half away from racing fighting testicular cancer. He was diagnosed with the disease less than 3 years ago. On a difficult parcours (6.8 kms) he averaged more than 50 km/h to beat Alex Zülle by 7 seconds and Spaniard Abraham Olano by 11 seconds. The latter two riders are considered specialists in the time trial.

The 27-year old Armstrong who rides for the US Postal team is in the yellow for the first time. He was one of the youngest world champions in 1993 ever but has never really threatened at the Tour.

The only surprise of an otherwise predictable top order was the poor performance of Michael Boogerd who lost more than a minute to Armstrong and is sitting in 146th place. A comment heard after his ride was "there was no wheel to sit!"

A Cat 4 climb on the parcours disadvantaged the "rouleurs" like Chris Boardman. He finished in 5th place behind Christophe Moreau, the first French rider. Interestingly, of the Festina team excluded in 1998, 3 of its riders were placed in the top 10 (Moreu 4th, Zülle 2nd, and Brochard 9th).

The climbers in the race were seeking to limit any losses on this stage. 29-year old Richard Virenque, was given a strong welcome by the fans lining the parcours and it was a striking contrast to the way the officials had treated the reality that he was going to compete against their will. His performance was worse than last year when he was only 12 seconds behind Boardman (who won last year) but was comparable to his performance in 1997 when he was 44 seconds down. But he was the major item of interest for the fans.

They screamed: "Go on Richard! We love you!" and "Virenque you are the strongest." It was clear by the way his start and finish was announced by the organisers that they were not as enthusiastic. It was a noted example of discrimination against him. The race announcer had read out all the past race sucesses for all the riders who had started before him. Nothing was said about Virenque. Only his name. At the end a similar story. This was in contrast to the announcers ebullience about Mario Cipollini and Erik Zabel.

What they Said:

Lance Armstrong (USA/US Postal, winner of the prologue): "Limoges, and the stage victory in the 1995 Tour was a very good day in my life. Today also. Coming into the climb, Olano had three seconds on me. But my team responsibilities kept me aiming towards the win. This Tour de France is a major objective of my team. Now we have the biggest responsibility of them all - to guard the yellow jersey. I am happy that I have proven that I am now over my illness. I did not ride the 1998 Tour with all the problems. It is true that cycling is going through problems at present. But it is a problem like those that exist in other areas of life."

Alex Zülle (Swi/Banesto, second): "I am not totally surprised by my performance in this time trial, which is my speciality. I came second behind Indurain in 1993 on a nearly identical circuit. This results had reinforced my morale."

Abraham Olano (Spa/ONCE, third): "I am satisfied after doing some looking around in the Pyrenees with three days of riding of 400 kms. I maintained my tempo today on a tough circuit."

Christophe Moreau (Fra/Festina, fourth): "I was particularly motivated today and I am in good form. Two weeks ago, I won the prologue at the Route du Sud and then I came second in the French Time Trial Championships."

Results:

  1. Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal                             8.02
  2. Alex Zülle (Swi) Banesto                                    0.07
  3. Abraham Olano (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank                      0.11
  4. Christophe Moreau (Fra) Festina                             0.15
  5. Chris Boardman (GBR) Crédit Agricole                        0.16
  6. Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar                         0.18
  7. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kzk) Casino                           0.21
  8. Santos Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank                    0.21
  9. Laurent Brochard (Fra) Festina                              0.21
 10. Gilles Maignan (Fra) Casino                                 0.23
 11. Andrea Peron (Ita) ONCE-Deutsche Bank                       0.23
 12. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Saeco-Cannondale                       0.23
 13. Steffen Wesemann (All) Telekom                              0.24
 14. Christian Vandevelde (USA) US Postal                        0.25
 15. George Hincapie (USA) US Postal                             0.26
 16. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Crédit Agricole                        0.26
 17. Angel Casero (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros                        0.26
 18. Tyler Hamilton (USA) US Postal                              0.27
 19. Jonathan Vaughters (USA) US Postal                          0.27
 20. Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Mapei-Quick Step                         0.28
 21. François Simon (Fra) Crédit Agricole                        0.28
 22. Bobby Julich (USA) Cofidis                                  0.28
 23. Alvaro Gonzalez Galdeano (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros            0.29
 24. César Solaun (Spa) Banesto                                  0.29
 25. Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                  0.29
 26. Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale                     0.31
 27. Patrick Jonker (Aus) Rabobank                               0.32
 28. Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Lampre-Daikin                        0.32
 29. Benoit Salmon (Fra) Casino                                  0.32
 30. Magnus Backstedt (Suè) Crédit Agricole                      0.33
 31. Gines Salmeron (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros                      0.33
 32. Christophe Oriol (Fra) Casino                               0.33
 33. Stéphane Heulot (Fra) La Française des Jeux                 0.35
 34. Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar                            0.35
 34. Didier Rous (Fra) Festina                                   0.35
 36. Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank                                 0.35
 37. Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Festina                               0.36
 38. Henk Vogels (Aus) Crédit Agricole                           0.36
 39. Jacky Durand (Fra) Lotto-Mobistar                           0.36
 40. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) Banesto                             0.36
 41. David Etxebarria (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank                   0.36
 42. Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Banesto                             0.36
 43. Rafael Diaz Justo (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank                  0.37
 44. Marco Fincato (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi                   0.37
 45. Geert Verheyen (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar                         0.37
 46. Frankie Andreu (USA) US Postal                              0.37
 47. Jaime Hernandez (Spa) Festina                               0.37
 48. Lars Michaelsen (Dan) La Française des Jeux                 0.38
 49. Vicente Garcia-Acosta (Spa) Banesto                         0.38
 50. Udo Bolts (All) Telekom                                     0.38
 51. Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step                     0.38
 52. Luis Perez Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank               0.38
 53. Jon Odriozola (Spa) Banesto                                 0.38
 54. Christophe Mengin (Fra) La Française des Jeux               0.39
 55. Fabian Jeker (Swi) Festina                                  0.39
 56. Pavel Padrnos (Tch) Lampre-Daikin                           0.39
 57. Wladimir Belli (Ita) Festina                                0.39
 58. Jens Voigt (All) Crédit Agricole                            0.4
 59. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Casino                                  0.4
 60. Rossano Brasi (Ita) Team Polti                              0.41
 60. Armin Meier (Swi) Saeco-Cannondale                          0.41
 62. Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Casino                                 0.41
 63. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) Cofidis                            0.41
 64. Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale                   0.41
 65. Axel Merckx (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step                          0.41
 66. Marcos Serrano (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank                     0.42
 67. Pedro Horillo (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros                       0.42
 68. Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Cantina Tollo-Alexia                 0.42
 69. Roland Meier (Swi) Cofidis                                  0.43
 70. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino                                0.44
 71. Christophe Bassons (Fra) La Française des Jeux              0.44
 72. Anthony Morin (Fra) La Française des Jeux                   0.44
 73. Erik Zabel (All) Telekom                                    0.44
 74. José Luis Rebollo (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank                  0.44
 75. Marco Serpellini (Ita) Lampre-Daikin                        0.44
 76. Miguel Angel Pena (Spa) Banesto                             0.44
 77. Manuel Beltran (Spa) Banesto                                0.44
 78. Hernan Buenahora (Col) Vitalicio Seguros                    0.45
 79. Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar                       0.45
 80. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) Telekom                              0.45
 81. Peter Meinert-Nielsen (Dan) US Postal                       0.46
 82. Georg Totschnig (Aut) Telekom                               0.46
 83. Elio Aggiano (Ita) Vitalicio Seguros                        0.46
 84. Giuseppe Calcaterra (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale                  0.46
 85. Kevin Livingston (USA) US Postal                            0.47
 86. Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank                                   0.47
 87. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) La Française des Jeux                0.47
 88. Kurt Van de Wouwer (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar                     0.47
 89. Gianni Faresin (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step                       0.47
 90. Ivan Gotti (Ita) Team Polti                                 0.47
 90. Laurent Madouas (Fra) Festina                               0.47
 92. Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Team Polti                               0.47
 93. Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93                  0.48
 94. Jorg Jaksche (All) Telekom                                  0.48
 95. Leon Van Bon (Ned) Rabobank                                 0.48
 96. Alberto Elli (Ita) Telekom                                  0.48
 97. Mario Cipollini (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale                      0.48
 98. Alexei Sivakov (Rus) Big Mat-Auber 93                       0.48
 99. Tom Steels (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step                           0.49
100. Riccardo Forconi (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi                0.49
101. Gianpaolo Mondini (Ita) Cantina Tollo-Alexia                0.49
102. Manuel Fernandez Gines (Spa) Mapei-Quick Step               0.49
103. Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi                0.50
104. Roberto Conti (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi                   0.50
105. Marcelino Garcia (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank                   0.50
106. Pascal Derame (Fra) US Postal                               0.51
107. Fernando Escartin (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca                  0.51
108. Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre-Daikin                           0.51
109. Richard Virenque (Fra) Team Polti                           0.51
110. Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca           0.51
111. Peter Wuyts (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar                            0.52
112. Stéphane Barthe (Fra) Casino                                0.53
113. Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca            0.53
114. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) Cofidis                              0.53
115. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus) Rabobank                               0.53
116. Jan Svorada (Tch) Lampre-Daikin                             0.54
117. Massimo Giunti (Ita) Cantina Tollo-Alexia                   0.54
118. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank                           0.54
119. Silvio Martinello (Ita) Team Polti                          0.54
120. Marcus Ljungquist (Suè) Cantina Tollo-Alexia                0.55
121. Jimmy Casper (Fra) La Française des Jeux                    0.55
122. Francesco Secchiari (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale                  0.55
123. Christophe Capelle (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93                   0.55
124. Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93                     0.55
125. Bart Leysen (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step                          0.55
126. Joaquim Castelblanco (Col) Kelme-Costa Blanca               0.55
127. Bo Hamburger (Dan) Cantina Tollo-Alexia                     0.56
128. Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) La Française des Jeux                0.56
129. Francisco Garcia Rodriguez (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros          0.56
130. Francisco Cerezo (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros                    0.56
131. Anthony Langella (Fra) Crédit Agricole                      0.56
132. Carlos Contreras (Col) Kelme-Costa Blanca                   0.56
133. Mario Scirea (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale                         0.56
134. David Navas (Spa) Banesto                                   0.56
135. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) Casino                                 0.57
136. Raivis Belohvosciks (Let) Lampre-Daikin                     0.57
137. Davide Bramati (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step                       0.58
138. Christophe Rinero (Fra) Cofidis                             0.58
139. Jay Sweet (Aus) Big Mat-Auber 93                            1.00
140. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) Team Polti                             1.00
141. Steve De Wolf (Bel) Cofidis                                 1.00
142. Stefano Cattai (Ita) Team Polti                             1.01
143. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale                  1.01
144. Sébastien Demarbaix (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar                    1.01
145. Damien Nazon (Fra) La Française des Jeux                    1.02
146. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank                              1.02
147. Claude Lamour (Fra) Cofidis                                 1.02
148. Alessandro Baronti (Ita) Cantina Tollo-Alexia               1.03
149. Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank                                    1.03
150. Massimiliano Napolitano (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi         1.04
151. Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Crédit Agricole                        1.04
152. Kai Hundertmarck (All) Telekom                              1.04
153. José Angel Vidal (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca                   1.04
154. Fabien De Waele (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar                        1.04
155. Stephane Goubert (Fra) Team Polti                           1.04
156. Marco Artunghi (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi                  1.05
157. Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93                       1.05
158. Mariano Piccoli (Ita) Lampre-Daikin                         1.06
159. Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step                     1.06
160. Jan Schaffrath (All) Telekom                                1.07
161. Dominique Rault (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93                      1.07
162. Dimitri Konyshev (Rus) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi                1.08
163. Lylian Lebreton (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93                      1.08
164. Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis                                1.08
165. Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Lampre-Daikin                         1.01
166. Prudencio Indurain (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros                  1.15
167. Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole                     1.15
168. Ludovic Auger (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93                        1.15
169. Michele Coppolillo (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi              1.15
170. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) Team Polti                           1.16
171. Johan Verstrepen (Bel) Lampre-Daikin                        1.16
172. Rolf Huser (Swi) Festina                                    1.17
173. Javier Otxoa (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca                       1.18
174. Sergio Barbero (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi                  1.19
175. Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Cantina Tollo-Alexia                    1.19
176. Moreno Di Biase (Ita) Cantina Tollo-Alexia                  1.22
177. José De Los Angeles (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca                1.26
178. Thierry Loder (Fra) Cofidis                                 1.27
179. José Javier Gomez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca                  1.30
180. Nicola Minali (Ita) Cantina Tollo-Alexia                    1.37

Overall Points:

  1. Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal                  		   15
  2. Alex Zuelle (Swi) Banesto                      		   12
  3. Abraham Olano (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank  			   10
  4. Christophe Moreau (Fra) Festina                		    8
  5. Chris Boardman (GB) Crédit Agricole     			    6
  6. Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar      			    5
  7. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kzk) Casino           	    	    4
  8. Santos Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank   		    3
  9. Laurent Brochard (Fra) Festina                 		    2
 10. Gilles Maignan (Fra) Casino                     		    1

Mountains:

  1. Mariano Piccoli (Ita) Lampre-Daikin            		    5
  2. Dimitri Konyshev (Rus) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi  		    3
  3. Sergio Barbero (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi    		    1

Teams:

  1. US Postal                 					24.57
  2. ONCE-Deutsche Bank         				 0.04
  3. Crédit Agricole            				 0.19
  4. Festina                    				 0.20
  5. Banesto                   					 0.21
  6. Casino                    					 0.25
  7. Vitalicio Seguros          				 0.37
  8. Lotto-Mobistar            					 0.38
  9. Saeco-Cannondale          					 0.44
 10. Rabobank                  					 0.45
 11. Telekom                   					 0.55
 12. Mapei-Quick Step	                     		 	 0.56
 13. La Française des Jeux     					 1.01
 14. Cofidis                   					 1.01
 15. Lampre-Daikin             					 1.04
 16. Team Polti                					 1.24
 17. Mercatone Uno-Bianchi     					 1.25
 18. Cantina Tollo-Alexia       				 1.34
 19. Big Mat Auber 93           				 1.40
 20. Kelme-Costa Blanca        					 1.44

Overall Under-23:

  1. Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 			 8.20
  2. Christian Vandevelde (USA) US Postal  			 0.07
  3. Benoit Salmon (Fra) Casino					 0.14
  4. Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Crédit Agricole 			 0.15
  5. Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar				 0.17
  6. Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Festina  				 0.18
  7. Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Banesto 				 0.18
  8. Luis Perez Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank		 0.20
  9. Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale			 0.23
 10. Pedro Horillo (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros			 0.24