Tour News for July 11

Post-stage comments

Laurent Jalabert, (CSC-Tiscali, 1st stage)

Jaja leads Dierickxsens
Photo: © AFP

"Today was a lesson in courage. I haven't let myself get down since the accident. I've worked very hard, even with the pain in my back.

"I felt good at the beginning. I knew there would be escapes because of the wind and when the first attempt failed I found the moment to attack. I'm very tired but victory is a great reward. This victory won't change my career but a win in the Tour de France is always important and I'm happy."

"It's been a hard year for me after the accident and this is an achievement. I had to start from scratch to build up my muscle and really I had to learn how to win again. That's not so easy when you're used to success and I have to admit that this year I had doubts."

Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole, 1st GC)

"This stage was partiularly hard. At one point it looked like I was going to lose the yellow jersey."

Ludo Dierckxsens ( Lampre-Daikin, 2nd stage)

"There was only half a bike length difference; I was strong today. I was hoping that Jalabert would start the sprint a bit earlier. But it is no disgrace to come second to Jalabert, he's got so much class. I'm hoping to get more chances like this in the following weeks. I initiated the attack and Mancebo and Jalabert followed. I did my work in the finale.

"If we had kept a bigger lead, maybe the stage win would have been mine but I had no time to talk to Jalabert, to talk about the time difference. He could have taken yellow, he was virtual leader there for a moment. I think we were compatible in strength today."

Rik Verbrugghe (Lotto-Adecco)

"It was dangerous all day. I'm not really good at riding in echelons. I have said I was going to try and win this week; it wasn't possible but I hope to win one in the coming weeks."

Stive Vermaut (Lotto-Adecco)

"The race today was to puke. I'm angry about the fact that the attack went in the feed zone, so are most other riders. US Postal and ONCE aren't in the good books today. There's unwritten laws in the peloton, and if the big ones can break them, than the little teams can do so too. We all felt bad about the situation. It cost us a lot effort and power."

Mario Aerts (Lotto-Adecco)

"I'm happy I didn't lose any time. The race was very fast, luckily we were able to get back to the group after the break happened. I was at the back of the peloton at that time, during the feeding"

Axel Merckx (Domo-Farm Frites)

"I'm only human, I was taken by surprise at the formation of the echelons. I have tried to breach the gap myself. The wind was that strong it felt like I was riding up a wall. I had to give everything."

Stage 4 results

Casagrande bows out

Fassa Bortolo's Francesco Casagrande left the Tour de France today after just an hour of racing. According to his team he is not fully recovered from the broken wrist he sustained in a fall in the Giro d'Italia.

Pinotti gets deal before race

On the eve of the 2001 Tour de France, Italian Mark Pinotti, signed a deal with Giuseppe Saroni's Lampre-Daikin team for two years. Speaking of the deal Pinotti said,"I have had other offers, but I have not taken to them, why? This [Lampre-Daikin] is like one family," He said he will repay the teams faith in him during the French Grand Tour.

Blind get feel of the Tour

In a clear indication of how important cycling, and more specifically the Tour is to the French, Parisian Web service Handicapzero is providing a braille service and telephone results line to visually impaired cycling fans.

The Web site http://www.handicapzero.org/m.shtml?u=f_services.htm will offer results and classifications of the event, stage by stage and in real time.

For those without a computer there is a telephone line offering the same information to France's 1,500,000 blind people. Since 1995 the Handicapzero organisation has been providing those with seeing difficulties with a dedicated book of the course, stages, teams, the event's difficulties, and a synopsis of the 2001 race season. This will also be available, along side the Web site and telephone service.

The Handicapzéro organisation has been in existence since 1987 and its aim is to provide blind people with 'autonomy' through access to daily newspapers, and a host of other media.

Official Communiqués

Medical: Tyler Hamilton (US Postal): pain in the right arm; Nicola Loda (Fassa Bortolo): pain in the right knee; David Millar (Cofidis): pain from multiple wounds on the left side; Daniele Nardello (Mapei): pain in the left elbow; Sebastien Hinault (Credit Agricole): bruise on the right elbow; Roberto Laiseka (Euskaltel-Euskadi): wounds to the chin and left elbow; Stéphane Heulot (Bigmat): Stomach problem

Commissaires: Jimmy Caspar (Française Des Jeux): 10 second penalty for pushing.

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