Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana, Cat 2.3

Spain, February 25 to March 1, 1997

1996 Results and Reports 

  • Background Information

  • Stage 1

  • Stage 2

  • Stage 3

  • Stage 4

  • Stage 5a and 5b and Final GC

    • Preview

    The 55th edition of la Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana (Tour of Valencia), which begins tomorrow at Elche and finishes on March 1st in Valencia, will have excellent participation, corresponding to a great race and a selective route, with a balance of flat terrain and mountains, to finish with a ITT of even more emotion. An excellent lineup of stars which includes Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, who officially debuts this season and the brilliant winner of the Giro d'Italia, Russian Pavel Tonkov. Others that stand out are German Jan Ullrich, Swiss Toni Rominger and Italian Marco Pantani, along with the winner of the last edition, French Laurent Jalabert, who climbed to the podium together with four teammates from ONCE who took the first five places in the final overall last year.

    The route is magnificent,combining the flat and mountain stages and finishing with an 21 kilometer individual time trial in an urban circuit in Valencia, which should be key. The first stages are ideal for sprinters -like Cipollini, Baffi, Fondriest(Fondriest a sprinter? FRG) and Blijlevens amongst others- . The 'queen" stage will be the penultimate, between Alcasser and Castellon with the climbs of L'Oronet, a category two, La Eslida, a category one and the Alto del Desierto de Las Palmas, a category two some 30 kilometers from the finish, place where typically the race breaks open. If there are no major differences at this stage, the riders fighting for the overall will have a last stage divided in two sections. The first one, a nervous one, due to the short amount of kilometers and the climb of L'Oronet in the middle and the second section is a 21 kilometer ITT.

    Tony Rominger, Chris Boardman and Claudio Chiappucci are topping the bill in this stage race. New for this year is that only the 90 first riders in the overall classification gets to start in the final time trial (stage 5 b).

    'La etapa reina' of the race is stage 4 to Castellsn with the climbs of puerto del Oronet, Alto del Desierto (both 2nd category) and puerto de Eslida (1st category).

    Stages

    25 February, Stage 1: Elche-Elche, 151 km
Puerto de Crivillente (4th Cat.), Puerto La Torreta (4th) and Castalla (4th).

26 February, Stage 2: Elche-Calpe, 180 km
Puerto Coll de Rates (1th) and Puerto Benissa - twice - (4th).

27 February, Stage 3: Calpe-Alcasser, 189 km
Puerto de Beniganim (4th) and Puerto El Barco (4th).

28 February, Stage 4: Alcasser-Castellsn, 177 km
Puerto de L'Oronet (2nd), Puerto Eslida (1th) and Puerto Del Desierto (2nd).

1 March, Stage 5a: Castellsn-Valencia, 100 km
Puerto de L'Oronet (2nd).
	 Stage 5b: Valencia-Valencia (ITT) 21 km

    Teams and Main Riders

    ONCE (Spa) - Jalabert (Fra), Mauri, Etxeberria, Cuesta.
BANESTO (Spa) - De las Cuevas (Fra), Jimenez, Aparicio.
TOSCAF (Spa) - Mvller (Den), Smetain (Rus), Clavero.
EUSKADI (Spa) - David Garcma, Aiarzaguena, Fernandez.
KELME (Spa) - Escartmn, Dommnguez, Benitez and Heras.
COFIDIS (Fra) - Rominger (Sch) and Fondriest (Ita)
GAN (Fra) - Boardman (Gbr) and Rui.
LA FRANCAISE DES JEUX (Fra) - Gianetti (Sch) and Persn
CASINO (Fra) - Richard (Sch) and Kasputis (Let)
FESTINA (Fra) - Dufaux (Sch), Hervi and Stephens (Aus)
RABOBANK (Ned) - Luttenberger (Aut), Breukink and Jonker (Aus)
TVM (Ned) - Andersson (Swe), Blijlevens, Hamburger (Den) and Skibby (Den)
LOTTO (Bel) - Madouas (Fra) and Jo Planckaert
TELEKOM (Ger) - Riis (Den) Ullrich, Zabel and Lombardi (Ita)
AKI (Mon) - Faustini (Ita), Leoni (Ita), Zanette (Ita)
SAECO (Smr) - Cipollini (Ita), Lelli (Ita), Fagnini (Ita)
MERCATONE UNO (Ita) - Pantani, Della Santa, Zberg (Sch).
ASICS (Ita) - Chiappucci, Noe, and Colonna.
MAPEI (Ita).- Pavel Tonkov (Rus), Svorada (Cze), Zanini.
ROSLOTTO (Rus).- Ferrigato (Ita), Gontchenkov, Strazzer (Ita)
US POSTAL (Usa).- Ekimov (Rus), Baffi (Ita), Hincapie.

    Recent Winners

    1990 Tom Cordes (Ned)
1991 Melchor Mauri (Spa)
1992 Melchor Mauri
1993 Julian Gorospe (Spa)
1994 Vjatjeslav Ekimov (Rus)
1995 Alex Z|lle (Sch)
1996 Laurent Jalabert (Fra)

    Stage 1, Elche-Elche, 151 km:

    
   1. Mario Cipollini (Ita) Saeco              3.46.57
   2. Endrio Leoni (Ita) Aki
   3. Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom
   4. Federico Colonna (Ita) Asics
   5. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) Roslotto
   6. Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Mapei
   7. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) Saeco
   8. Mario Traversoni (Ita) Mercatone Uno
   9. Christophe Moreau (Fra) Lotus-Festina
  10. Jan Svorada (Cze) Mapei
  11. Max van Heeswijk (Ned) Rabobank
  12. Markus Zberg (Sch) Mercatone Uno
  13. Thomas Fleischer (Ger) Lotto
  14. Hendrik Van Dijck (Bel) TVM
  15. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino
  16. Fabien Dewaele (Bel) Lotto
  17. Alexander Gontchenkov (Rus)
  18. Ivon Ajuria (Spa) Euskadi
  19. Santos Gonzalez (Spa) Kelme
  20. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) Once

  21. Armand De Las Cuevas (Fra)
  22. George Hincapie (Usa)
  23. Melchor Mauri (Spa)
  24. Frederic Pontier (Fra)
  25. Maurizio Fondriest (Ita)
  26. Neil Stephens (Aus)
  27. Yvon Ledanois (Fra)
  28. Marcel Luppes (Ned)
  29. Josi Luis Arrieta (Spa)
  30. Jan Ullrich (Ger)
 ...
  67. Marco Pantani (Ita)
  89. Tony Rominger (Sch)
  93. Bjarne Riis (Den)
 107. Stefano Zanini (Ita)
 112. Francesco  Casagrande (Ita)
 128. Claudio Chiappucci (Ita)
 153. Pavel Tonkov (Rus)

    Overall:

    same as stage

    Stage 1 Report

    Italian rider Mario Cipollini, from team Saeco, becomes the first leader of the 55th edition of la Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana de ciclismo, when he won the first stage in a sprint, which had as start and finish the city of Elche. In this way Mario Cipollini achieves his victory number 100. He covered the first 151 kilometers of the race in 3: 46:57, which translates into an average speed of 39.91 km-hr, the same time as the 168 riders from the 21 teams riding the race.

    The race began with some discussion, due to the new rule from the UCI which only allows one team car to follow the stages. Some of the directors from the 21 teams didn't agree with this and decided to use to vehicles, although a little later they had to park one of them, since the international judges threatened with leaving the race (following orders from the UCI) which would have made the race invalid. Once this delicate matter was cleared, it was agreed that there would be a meeting next week of all the parties involved to try to reach a solution so that this doesn't happen again.

    In the stage, Spanish cyclist Francisco Javier Cerezo (Toscaf) featured as the day's adventurer, since he took off at kilometer 13 and pedaled by himself until kilometer 123, with advantages of up to 11 minutes at times. Other than his adventure, the stage was pretty uneventful and everyone expected a sprint finish, since after capturing Cerezo, the sprinter's teams took responsibility in front. At first the ones to work the hardest were the riders from Team Aki for Leoni and then a little later, Telekom got involved for Zabel and then Saeco for Mario Cipollini. In the end, Mario Cipollini was the most astute of the race, when he placed himself in the perfect position to start the sprint and beating a very in-form Erik Zabel at the sprint and becoming the first rider to wear the leader's jersey.

    The second stage will be contested tomorrow, between Elche and Calpe, for 180 kilometers, with the climbs of Rates (Category 1) and Benissa (Category 4) which will be faced on two occasions.

    Stage 1 Report

    Super Mario notched up his 100th pro victory with this stage win (90 road race wins, 9 criteriums and a Tour time trial stage). "I believe that in the current peloton only Tony Rominger has passed this barrier," he said. But Cipollini was feeling less chirpy earlier in the day, contemplating abandoning the race on the Cat 1 col de Castalla at km63. "I had hard legs," he said. "I felt terrible."

    Before the peloton came together for the finale, Deportpublic Toscaf's Francisco Cerezo (Spa) managed a lone break of 110km, building a maximum lead of 12 minutes. On the run in to the line Cipollini got boxed in. "I then had to take unaccustomed risks to get back in a good position before the right angle bend 200m before the line." Cipollini dedicated no 100 to his as yet unborn daughter, already named Lucrezia, whom his wife Sabrina is due to deliver in two months' time.

    Stage 2 : Elche-Calpe, 180 km

     1. Maurizio Fondriest (Ita) Cofidis        4.42.46
 2. Viacheslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal
 3. Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Mapei             s.t.
 4. Marcus Zberg (SUI/Mercatone Uno)
 5. Dimitri Konyshev (RUS/Roslotto)
 6. Laurent Jalabert (FRA/ONCE)
 7. Erik Zabel (GER/Telekon)
 8. Endrio Leoni (ITA/Aki)
 9. Francesco Casagrande (ITA/Saeco)
10. Stefano Della Santa (ITA/Mercatone Uno)   all s.t.
 .

A peloton of about 60 riders with the same time as Fondriest.

    GC after Stage 2

     1. Zbigniew Spruch (POL/Mapei)               8h.29:42
 2. Erik Zabel (GER/Telekom)
 3. Endrio Leoni (ITA/Aki)
 4. Marcus Zberg (SUI/Mercatone Uno)
 5. Max Van Heeswijk (HOL/Rabobank)
 6. Maurizio Fondriest (ITA/Cofidis)
 7. Laurent Jalabert (FRA/ONCE)
 8. Pascal Chanteur (FRA/Casino)
 9. Alexandre Gontchekkov (UKR)
10. Armand De las Cuevas (FRA/Banesto)        all s.t.

    Stage 2 Report

    Italian Maurizio Fondriest, from French Team Cofidis, was the winner of the second stage of la Vuelta a la comunidad Valenciana, which had a very nice finish, which helped Polish Zbigniew Spruch (Mapei) reach the first place in the overall. The 180 kilometers between the cities of Elche and Calpe were covered by Maurizio Fondriest in 4:42:45, the same time as the new overall leader, Spruch.

    The stage began quietly and with the same two car per team problem as yesterday. Like on the previous stage, there were several teams that had two cars in the race, knowing that they would have to pay a fine. It was at kilometer 51 when the racing really began with an attack by French Pontier and Italian Molinari, who attempted to go for the solitary victory. This duo opened a gap of up to one minute, but there adventure finished, halfway up the climb de Rates, a category one climb and whose top was at kilometer 100 of the race. It was at this climb that the strong teams started to play their parts, specially Kelme, since it was the most active on the climb.

    The peloton was completely broken up, although the favorites were all in a group of about 40 riders, except Danish Bjarne Riis, the until then leader, Mario Cipollini and Britain's Chris Boardman. A little after the descent, out of this group came Della Santa, Alexander Gontchenkov and Michael Anderson who were able to neutralize Roberto Heras and Rodolfo Massi who had reached the top of de Rates with a few seconds in advance. The three escapees, opened a gap of up to 2 minutes, although the pursuit group headed by Telekom and Saeco joined to capture the escape at about 1 kilometer, when Russian Ekimov took off first followed by the rest of the first peloton, with about 20 riders. Maurizio Fondriest surprised everyone in the final meters and easily beat the sprinters like Erik Zabel and Laurent Jalabert among others.

    The third stage will be contested tomorrow between Calpe and Alcacer, for 189 kilometers, the longest stage of the race with two climbs: Beniganim and El Barco, both category 4.

    Stage 3, Calpe-Alcasser, 189 km:

       1. Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom                  5.06.32 (36,990 km/h)
   2. Endrio Leoni (Ita) Aki
   3. Jan Svorada (Cze) Mapei
   4. Sergei Smetanine (Rus) Cafis Toscaf
   5. Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Mapei
   6. Markus Zberg (Sch) Mercatone Uno
   7. Federico Colonna (Ita) Asics
   8. Mario Cipollini (Ita) Saeco
   9. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino
  10. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) Roslotto          all s.t.

    Overall:

      1. Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom                 13.36.14
  2. Endrio Leoni (Ita) Aki
  3. Zbigniev Spruch (Pol) Mapei
  4. Marcus Zberg (Sch) Mercatone Uno
  5. Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Rabobank
  6. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino
  7. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) Once
  8. Vjatjeslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal
  9. Christophe Moreau (Fra) Lotus-Festina
 10. Melchor Mauri (Spa) Once                 all s.t.

    Stage 3 Report

    Erik Zabel, from Team Telekom, was the winner of the third sprint at la Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana, when he won on a massive finish at Alcacer in a tranquil stage, with only a bit of problem in the first three minutes when the riders got off the bike and stopped in support of their managers and as a protest for the new regulation imposed by the UCI that every team must use only one car during the race to follow the stage.

    Zabel becomes the new overall leader, as he covered the 189 kilometers in 5:06:32 at an average speed of 36.99 km-hr, ahead of Italian Endrio Leoni who also becomes second in the overall. The sprint finish was the best of an otherwise quiet stage, in which there were few escape attempts. Frenchman Thomas Davy, from Team Banesto, attacked at kilometer 55, only to be caught at kilometer 90, having only reached a one minute advantage. After Davy's neutralization, there was another attempt by Frenchman Emmanuel Hubert and Norwegian Steffen Kjaergaard who together opened a gap of almost three minutes, only to be caught with about 12 kilometers to go, since the sprinter's teams worked hard to catch them. The ones that worked the hardest were the riders from Saeco for Mario Cipollini, who surprisingly, was forced to brake in the final straightaway when he came out of the last curve in a bad position, which threw the stage on Zabel's lap, his fifth win this season, plus a fall by Italian Strazzer made things easier for him.

    The 'Queen' stage will be disputed tomorrow between Alcacer and Castellon, with 177 Kms. and the climbs of L'Oronet (2nd Category), Eslina (1st) and the climb of Desierto de Las Palmas (2nd).

    Stage 4, Alcasser-Castello, 188 kms:

      1. MASSI, Rodolfo ITA CASINO  		    4:22:44  avs 42.93 km/h
  2. CHANTEUR, Pascal FRA CASINO                   
  3. PETITO, Roberto ITA SAECO-ESTRO              
  4. MOREAU, Christophe FRA LOTUS-FESTINA            
  5. DOMINGUEZ, Juan Carlos ESP KELME-COSTA BLANCA       
  6. DE LAS CUEVAS, Armand FRA BANESTO                  
  7. FAGNINI, Gian Matteo ITA SAECO-ESTRO		0.07              
  8. ZBERG, Marcus SUI MERCATONE-UNO            
  9. EKIMOV, Vjatceslav RUS US POSTAL SERVICE        
 10. SALMON, Benoit FRA LOTTO-MOBISTAR			all s.t

    GC after Stage 4

       1. CHANTEUR, Pascal FRA  CASINO		    17:58:58
   2. MOREAU, Christophe FRA LOTUS-FESTINA
   3. DE LAS CUEVAS, Armand FRA BANESTO
   4. DOMINGUEZ, Juan Carlos ESP KELME-COSTA BLANCA
   5. PETITO, Roberto ITA SAECO-ESTRO
   6. MASSI, Rodolfo ITA CASINO
   7. ZBERG, Marcus SUI MERCATONE-UNO			0.07
   8. EKIMOV, Vjatceslav RUS US POSTAL SERVICE
   9. JALABERT, Laurent FRA O.N.C.E.
  10. FONDRIEST, Maurizio ITA COFIDIS
  11. GONZALEZ, Santos ESP KELME-COSTA BLANCA
  12. ROUS, Didier FRA LOTUS-FESTINA
  13. ZINTCHENKO, Andrei RUS CAFES TOSCAF
  14. DELLA SANTA, Stefano ITA MERCATONE-UNO
  15. PANTANI, Marco ITA MERCATONE-UNO
  16. HEULOT, Stephane FRA LA FRANAIS DES JEUX
  17. ZBERG, Beat SUI MERCATONE-UNO
  18. BENITEZ, Francisco ESP KELME-COSTA BLANCA
  19. SUNDERLAND, Scott AUS GAN
  20. KONYSHEV, Dimitri RUS ROSLOTTO-ZG
  21. BOUVARD, Giles FRA LOTUS-FESTINA
  22. GOUGOT, Fabrice FRA CASINO
  23. CASAGRANDE, Francesco ITA SAECO-ESTRO
  24. SALMON, Benoit FRA LOTTO-MOBISTAR
  25. ANDERSSON, Michael SWE T.V.M.			all s.t.

26. MOLLER, Claus Michael
27. GAMITO, Victor Manuel
28. PADRNOS, Pavel
29. DUFAUX, Laurent
30. HERAS, Roberto
31. NOE, Andrea
32. JONKER, Patrick				1.12
33. LIVINGSTON, Kevin				1.20
34. LEONI, Endrio				1.44
35. SPRUCH, Zbigniow
36. ARRIETA, Jose Luis
37. LEDANOIS, Yvon
38. HINCAPIE, Georgo
39. MAURI, Melchor
40. ULRICH, Jan
41. GONTCHENKOV, Alexandre
42. ANGUITA, Eleuterio
43. FERNANDEZ, Bingen
44. GONZALEZ, Arsenio
45. SALVODELLI, Paolo
46. GONZALEZ, Alvaro
47. BOOGERD, Michael
48. HEPPNER, Jens
49. HAMILTON, Tyler
50. RICHARD, Pascal
51. SGNAOLIN, Daniele
52. BOLTS, Udo
53. SIVAKOV, Alexei
54. LAUKKA, Joona
55. BREUKINK, Erik
56. LAFIS, Michael
57. APARICIO, Vicente
58. CALCATERRA, Guiseppe
59. URIA, Jose Manuel
60. FORNACIARI, Paolo
61. MENTHEOUR, Herwan
62. MISSALLIA, Grabiele				2.07
63. DALL'OLIO, Davide				2:49
64. JAN, Xavier
65. SCIREA, Mario				5.08
66. ZABEL, Erik					5:51
67. ARTUNGHI, Marco
68. STEPHENS, Neil
69. SIERRA, Roberto
70. MEINERT, Peter
71. CEREZO, Fco. Javier				9:33
72. JAERMAN, Rolf			       13:45
73. CHIESA, Mario			       14:55
74. REBELLIN, Simone			       15:17
75. FAGNINI, Gian Matteo		       18:08
76. SALMERON, Gines  				
77. BOARDMAN, Christopher		       19:45
78. PENSEC, Roman			
79. HERVE, Pascal			
80. VOSKAMP, Bart
81. RADAELLI, Mauro
82. AJURIA, Ibon
83. SMETANINE, Serguei
84. MOLINARI, Maurizio
85. DIAZ, Luis Maria
86. BAFFI, Adriano
87. GARCIA, Fco. Jose
88. IVANOV, Serguei
89. CAUZ, Michalangelo
90. OSA, Aitor				  all s.t.

    Stage 4 Report

    French team Casino achieved their most important win so far, since their debut last year, by winning the 'queen' stage of la Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana with Italian Rodolfo Massi and grabbing the overall lead with unknown French cyclist Pascal Chanteur. Massi covered the 177 kilometers between Alcacer and Castellon in 4:22:44 at an average speed of 40.42 km-hr. Coming in after his teammate Chanteur, who becomes the new overall leader, marking the time for the French De las Cuevas and Moreau, Italian Petito and Spaniard Dominguez, while the peloton came in at seven seconds.

    The stage was not as decisive as expected and the climbs of L'Oronet, la Eslida and desierto de Las Palmas didn't clarify anything in the overall, awaiting the last ITT, since the group of favorites for the overall is still very close due to the small differences and their ability in the ITT. Some team like ONCE and Kelme tried to make things hard, but weren't able to do it, due to direct control from their rivals, specially Banesto's Armand de las Cuevas and Italian Fondriest's Cofidis who reacted well to the attacks. That's why the kilometers rolled at a high tempo, without any of the attacks prospering, amongst them one by Italy's Marco Pantani climbing la Eslida which was countered by Jalabert and Dominguez. They reached the top with about a six second advantage over a peloton that included all the favorites, even some who aren't riding for the overall such as Bjarne Riis and Toni Rominger.

    The regrouping occurred on the descent and after minutes tranquility, the strong pulls started on the climb to el Desierto de las Palmas, some 40 Kms. from the finish, which they reached all together at the top, although a little later the good escape would occur. That breakaway was by French De las Cuevas, Chanteur and Moreau, the Italians Massi and Petito, the Spaniard Juan Carlos Dominguez and Dane Moller, who later would stay behind due to a mechanical problem. They opened a gap of up to 35 seconds, but the chasing peloton reduced it to ten at only two Kms. from the finish, due to the lack of cooperation amongst the breakaway. From this breakaway the one that worked the hardest was De las Cuevas, without a doubt a big influence on Massi's win and Chanteur's overall lead, who were the fastest in the reduced sprint, while the peloton came in seven seconds later.

    The fifth and last stage will be contested tomorrow, divided in two sections, the first a 100 kilometer road race between Castellon and Valencia which includes the alto de L'Oronet (2nd category) and the second section will be a 20 kilometer individual time trial in an urban circuit in Valencia.

    Stage 5a, Castello-Valencia, 100 Kms:

      1. Gianmatteo Fagnini (Ita) Saeco           2.20.18 (42,775 km/h)
   2. Jan Svorada (Cze) Mapei
   3. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino
   4. Michel Lafis (Swe) Telekom
   5. Endro Leoni (Ita) Aki-Safi
   6. Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom
   7. Serguei Smetanine (Rus) Cafis Toscaf
   8. Marcus Zberg (Sch) Mercatone
   9. Roberto Petito (Ita) Saeco
  10. Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Mapei             all s.t.

11. COLONNA, Federico ITA ASICS
12. ZANETTE, Denis ITA AKI-SAFI
13. POLI, Eros ITA GAN
14. HINCAPIE, Georgo US POSTAL SERVICE
15. JALABERT, Laurent FRA O.N.C.E.
16. SUNDERLAND, Scott AUS GAN
17. MOREAU, Christophe FRA LOTUS-FESTINA
18. PONTIER, Frederic FRA CASINO
19. EKIMOV, Vjatceslav RUS US POSTAL SERVICE 
20. CIPOLLINI, Mario ITA SAECO-ESTRO 		all s.t.

    GC after Stage 5a

       1. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino            20.19.16
   2. Christophe Moreau (Fra) Lotus
   3. Armand de Las Cuevas (Fra) Banesto
   4. Juan Carlos Dommnguez (Spa) Kelme 
   5. Roberto Petito (Ita) Saeco              all s.t.
   6. Markus Zberg (Sch Mercatone Uno           + 0.07
   7. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) Once
   8. Vjatjeslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal
   9. Maurizio Fondriest (Ita) Cofidis
  10. Santos Gonzalez (Spa) Kelme             all s.t.

    Stage 5b, Valencia-Valencia, ITT, 20 kms:

     
   1. Chris Boardman (Gbr) Gan                   23.16 (51,576 km/h)
   2. Juan Carlos Dommnguez (Spa) Kelme         + 0.12
   3. Armand de las Cuevas (Fra) Banesto        + 0.36
   4. Vitor Gamito (Por) Cafis Toscaf           + 0.37
   5. Christophe Moreau (Fra) Festina           + 0.38
   6. Vjatjeslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal         + 0.46
   7. Michael Andersson (Swe) TVM               + 0.51
   8. Melchor Mauri (Spa) Once                  + 0.53
   9. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino              + 0.57
  10. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Telekom                 + 0.57

11. ROUS, Didier FRALOTUS-FESTINA 			00.57
12. STEPHEN, Neil AUSLOTUS-FESTINA 			00.59
13. PADRNOS, Pavel CZEROSLOTTO-ZG 			01:04
14. CAUZ, Michalangelo ITAAKI-SAFI 			01:05
15. PETITO, Roberto ITASAECO-ESTRO 			01:05
16. CASAGRANDE, Francesco ITASAECO-ESTRO 		01:08
17. BREUKINK, Erik NEDRABOBANK 				01:10
18. JALABERT, Laurent FRAO.N.C.E. 			01:11
19. SIVAKOV, Alexei RUSROSLOTTO-ZG 			01:12
20. LAFIS, Michael SWETELEKOM 				01:18

    Final GC after Stage 5b

       1. Juan Carlos Dommnguez (Spa) Kelme       20.42.44 (39.976 km/h)
   2. Armand de las Cuevas (Fra) Banesto        + 0.24
   3. Christophe Moreau (Fra) Festina           + 0.26
   4. Vitor Gamito (Por) Cafis Toscaf           + 0.32
   5. Vjatjeslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal         + 0.41
   6. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino              + 0.45
   7. Michael Andersson (Swe) TVM               + 0.46
   8. Didier Rous (Fra) Lotus                   + 0.52
   9. Roberto Petito (Ita) Saeco                + 0.53
  10. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Saeco          + 1.03
  11. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) Once               + 1.06
  12. Maurizio Fondriest (Ita) Cofidis          + 1.16
  13. Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Roslotto              + 1.16
  14. Beat Zberg (Sch) Mercatone Uno            + 1.19
  15. Santos Gonzalez (Spa) Kelme               + 1.22
  16. Scott Sunderland (Aus) Gan                + 1.33
  17. Laurent Dufaux (Sch) Festina              + 1.33
  18. Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Lotus                + 1.43
  19. Markus Zberg (Sch) Mercatone Uno          + 1.48
  20. Francisco Benitez (Spa) Kelme             + 1.55

  21. Stefano Della Santa (Ita) Mercatone Uno   + 2.00
  22. Claus Michael Mvller (Den) Cafis Toscaf   + 2.03
  23. Stiphane Heulot (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux  + 2.04
  24. Dimitri Konyshev (Rus) Roslotto           + 2.11
  25. Andrei Zinitchenko (Rus) Cafis Toscaf     + 2.12
  26. Benoit Salmon (Fra) Lotto                 + 2.20
  27. Marco Pantani (Ita) Mercatone Uno         + 2.26
  28. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) Casino               + 2.26
  29. Roberto Heras (Spa) Kelme                 + 2.26
  30. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Telekom                 + 2.29
  31. Rodolfo Massi (Ita) Casino                + 2.38
  32. Melchor Mauri (Spa) Once                  + 2.42
  33. Patrick Jonker (Aus) Rabobank             + 2.44
  34. Michel Lafis (Swe) Telekom                + 2.50
  35. Kevin Livingston (Usa) Cofidis            + 2.54
  -----
  51. Joona Laukka (Fin) Festina                + 4.25
  68. Chris Boardman (Gbr) Gan                 + 19.33
  76. Sergei Ivanov (Rus) TVM                  + 23.40

  78 riders classified
  
   Other classifications

   Points: Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom
   Mountains: Roberto Heras (Spa) Kelme
   Metas Volantes: Francisco Cerezo (Spa) Cafis Toscaf
   Teams: Lotus-Festina