News for July 11, 1997

Excerpts from L'Equipe

By special correspondant in Rouen, Gerard Ejnes

"Aren't you keeping your cards close to your chest?" we asked Laurent Jalabert yesterday. "No," he replied straight away. "At the risk of disappointing people, I assure you I'm not."

It seems for the moment we'll have to get used to this new Jaja, different from the one who started the 1995 and 1996 editions with sword unsheathed. "I don't believe in fate," he riposts with the certainty of someone who has already been burnt, when the suggestion is made. "I'm a realist. I know how to adjust my ambitions to my abilities. A top ten finish in Paris would be a good result for me. If that isn't what you want to hear, I'm sorry."

A bit of teasing. Why not in the top three? What about a place on the podium? He replies just as dryly: "I said the top ten. Third, that's in the top ten, isn't it?" Then, very quickly, as if he had gone too far: "To aim for one of the top places would be asking too much. With the form I've had recently, I would be overjoyed to finish in the top ten."

This famous form appears now to be a serious breach in Laurent's confidence. Because, he swears, his lack of prominence in the Tour of Switzerland was not intentional: "I couldn't manage to be more aggressive. I was not in good physical shape. Since I wasn't feeling good, I couldn't turn on the show. This year, I've been operating differently. June was not my goal. Having trained less, I was less competitive in the races where I was encountering guys who were really sharp and very strong. That's why I've been less visible. But there is a logic to training programmes; things should start to come together now."

"I've lost the sprinter's instinct"

This is where - at the moment when his champion's language starts to become upbeat - we have to turn to Manolo Saiz, Once's manager (directeur sportif), who doesn't see his rider's difficult days in Switzerland in the same light.

"It's normal for Laurent to have doubts," he says. "He's used to racing to win. But in June he just wasn't in a position to do that. Neither at the Mining valleys nor in the Tour of Switzerland, which were simply extensions of his training. He hasn't won anything in the lead-up to the Tour, but I think that's better for him. The 1997 Tour is going to be very, very hard. The physical condition of a rider who's going for the general classification has to be spot on at the foot of the Pyrenees, and not a moment sooner."

Forced to accept a certain sporting mediocrity in the hope of better, programmed tomorrows, Jalabert finds himself as a result unusually relaxed. Determined to avoid the pressure that everyone is putting on him, he protects himself with the shell of measured language that he trots out unhesitatingly.

No, he cannot win the Tour: "Both in the mountains and the timetrials I regularly lose time to the best riders, which necessarily limits my potential."

No, he won't do any more sprints, neither intermediate or final ones: "I can do them, but if it's just to win a garden rake or a can of Coke... Maybe that turns some people on, but I'm not interested anymore. In sprinting today, I've been a bit overtaken by events. I have to be realistic. I've never won a stage of the Tour in a sprint. If I haven't been contesting sprints recently, it's because - owing to wariness - I've lost the necessary instinct. As for time bonuses during stages, they bring in very little given the risks and the efforts required."

"Laurent can win the Tour"

This desire for anonymity at the start, and supposed limitedness at key moments, don't fit well with the image of an all-conquering, multi-talented - if not quite always victorious - world number one. So, rather than believe absolutely in this new-phase Jalabert, who would prefer "to win a stage rather than finish in the top ten, although ideally both," we come back to Manolo Saiz, who is hardly seen in the world of cycling as being utopian.

"I'm confident. Laurent is capable of winning a Tour de France. Not three in a row, but one Tour, yes. So why not the 1997 Tour? But the conditions will have to be perfect, and it's always difficult for a rider to believe that everything will go exactly according to plan."

This is undoubtedly why Jalabert, who has had a very costly apprenticeship, prefers not to dream. So as not to have to feel sick at heart in this strange summer.

Jalabert, going for it

- 28 years old, France, Once.

- PALMARES. In the Tour he has been green jersey winner twice (1992 and 1995), finished 4th (1995) and won two stages (Brussels in 1992 and Mende in 1995). World number one for the past two years, the man from Tarne (?) has won the Tour of Spain (1995) and major classics: Milan-San Remo (1995) and the Fleche Wallonne (1995 and 1997).

- HIS SEASON. In the spring, he clocked up his third success in Paris-Nice and won the Fleche Wallonne again. However, after a five week break, he has not yet come back to form, as was obvious in the Tour of Switzerland. But it is important to realise that he has been more sparing in his efforts than in 1996, so as to begin the Tour with a greater physical freshness.

- HIS STRONG POINTS. His talent conceals a huge capacity for work, courage and the soul of a warrior. A complete rider, very aggressive and extremely popular, he won over the whole of France on July 14th 1995 on the road to Mende. He is backed by a strong team, and is capable of wrong-footing the pundits.

- HIS WEAK POINTS. Out of six participations, he has abandoned three times (illness in 1993 and 1996, injury in 1994). This Tour possibly has too many mountains for him, and it isn't in the timetrials that he's going to catch any time back on the favorites. He needs to better control his attacking qualities in order not to waste too much strength.

- HIS AMBITIONS. A place in the top five, if not the top three of the final classification. He won't contest the sprints, and therefore is not aiming for the green jersey.

Indurain free at last (L'Equipe, 7/7/97, extract)

By one of our special correspondents in Rouen, Guy Roger

"I feel better in a suit than with a number on my back"

The other day, his reunion with the peloton was warm, restrained, friendly. Wearing racing gear, Riis bumped into him: "I haven't quite taken it all in," he laughs. "But I know for sure that I feel better in a suit than with a number on my back". Concerning the Tour, which started on Saturday, he has no particular opinion, saying it's just like all the others: "There's always the Pyrenees, the Alps and the timetrials in a Tour de France. The main thing is the race speed. Everything depends on whether you climb cols at 10, 20 or 30 kph. I don't think the big stages are fundamentally more difficult. Remember last year when it was the Sestrieres stage that caused most trouble, and it was only 50 kilometres."

He doesn't like making predictions, but has little hesitation in pronouncing the name of Riis, even if the Dane lost time in yesterday's crash: "He has the huge advantage over everyone of having already won the Tour. And then, frankly, I don't believe there's anyone who stands out from the crowd. I watched the Tour of Switzerland on TV and Ullrich didn't seem very sharp to me. The others, Olano, Jalabert, Zulle, Virenque, and even Ullrich, they all seem to be playing hide-and-seek. Olano was on form at the Dauphine, then he disappeared. Who can tell how he is now? I don't believe that Zulle can win with a broken collarbone. I remember when De Las Cuevas tried to do the Giro one year. After a week he was completely twisted over his bike and he had to abandon."

Before following the first stage as as VIP yesterday morning, in Bernard Hinault's car, he crossed paths with David Douillet, the olympic judo champion. Jean-Marie Leblanc gave them both the Tour medal. Five hours later, Miguel Indurain had turned his back on the Tour.

In a week's time he'll be somewhere anonymously on one of the bends of a Pyrenean col. With his family. Just like in the beginning.

Thanks to MMatthew Bramley (bramley@CAM.ORG)

Rominger

About the crash - he said that he was riding on the left side of the peloton and was just about to have something to drink, when almost all the riders in front of him crashed. He quickly threw away his bottle, but it was to late - and he fell. After that he doesn't remember anything.

At the end of the interview Rominger (who was actually born in Denmark and still speaks the language) send his regards to "all the people in Denmark".

How about all of us internet cycling-freaks dedicated stage 4 to Rominger, as a way to wish him all the best in the future? I've mailed Kai-Uwe and Pascal about this, and I will certainly do it on my sites!

Riss and Ullrich

Tour Facts

THIS YEAR'S TOUR PRIZE MONEY

Total prize money this year is 11,942,150 French francs (approx
US$2,031,000). This breaks down as 
follows:

INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION (Yellow Jersey) -- sponsored by Credit
Lyonnais
Total prize money of Ffr5,457,000 of which Ffr2,200,000 goes to the final
winner.

POINTS CLASSIFICATION (Green Jersey) -- sponsored by PMU
Total prize money Ffr918,000 of which Ffr150,00 goes to the final winner.

BEST CLIMBER CLASSIFICATION (White Jersey with Red Spots) -- sponsored by
Champion
Total prize money Ffr 577,000 of which Ffr150,000 goes to the final winner.

STAGE WINNERS -- sponsored by Coca-Cola
Total prize money of Ffr3,163,150 of which Ffr50,000 goes to the winner of
each ordinary road stage.

COMBATIVITY PRIZE -- sponsored by Coeur de Lion
Total prize money of Ffr266,000 which covers a daily prize and Ffr100,000 to
the final overall winner, 
Ffr35,000 to the second-placed and Ffr40,000 to the third-placed.

BEST YOUNG RIDER'S PRIZE -- sponsored by Locatel
Total prize money of Ffr266,000 of which Ffr60,000 to the final overall
winner, Ffr60,000 to the second-
placed and Ffr40,000 to the third-placed

TEAM CLASSIFICATION -- sponsored by Credit Lyonnais
Total prize money of Ffr996,000 of which Ffr200,000 goes to the final
overall winner.

SOME RIDER WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

The 1997 Tour de France's tallest and heaviest rider is GAN's Eros Poli,
standing 1.94m (just over 6 foot 
4 inches) and weighing in at 89.6kg (197lbs). The shortest rider is La
Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne's Jean-
Francois Rault at 1.61m (just over 5' 3"). Two riders take the
featherweight's prize -- 55kg (121lbs): 
Oscar Pellicioli (Mercatone Uno) and Gianluca Valoti (Team Polti). At the
medical tests Mauro Gianetti 
(La Francaise des Jeux) took the prize for lowest resting pulse -- a
super-cool 27 beats per minute.