Tour de France, July 5-25 1997

Stage 2, Rouen-Forges les Eaux, 192 kms


  1. Mario Cipollini (Ita) SAE			4.39.59 (avs. 41,145 km) 
  2. Tom Steels (Bel) MAP                         
  3. Frdric Moncassin (Fra) GAN                  
  4. Erik Zabel (Ger) TEL                          
  5. Robbie McEwen (Australia) RAB                       
  6. Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) COF                    
  7. Gordon Fraser (Can) MUT                       
  8. Nicola Minali (Ita) BAT                       
  9. Franois Simon (Fra) GAN                      
 10. Mario Traversoni (Ita) MER                    
 11. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) ROS                    
 12. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM                   
 13. Adriano Baffi (Ita) USP                       
 14. David Etxebarria (Spa) ONC                    
 15. Orlando Rodrigues (Por) BAN                   
 16. Frankie Andreu (USA) COF                      
 17. Abraham Olano (Spa) BAN                       
 18. George Hincapie (USA) USP                     
 19. Fabio Baldato (Ita) MAG                       
 20. Christophe Rinero (Fra) COF                   
 21. Pascal Lino (Fra) BIG                         
 22. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONC                    
 23. Erik Dekker (Ned) RAB                         
 24. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) MAP                 
 25. Nicola Loda (Ita) MAG                         
 26. Arnaud Pretot (Fra) GAN                       
 27. Bruno Cenghialta (Ita) BAT                    
 28. Marco Fincato (Ita) ROS                       
 29. Danny Nelissen (Ned) RAB                      
 30. Davide Rebellin (Ita) FDJ                     
 31. Andrea Tafi (Ita) MAP                         
 32. Eros Poli (Ita) GAN                           
 33. Grard Ru (Fra) GAN                          
 34. Jon Odriozola (Spa) BAT                       
 35. Chris Boardman (G-B) GAN                      
 36. Pascal Deram (Fra) USP                       
 37. Oskar Camenzind (Swi) MAP                     
 38. Laurent Madouas (Fra) LOT                     
 39. Richard Virenque (Fra) FES                    
 40. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) CSO                      
 41. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) RAB                  
 42. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) TEL                   
 43. Fabiano Fontanelli (Ita) MAG                  
 44. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TEL                         
 45. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) PLT                    
 46. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) SAE                 
 47. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) TVM                  
 48. Stphane Cueff (Fra) MUT                      
 49. Udo Bolts (Ger) TEL                           
 50. Jens Heppner (Ger) TEL                        
 51. Cdric Vasseur (Fra) GAN                      
 52. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) USP                    
 53. Marco Zen (Ita) ROS                           
 54. Tony Rominger (Swi) COF                       
 55. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) MAG                      
 56. Daniele Nardello (Ita) MAP                    
 57. Andrea Brognara (Ita) BAT                     
 58. Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) BAN               
 59. Arturas Kasputis (Lit) CSO                    
 60. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM                      
 61. Luca Colombo (Ita) BAT                        
 62. Stuart O'Grady (Australia) GAN                      
 63. Georg Totschnig (Aut) TEL                     
 64. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) MAP    		       all s.t.                
 65. Marco Saligari (Ita) CSO                      	0.58 
 66. Giuseppe Tartaggia (Ita) BAT                  
 67. Marty Jemison (USA) USP                       
 68. Rolf Aldag (Ger) TEL                          
 69. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) FES                      
 70. Giorgio Furlan (Ita) SAE                      
 71. Jo Planckaert (Bel) LOT                       
 72. Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) PLT                     
 73. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) SAE                
 74. Tyler Hamilton (USA) USP                      
 75. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) ROS                     
 76. Hernan Buenahora (Col) KEL                    
 77. Bobby Julich (USA) COF                        
 78. Evgueni Berzin (Rus) BAT                      
 79. Michael Boogerd (Ned) RAB                     
 80. Francesco Frattini (Ita) BAT                  
 81. Manuel Beltran (Spa) BAN                      
 82. David Delrieu (Fra) MUT                       
 83. Laurent Genty (Fra) BIG                       
 84. Gerrit De Vries (Ned) PLT                     
 85. Alberto Elli (Ita) CSO                        
 86. Bjarne Riis (Dan) TEL                         
 87. Angel Casero (Spa) BAN                        
 88. Jaime Gonzalez (Col) KEL                      
 89. Patrick Jonker (Australia) RAB                      
 90. Marino Alonso (Spa) BAN                       
 91. Ivan Gotti (Ita) SAE                          
 92. Fernando Escartin (Spa) KEL                   
 93. Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) ONC                   
 94. Henk Vogels (Australia) GAN                         
 95. Beat Zberg (Swi) MER                          
 96. Jean-Franois Anti (Fra) MUT                   
 97. Gilles Maignan (Fra) MUT                      
 98. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) USP                  
 99. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) SAE                  
100. Anthony Morin (Fra) BIG                       
101. Francisco Benitez (Spa) KEL                   
102. Marco Pantani (Ita) MER                       
103. Daniele Sgnaolin (Ita) ROS                    
104. Andreï Tchmil (Ukr) LOT                  
105. Peter Meinert (Dan) USP                       
106. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM                        
107. Flavio Vanzella (Ita) FDJ                     
108. Viatcheslav Djavanian (Rus) ROS               
109. Andrei Teteriuk (Kzk) LOT                     
110. Roberto Conti (Ita) MER                       
111. Vitali Kokorine (Rus) ROS                     
112. Maximilian Sciandri (G-B) FDJ                 
113. Rossano Brasi (Ita) PLT                       
114. Peter Farazijn (Bel) LOT                      
115. Stphane Heulot (Fra) FDJ                      
116. Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJ                   
117. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM                   
118. Luca Scinto (Ita) MAG                  	 all at 0.58   
119. Mirco Gualdi (Ita) PLT                        	1.35
120. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) MER                    
121. Mauro Gianetti (Swi) FDJ                      
122. Didier Rous (Fra) FES                         
123. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) PLT                     
124. Jesper Skibby (Dan) TVM                       
125. Luc Leblanc (Fra) PLT                         
126. Alex Zulle (Swi) ONC                          
127. Marcello Siboni (Ita) MER                     
128. Javier Mauleon (Spa) ONC                      
129. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) CSO                     
130. Bo Hamburger (Dan) TVM                        
131. Alexandre Gontchenkov (Rus) ROS               
132. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) USP                  
133. Joona Laukka (Fin) FES                        
134. Roberto Sierra (Spa) ONC                      
135. Pavel Padrnos (Tch) ROS                       
136. Inigo Cuesta (Spa) ONC                        
137. Kevin Livingston (USA) COF                    
138. Jose Maria Jimenez (Spa) BAN                  
139. Marco Artunghi (Ita) MER                      
140. Aitor Garmendia (Spa) ONC                     
141. Giusvan Piovaccari (Ita) MER                  
142. Zenon Jaskula (Pol) MAP                       
143. Massimo Podenzana (Ita) MER                   
144. Laurent Pillon (Fra) MUT                      
145. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) PLT                  
146. Erik Breukink (Ned) RAB                       
147. Santiago Blanco (Spa) BAN                     
148. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) LOT                      
149. Cyril Saugrain (Fra) COF                      
150. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM                        
151. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM                     
152. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) COF                    
153. Pascal Lance (Fra) BIG                        
154. Dominique Rault (Fra) MUT                     
155. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) MAG                     
156. Laurent Brochard (Fra) FES                    
157. Benot Salmon (Fra) LOT                        
158. Leon Van Bon (Ned) RAB                        
159. Johan Museeuw (Bel) MAP                       
160. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) COF                    
161. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) CSO                
162. Ludovic Auger (Fra) BIG                       
163. Dario Frigo (Ita) SAE                         
164. Carlo Finco (Ita) MAG                         
165. Angelo Lecchi (Ita) MAG                       
166. Jose de los Angeles (Spa) KEL                 
167. Javier Pascual (Spa) KEL                      
168. Francisco Cabello (Spa) KEL            	 all at 1.35 
169. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) PLT                      	1.49 
170. Andrea Peron (Ita) FDJ                        	2.27 
171. Valentino Fois (Ita) MAP                      	4.08 
172. Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) BIG                  	s.t. 
173. Jean-Philippe Dojwa (Fra) MUT                 	4.29 
174. Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) BIG                   
175. Marcelino Garcia (Spa) ONC                   
176. Miguel Arroyo (Mex) BIG                      
177. Rolf Sorensen (Dan) RAB                      
178. Lauri Aus (Est) CSO                         
179. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) BAN                  
180. Neil Stephens (Australia) FES                      
181. Jose Angel Vidal (Spa) KEL                   
182. Pascal Herv (Fra) FES                        
183. Rolf Jaermann (Swi) CSO                      
184. Christophe Moreau (Fra) FES                  
185. Christian Henn (Ger) TEL                     
186. Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) SAE                   
187. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) FES                 
188. Claude Lamour (Fra) MUT                      
189. Michele Bartoli (Ita) MAG                   all at 4.29
190. Gianluca Pierobon (Ita) BAT                   	4.55 
191. Philipp Buschor (Swi) SAE                     	7.17 
192. Frdric Guesdon (Fra) FDJ                      	7.35 
193. Marc Wauters (Bel) LOT                        	7.47 
194. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (Ouz) LOT            
195. Arsenio Gonzalez (Spa) KEL                     
196. Damien Nazon (Fra) FDJ                        	9.18 
197. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) CSO                           12.10 
   
Abandoned.

Gilles Talmant (Fra) BIG  

GC after Stage 1

  1. Mario Cipollini (Ita) SAE                   4.48:09 
  2. Chris Boardman (G-B) GAN                       0:10 
  3. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TEL                          0:12 
  4. Tony Rominger (Swi) COF                        0:15 
  5. Abraham Olano (Spa) BAN                        0:20 
  6. Tom Steels (Bel) MAP                           0:24 
  7. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM                       0:25 
  8. Erik Dekker (Ned) RAB                          0:27 
  9. Oskar Camenzind (Swi) MAP                      0:27 
 10. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) MAP                  0:28 
 11. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONC                     0:28 
 12. Jens Heppner (Ger) TEL                         0:29 
 13. Frankie Andreu (USA) COF                       0:29 
 14. Fridiric Moncassin (Fra) GAN                   0:30 
 15. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM                    0:30 
 16. Arturas Kasputis (Lit) CSO                     0:31 
 17. Adriano Baffi (Ita) USP                        0:32 
 18. Danny Nelissen (Ned) RAB                       0:34 
 19. Pascal Lino (Fra) BIG                          0:35 
 20. Erik Zabel (Ger) TEL                           0:35 
 21. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) TVM                   0:37 
 22. Daniele Nardello (Ita) MAP                     0:37 
 23. George Hincapie (USA) USP                      0:37 
 24. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) RAB                   0:39 
 25. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) MAG                       0:39 
 26. Davide Rebellin (Ita) FDJ                      0:40 
 27. Jon Odriozola (Spa) BAT                        0:41 
 28. Andrea Tafi (Ita) MAP                          0:41 
 29. Marco Fincato (Ita) ROS                        0:42 
 30. Luca Colombo (Ita) BAT                         0:43 
 31. Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) BAN                0:43 
 32. Udo Bolts (Ger) TEL                            0:45 
 33. Georg Totschnig (Aut) TEL                      0:45 
 34. Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) COF                     0:45 
 35. Gordon Fraser (Can) MUT                        0:45 
 36. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) GAN                       0:47 
 37. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) ROS                     0:47 
 38. David Etxebarria (Spa) ONC                     0:47 
 39. Fabio Baldato (Ita) MAG                        0:47 
 40. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) MAP                     0:47 
 41. Fabiano Fontanelli (Ita) MAG                   0:48 
 42. Orlando Rodrigues (Por) BAN                    0:50 
 43. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) TEL                    0:50 
 44. Bruno Cenghialta (Ita) BAT                     0:51 
 45. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) USP                     0:51 
 46. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) PLT                     0:52 
 47. Eros Poli (Ita) GAN                            0:52 
 48. Laurent Madouas (Fra) LOT                      0:53 
 49. Richard Virenque (Fra) FES                     0:54 
 50. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) SAE                  0:54 
 51. Andrea Brognara (Ita) BAT                      0:55 
 52. Mario Traversoni (Ita) MER                     0:58 
 53. Nicola Minali (Ita) BAT                        0:59 
 54. Stiphane Cueff (Fra) MUT                       1:00 
 55. Pascal Derami (Fra) USP                        1:00 
 56. Arnaud Pretot (Fra) GAN                        1:00 
 57. Frangois Simon (Fra) GAN                       1:00 
 58. Christophe Rinero (Fra) COF                    1:00 
 59. Girard Rui (Fra) GAN                           1:00 
 60. Nicola Loda (Ita) MAG                          1:01 
 61. Cidric Vasseur (Fra) GAN                       1:01 
 62. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) CSO                       1:02 
 63. Marco Zen (Ita) ROS                            1:05 
 64. Robbie McEwen (Aus) RAB                        1:08 
 65. Evgueni Berzin (Rus) BAT                       1:13 
 66. Peter Meinert (Dan) USP                        1:15 
 67. Bjarne Riis (Dan) TEL                          1:23 
 68. Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) ONC                    1:26 
 69. Gilles Maignan (Fra) MUT                       1:29 
 70. Andrei Teteriuk (Kzk) LOT                      1:30 
 71. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) FES                       1:30 
 72. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM                    1:31 
 73. Henk Vogels (Aus) GAN                          1:32 
 74. Michael Boogerd (Ned) RAB                      1:32 
 75. Alberto Elli (Ita) CSO                         1:33 
 76. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) USP                   1:33 
 77. Beat Zberg (Swi) MER                           1:33 
 78. Roberto Conti (Ita) MER                        1:34 
 79. Francisco Benitez (Spa) KEL                    1:34 
 80. Andreo Tchmil (Ukr) LOT                        1:36 
 81. Marino Alonso (Spa) BAN                        1:37 
 82. Maximilian Sciandri (G-B) FDJ                  1:37 
 83. Patrick Jonker (Aus) RAB                       1:37 
 84. Manuel Beltran (Spa) BAN                       1:42 
 85. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) ROS                      1:44 
 86. Bobby Julich (USA) COF                         1:45 
 87. Rolf Aldag (Ger) TEL                           1:46 
 88. Rossano Brasi (Ita) PLT                        1:46 
 89. Laurent Genty (Fra) BIG                        1:46 
 90. Vitali Kokorine (Rus) ROS                      1:46 
 91. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) SAE                 1:46 
 92. Fernando Escartin (Spa) KEL                    1:46 
 93. Marco Pantani (Ita) MER                        1:47 
 94. Flavio Vanzella (Ita) FDJ                      1:47 
 95. Stiphane Heulot (Fra) FDJ                      1:48 
 96. Marty Jemison (USA) USP                        1:48 
 97. Hernan Buenahora (Col) KEL                     1:50 
 98. Alex Zulle (Swi) ONC                           1:50 
 99. Ivan Gotti (Ita) SAE                           1:51 
100. Tyler Hamilton (USA) USP                       1:52 
101. Marco Saligari (Ita) CSO                       1:52 
102. Giuseppe Tartaggia (Ita) BAT                   1:52 
103. Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) PLT                      1:53 
104. Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJ                    1:53 
105. Viatcheslav Djavanian (Rus) ROS                1:54 
106. Anthony Morin (Fra) BIG                        1:54 
107. Luca Scinto (Ita) MAG                          1:54 
108. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) SAE                   1:55 
109. Laurent Brochard (Fra) FES                     1:56 
110. Daniele Sgnaolin (Ita) ROS                     1:57 
111. Jean-Frangois Anti (Fra) MUT                   1:57 
112. Aitor Garmendia (Spa) ONC                      1:59 
113. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM                         1:59 
114. David Delrieu (Fra) MUT                        1:59 
115. Alexandre Gontchenkov (Rus) ROS                2:02 
116. Erik Breukink (Ned) RAB                        2:03 
117. Angel Casero (Spa) BAN                         2:04 
118. Gerrit De Vries (Ned) PLT                      2:05 
119. Francisco Cabello (Spa) KEL                    2:05 
120. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) COF                     2:06 
121. Peter Farazijn (Bel) LOT                       2:06 
122. Zenon Jaskula (Pol) MAP                        2:06 
123. Francesco Frattini (Ita) BAT                   2:06 
124. Jaime Gonzalez (Col) KEL                       2:07 
125. Didier Rous (Fra) FES                          2:07 
126. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM                         2:07 
127. Inigo Cuesta (Spa) ONC                         2:08 
128. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) CSO                 2:09 
129. Javier Pascual (Spa) KEL                       2:09 
130. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) USP                   2:10 
131. Pavel Padrnos (Tch) ROS                        2:13 
132. Pascal Lance (Fra) BIG                         2:14 
133. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) CSO                      2:14 
134. Carlo Finco (Ita) MAG                          2:15 
135. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) COF                     2:15 
136. Bo Hamburger (Dan) TVM                         2:19 
137. Luc Leblanc (Fra) PLT                          2:20 
138. Giorgio Furlan (Ita) SAE                       2:20 
139. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM                      2:20 
140. Angelo Lecchi (Ita) MAG                        2:21 
141. Johan Museeuw (Bel) MAP                        2:22 
142. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) PLT                       2:23 
143. Jo Planckaert (Bel) LOT                        2:24 
144. Roberto Sierra (Spa) ONC                       2:24 
145. Mirco Gualdi (Ita) PLT                         2:25 
146. Jesper Skibby (Dan) TVM                        2:27 
147. Ludovic Auger (Fra) BIG                        2:28 
148. Laurent Pillon (Fra) MUT                       2:29 
149. Jose Maria Jimenez (Spa) BAN                   2:29 
150. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) LOT                       2:29 
151. Marcello Siboni (Ita) MER                      2:29 
152. Javier Mauleon (Spa) ONC                       2:30 
153. Joona Laukka (Fin) FES                         2:31 
154. Benont Salmon (Fra) LOT                        2:32 
155. Santiago Blanco (Spa) BAN                      2:33 
156. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) PLT                   2:33 
157. Jose de los Angeles (Spa) KEL                  2:34 
158. Kevin Livingston (USA) COF                     2:35 
159. Massimo Podenzana (Ita) MER                    2:35 
160. Marco Artunghi (Ita) MER                       2:38 
161. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) MER                     2:41 
162. Cyril Saugrain (Fra) COF                       2:42 
163. Dominique Rault (Fra) MUT                      2:49 
164. Andrea Peron (Ita) FDJ                         2:50 
165. Mauro Gianetti (Swi) FDJ                       2:50 
166. Dario Frigo (Ita) SAE                          2:51 
167. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) MAG                      2:52 
168. Giusvan Piovaccari (Ita) MER                   2:53 
169. Leon Van Bon (Ned) RAB                         3:03 
170. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) PLT                      3:09 
171. Rolf Sorensen (Dan) RAB                        4:49 
172. Christophe Moreau (Fra) FES                    4:51 
173. Michele Bartoli (Ita) MAG                      4:55 
174. Lauri Aus (Est) CSO                            4:55 
175. Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) BIG                  5:01 
176. Rolf Jaermann (Swi) CSO                        5:08 
177. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) FES                   5:08 
178. Neil Stephens (Aus) FES                        5:12 
179. Christian Henn (Ger) TEL                       5:14 
180. Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) BIG                     5:17 
181. Jose Angel Vidal (Spa) KEL                     5:21 
182. Valentino Fois (Ita) MAP                       5:22 
183. Marcelino Garcia (Spa) ONC                     5:22 
184. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) BAN                    5:27 
185. Pascal Hervi (Fra) FES                         5:29 
186. Gianluca Pierobon (Ita) BAT                    5:35 
187. Jean-Philippe Dojwa (Fra) MUT                  5:35 
188. Claude Lamour (Fra) MUT                        5:38 
189. Miguel Arroyo (Mex) BIG                        5:46 
190. Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) SAE                     5:55 
191. Philipp Buschor (Swi) SAE                      8:06 
192. Arsenio Gonzalez (Spa) KEL                     8:28 
193. Marc Wauters (Bel) LOT                         8:30 
194. Fridiric Guesdon (Fra) FDJ                     8:30

Stage 1 Report

Sprint maestro Mario Cipollini took the Tour de France lead from prologue winner Chris Boardman with a superb surge at the end of the opening stage from Forges-les-Eaux to Rouen on Sunday.

The Italian, winner of five stages in the recent Giro d'Italia, confirmed he is the man to beat in mass finishes, beating Belgian Tom Steels and France's Frederic Moncassin to earn his fifth stage win in the Tour.

The flamboyant Italian, who sported the yellow jersey for a couple of days in 1993, was the hero of the day but his feat was overshadowed by a massive fall in the last 10 km.

The crash, which forced Frenchman Gilles Talmant out with a broken arm, delayed last year's winner Bjarne Riis as well as race favourites Alex Zuelle and Luc Leblanc, who lost precious time.

``I could not expect any better than today,'' said Cipollini. ``I had a good Giro d'Italia and now I feel in great shape for this Tour. I must thank all my team who did a fantastic job.''

In the last 40 km, his Saeco team mates chased down three riders, Lithuanian Arturas Kasputis, Italian Luca Colombo and Dutchman Servais Knaven, who had broken away after 91 km.

The three were caught with 15 km to go, just after the crash which involved a dozen riders and held up about thirty. Last year's winner Riis lost 58 seconds and Zuelle 95.

``Of course he's disappointed. But it's not the end of the world. The Tour has only just started,'' said Riis team director Walter Godefroot.

Super Mario

Mario Cipollini, fashion model of the Tour de France, seems as concerned about his flashy shorts as his fast finishes as he bids to hold his early lead.

The Italian started the first stage of the Tour on Sunday wearing shorts the colour of the American flag to please his sponsor. At the finish he was able to sport a yellow jersey on his back.

Ex-model Cipollini first signalled how much he cared for his appearance two years ago when he insisted on wearing shorts the colour of the Italian flag after winning his national champinship.

He was repeatedly fined by the International Cycling Union (UCI) which insists on riders wearing their team's shorts but he refused to comply.

After producing a superb surge to win the opening stage from Forges-les-Eaux to Rouen, Cipollini said he had shorts for every occasion during the Tour.

``We've thought about every possibility. I brought yellow shorts just in case but also green ones for the points leader jersey and also black ones,'' said the Saeco team leader, winner of five stages in the recent Giro d'Italia.

Even though he likes the colour and hopes to stick to it for as long as he can, Cipollini is aware he will not bring the yellow jersey back to Paris. But he has other plans.

``To reach Paris with the green jersey on would be a great achievement. But I must first discuss with my employers as they want me to ride in the Vuelta as well,'' he said.

``Three big Tours in a row would be too much,'' he added.

Cipollini, who broke some hearts when he married a few years ago and is now a father, wore the yellow jersey for a couple of days in 1993.

But he said it was not his favourite outfit. ``The Giro pink jersey is my favourite because Italy is where my heart is,'' he said.

But elegance has nothing to do with his sprinting abilities. Aged 30, Cipollini has never been stronger and he thinks experience has a lot to do with it.

``I had more stamina a few years ago. But now I'm good all round and at 30, against younger riders, I must say I don't often make mistakes,'' he said.

Now the Italian, who has won five Tour de France stages in five outings, hopes to do even better.

``I have never won a stage with the yellow jersey on. That's what I hope to do now. Maybe tomorrrow?'' Leblanc, with Zuelle one of the most unlucky riders in the bunch -- he recently crashed out of the Giro --, was dejected.

``I'm so unlucky it's unbelievable. Sometimes I'm fed up about all this. I wonder what I've done to deserve it,'' he said.

Riis's Telekom team mates were partly to blame for their top rider's loss of time as they led the race after the fall, unaware that the Dane was in trouble.

The way was paved for a sprint finish and last year's green jersey winner Erik Zabel of Germany, one of Riis team mates, was the first in action in the long stretch leading to the finish.

``I stayed in the wheel of my team mate Gian Mateo Fagnini and I surged in the last 200 metres,'' said Cipollini.

``Super Mario,'' who had a good prologue on Saturday and was 18 seconds behind Boardman at the start, made up enough time in the stage's intermediate sprints to rob Britain's prologue winner of the leader's jersey.

He now heads the Briton by 10 seconds into Monday's 262 km second stage, the longest of the Tour, which takes the field from St Valery-en-Caux to Vire.