Tour de France 1997

Stage 19, Montbeliard - Dijon, 172 kms.


The judges have disqualified both of today's leaders, Jens Heppner (Telekom and Bart Voskamp (TVM, from the stage! The winner of the 12-up sprint for third, Mario Traversoni (Mercatone-Uno, has been named Stage 19's champion by default. The two riders came in at 4.03.17 and the next bunch was 26 seconds back.

  1. Mario Traversoni (Ita) MER                    0.26 
  2. Francois Simon (Fra) GAN                      0.26 
  3. Marco Saligari (Ita) CSO                      0.26 
  4. Christian Henn (Ger) TEL                      0.26 
  5. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) USP                  0.26 
  6. Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) BIG                 0.26 
  7. Erik Dekker (Ned) RAB                         0.26 
  8. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM                      0.26 
  9. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) PLT                  0.26 
 10. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM                        0.00   disqualified (4.03.17)
 11. Jens Heppner (Ger) TEL                        0.00   disqualified
 12. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM                   0.26 
 13. Rolf Sorensen (Dan) RAB                       0.30 
 14. Arnaud Pretot (Fra) GAN                       0.37 
 15. Cedric Vasseur (Fra) GAN                     17.57 
 16. Adriano Baffi (Ita) USP                      17.57 
 17. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) ROS                    17.57 
 18. Lauri Aus (Est) CSO                          17.57 
 19. Marco Artunghi (Ita) MER                     17.57 
 20. Erik Zabel (Ger) TEL                         17.57 
 21. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) MAG                     17.57 
 22. Christophe Rinero (Fra) COF                  17.57 
 23. Robbie McEwen (Aus) RAB                      17.57 
 24. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) LOT                     17.57 
 25. Frederic Moncassin (Fra) GAN                 17.57 
 26. George Hincapie (USA) USP                    17.57 
 27. Javier Mauleon (Spa) ONC                     17.57 
 28. Abraham Olano (Spa) BAN                      17.57 
 29. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) CSO                    17.57 
 30. Andrea Tafi (Ita) MAP                        17.57 
 31. Manuel Beltran (Spa) BAN                     17.57 
 32. Miguel Arroyo (Mex) BIG                      17.57 
 33. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM                       17.57 
 34. Marco Pantani (Ita) MER                      17.57 
 35. Marcello Siboni (Ita) MER                    17.57 
 36. Richard Virenque (Fra) FES                   17.57 
 37. Fernando Escartin (Spa) KEL                  17.57 
 38. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) SAE               17.57 
 39. Peter Farazijn (Bel) LOT                     17.57 
 40. Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) COF                   17.57 
 41. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TEL                        17.57 
 42. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) CSO                     17.57 
 43. Francisco Benitez (Spa) KEL                  17.57 
 44. Nicola Loda (Ita) MAG                        17.57 
 45. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) PLT                     17.57 
 46. Davide Rebellin (Ita) FDJ                    17.57 
 47. Zenon Jaskula (Pol) MAP                      17.57 
 48. Michael Boogerd (Ned) RAB                    17.57 
 49. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) SAE                 17.57 
 50. Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) PLT                    17.57 
 51. Luca Scinto (Ita) MAG                        17.57 
 52. Carlo Finco (Ita) MAG                        17.57 
 53. Christophe Moreau (Fra) FES                  17.57 
 54. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) TVM                 17.57 
 55. Rolf Aldag (Ger) TEL                         17.57 
 56. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) RAB                 17.57 
 57. Marco Zen (Ita) ROS                          17.57 
 58. Daniele Nardello (Ita) MAP                   17.57 
 59. Jose Angel Vidal (Spa) KEL                   17.57 
 60. Francisco Cabello (Spa) KEL                  17.57 
 61. Jon Odriozola (Spa) BAT                      17.57 
 62. Daniele Sgnaolin (Ita) ROS                   17.57 
 63. Roberto Sierra (Spa) ONC                     17.57 
 64. Beat Zberg (Swi) MER                         17.57 
 65. Javier Pascual (Spa) KEL                     17.57 
 66. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) MAP                17.57 
 67. Jose de los Angeles (Spa) KEL                17.57 
 68. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) SAE                17.57 
 69. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) USP                   17.57 
 70. Frederic Guesdon (Fra) FDJ                   17.57 
 71. Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJ                  17.57 
 72. Marty Jemison (USA) USP                      17.57 
 73. Pascal Derame (Fra) USP                      17.57 
 74. Tyler Hamilton (USA) USP                     17.57 
 75. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) TEL                  17.57 
 76. Roberto Conti (Ita) MER                      17.57 
 77. Bjarne Riis (Dan) TEL                        17.57 
 78. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) FES                 17.57 
 79. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) MAG                    17.57 
 80. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) USP                 17.57 
 81. Gerrit De Vries (Ned) PLT                    17.57 
 82. Udo Bolts (Ger) TEL                          17.57 
 83. Flavio Vanzella (Ita) FDJ                    17.57 
 84. Bobby Julich (USA) COF                       17.57 
 85. Massimo Podenzana (Ita) MER                  17.57 
 86. Giuseppe Tartaggia (Ita) BAT                 17.57 
 87. Didier Rous (Fra) FES                        17.57 
 88. Laurent Brochard (Fra) FES                   17.57 
 89. Laurent Madouas (Fra) LOT                    17.57 
 90. Alberto Elli (Ita) CSO                       17.57 
 91. Georg Totschnig (Aut) TEL                    17.57 
 92. Arturas Kasputis (Lit) CSO                   17.57 
 93. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) MAP                   17.57 
 94. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) MER                   17.57 
 95. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) PLT                   17.57 
 96. Erik Breukink (Ned) RAB                      17.57 
 97. Orlando Rodrigues (Por) BAN                  17.57 
 98. Giorgio Furlan (Ita) SAE                     17.57 
 99. Philipp Buschor (Swi) SAE                    17.57 
100. Stephane Heulot (Fra) FDJ                    17.57 
101. Bruno Cenghialta (Ita) BAT                   17.57 
102. Rossano Brasi (Ita) PLT                      17.57 
103. Joona Laukka (Fin) FES                       17.57 
104. Andrea Peron (Ita) FDJ                       17.57 
105. Hernan Buenahora (Col) KEL                   17.57 
106. Peter Meinert (Dan) USP                      17.57 
107. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) FES                     17.57 
108. Dominique Rault (Fra) MUT                    17.57 
109. Jesper Skibby (Dan) TVM                      17.57 
110. Angel Casero (Spa) BAN                       17.57 
111. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) PLT                    17.57 
112. Marino Alonso (Spa) BAN                      17.57 
113. Santiago Blanco (Spa) BAN                    17.57 
114. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) BAN                  17.57 
115. Marcelino Garcia (Spa) ONC                   17.57 
116. Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) BIG                   17.57 
117. Jose Maria Jimenez (Spa) BAN                 17.57 
118. Nicola Minali (Ita) BAT                      17.57 
119. Laurent Genty (Fra) BIG                      17.57 
120. Pascal Herve (Fra) FES                       17.57 
121. Henk Vogels (Aus) GAN                        17.57 
122. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) GAN                     17.57 
123. Neil Stephens (Aus) FES                      17.57 
124. Oskar Camenzind (Swi) MAP                    17.57 
125. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM                  17.57 
126. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM                    17.57 
127. Patrick Jonker (Aus) RAB                     17.57 
128. Aitor Garmendia (Spa) ONC                    17.57 
129. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONC                   17.57 
130. Kevin Livingston (USA) COF                   17.57 
131. Frankie Andreu (USA) COF                     17.57 
132. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) CSO               17.57 
133. Maximilian Sciandri (G-B) FDJ                17.57 
134. Eros Poli (Ita) GAN                          17.57 
135. Gianluca Pierobon (Ita) BAT                  17.57 
136. Inigo Cuesta (Spa) ONC                       17.57 
137. Stephane Cueff (Fra) MUT                     17.57

GC after Stage 19

  1. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TEL                      95.19.17 
  2. Richard Virenque (Fra) FES                     6.22 
  3. Marco Pantani (Ita) MER                       10.13 
  4. Fernando Escartin (Spa) KEL                   16.05 
  5. Abraham Olano (Spa) BAN                       16.40 
  6. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) SAE                17.14 
  7. Bjarne Riis (Dan) TEL                         18.07 
  8. Jose Maria Jimenez (Spa) BAN                  23.42 
  9. Roberto Conti (Ita) MER                       28.20 
 10. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) FES                      29.29 
 11. Beat Zberg (Swi) MER                          31.39 
 12. Oskar Camenzind (Swi) MAP                     32.38 
 13. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) RAB                  38.16 
 14. Manuel Beltran (Spa) BAN                      43.00 
 15. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) USP                    53.07 
 16. Michael Boogerd (Ned) RAB                     55.11 
 17. Daniele Nardello (Ita) MAP                    56.24 
 18. Bobby Julich (USA) COF                        59.31 
 19. Christophe Moreau (Fra) FES                 1.00.37 
 20. Stephane Heulot (Fra) FDJ                   1.00.54 
 21. Udo Bolts (Ger) TEL                         1.04.34 
 22. Hernan Buenahora (Col) KEL                  1.06.19 
 23. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM                      1.09.48 
 24. Laurent Madouas (Fra) LOT                   1.15.48 
 25. Massimo Podenzana (Ita) MER                 1.16.06 
 26. Santiago Blanco (Spa) BAN                   1.19.07 
 27. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) CSO                   1.21.33 
 28. Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) BIG               1.24.25 
 29. Angel Casero (Spa) BAN                      1.24.27 
 30. Alberto Elli (Ita) CSO                      1.29.03 
 31. Francois Simon (Fra) GAN                    1.32.19 
 32. Joona Laukka (Fin) FES                      1.34.13 
 33. Pascal Herve (Fra) FES                      1.34.40 
 34. Georg Totschnig (Aut) TEL                   1.35.25 
 35. Laurent Brochard (Fra) FES                  1.36.50 
 36. Kevin Livingston (USA) COF                  1.37.46 
 37. Orlando Rodrigues (Por) BAN                 1.38.07 
 38. Peter Farazijn (Bel) LOT                    1.40.47 
 39. Javier Pascual (Spa) KEL                    1.41.58 
 40. Cedric Vasseur (Fra) GAN                    1.46.40 
 41. Marcello Siboni (Ita) MER                   1.47.12 
 42. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) CSO                    1.50.49 
 43. Didier Rous (Fra) FES                       1.54.59 
 44. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONC                  1.55.12 
 45. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) SAE                1.56.32 
 46. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) FES                1.57.21 
 47. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) USP                1.58.19 
 48. Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJ                 2.01.04 
 49. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) MAP               2.01.38 
 50. Peter Meinert (Dan) USP                     2.04.11 
 51. Rolf Aldag (Ger) TEL                        2.04.46 
 52. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) PLT                  2.04.58 
 53. Erik Breukink (Ned) RAB                     2.09.27 
 54. Jose de los Angeles (Spa) KEL               2.13.43 
 55. Neil Stephens (Aus) FES                     2.14.31 
 56. Andrea Peron (Ita) FDJ                      2.16.47 
 57. Andrea Tafi (Ita) MAP                       2.20.06 
 58. Davide Rebellin (Ita) FDJ                   2.23.16 
 59. Jens Heppner (Ger) TEL                      2.24.19 
 60. Zenon Jaskula (Pol) MAP                     2.24.45 
 61. Marino Alonso (Spa) BAN                     2.24.55 
 62. Aitor Garmendia (Spa) ONC                   2.27.56 
 63. Patrick Jonker (Aus) RAB                    2.28.12 
 64. Jon Odriozola (Spa) BAT                     2.30.35 
 65. Erik Zabel (Ger) TEL                        2.31.37 
 66. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) TVM                2.31.54 
 67. Maximilian Sciandri (G-B) FDJ               2.33.17 
 68. Rolf Sorensen (Dan) RAB                     2.36.26 
 69. Tyler Hamilton (USA) USP                    2.43.33 
 70. Inigo Cuesta (Spa) ONC                      2.44.02 
 71. Daniele Sgnaolin (Ita) ROS                  2.45.40 
 72. Giorgio Furlan (Ita) SAE                    2.46.44 
 73. Marco Zen (Ita) ROS                         2.46.48 
 74. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) BAN                 2.46.49 
 75. Francisco Benitez (Spa) KEL                 2.47.10 
 76. Miguel Arroyo (Mex) BIG                     2.54.25 
 77. Jose Angel Vidal (Spa) KEL                  2.54.36 
 78. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) MER                  2.57.16 
 79. Roberto Sierra (Spa) ONC                    2.58.21 
 80. Frankie Andreu (USA) COF                    2.58.47 
 81. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) PLT                   2.59.16 
 82. Dominique Rault (Fra) MUT                   3.01.29 
 83. Javier Mauleon (Spa) ONC                    3.02.14 
 84. Jesper Skibby (Dan) TVM                     3.03.30 
 85. Christian Henn (Ger) TEL                    3.03.34 
 86. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) MAP                  3.05.09 
 87. Erik Dekker (Ned) RAB                       3.05.23 
 88. Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) BIG                  3.06.11 
 89. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) USP                3.07.09 
 90. Marco Artunghi (Ita) MER                    3.11.17 
 91. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) LOT                    3.11.36 
 92. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) CSO              3.11.54 
 93. Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) PLT                   3.12.44 
 94. Marco Saligari (Ita) CSO                    3.14.35 
 95. Giuseppe Tartaggia (Ita) BAT                3.16.17 
 96. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM                      3.17.18 
 97. Mario Traversoni (Ita) MER                  3.17.30 
 98. Marty Jemison (USA) USP                     3.18.20 
 99. Arturas Kasputis (Lit) CSO                  3.18.58 
100. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) SAE               3.19.49 
101. Henk Vogels (Aus) GAN                       3.20.32 
102. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM                 3.20.32 
103. Laurent Genty (Fra) BIG                     3.20.39 
104. Arnaud Pretot (Fra) GAN                     3.22.21 
105. George Hincapie (USA) USP                   3.23.32 
106. Flavio Vanzella (Ita) FDJ                   3.24.08 
107. Francisco Cabello (Spa) KEL                 3.26.11 
108. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM                    3.27.53 
109. Nicola Loda (Ita) MAG                       3.28.57 
110. Bruno Cenghialta (Ita) BAT                  3.30.00 
111. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) PLT                3.31.54 
112. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) GAN                    3.32.16 
113. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) MAG                   3.33.21 
114. Frederic Guesdon (Fra) FDJ                  3.34.13 
115. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) TEL                 3.34.43 
116. Frederic Moncassin (Fra) GAN                3.36.25 
117. Christophe Rinero (Fra) COF                 3.37.32 
118. Robbie McEwen (Aus) RAB                     3.38.21 
119. Marcelino Garcia (Spa) ONC                  3.39.55 
120. Luca Scinto (Ita) MAG                       3.40.35 
121. Adriano Baffi (Ita) USP                     3.42.08 
122. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) PLT                    3.42.08 
123. Gerrit De Vries (Ned) PLT                   3.42.57 
124. Nicola Minali (Ita) BAT                     3.43.15 
125. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM                 3.43.28 
126. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM                   3.47.15 
127. Lauri Aus (Est) CSO                         3.47.43 
128. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) COF                  3.48.11 
129. Carlo Finco (Ita) MAG                       3.49.35 
130. Rossano Brasi (Ita) PLT                     3.54.55 
131. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) MAG                    3.55.21 
132. Pascal Derame (Fra) USP                     3.55.30 
133. Gianluca Pierobon (Ita) BAT                 3.57.14 
134. Eros Poli (Ita) GAN                         4.02.57 
135. Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) COF                  4.06.15 
136. Philipp Buschor (Swi) SAE                   4.06.17 
137. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) ROS                   4.06.31 
138. Stephane Cueff (Fra) MUT                    4.10.46 
139. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) COF                  4.25.42

Points classification.:

 1. Erik Zabel (Ger) TEL           320 pts 
 2. Frederic Moncassin (Fra) GAN   209 
 3. Mario Traversoni (Ita) MER     183 
 4. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM    168 
 5. Richard Virenque (Fra) FES     149 
 6. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TEL          142 
 7. Francois Simon (Fra) GAN       139 
 8. Robbie McEwen (Aus) RAB        131 
 9. Nicola Minali (Ita) BAT        121 
10. Adriano Baffi (Ita) USP        114 

Stage 19 Reports

Italian Mario Traversoni won the 19th stage of the Tour de France Friday despite crossing the line half a minute behind the first two riders home.

Dutchman Bart Voskamp and Jens Heppner of Germany were disqualified by the race jury.

Voskamp and Heppner cut across each other's line over the final feet in a frantic two-man sprint to the finish line of the 107-mile stage from Montbeliard.

The race jury took some time coming to a decision, announcing it shortly after the peloton, including overall leader Jan Ullrich, came in 14 minutes behind.

``Both riders committed faults and are disqualified. The win goes to the third (man over the line,'' a spokesman for the race jury said.

Traversoni came in at the head of 12 riders, who with Heppner and Voskamp had formed a breakaway group very early in the stage.

``When I came out of doping control and was told both front riders could be disqualified and I could get the win I didn't believe it,'' Traversoni said.

Both Heppner and Voskamp were shocked by the decision.

``I think I sprinted well. A sprint's a sprint,'' the Dutchman said.

Heppner said. ``For me the jury's quite crazy. It's not normal that the decison should go to a rider 20 to 30 seconds behind.''

Voskamp and Heppner staged their two-man break from the leading 14-man group some 18.5 miles from the finish of the flat stage, last before the final two stages in the Paris area over the weekend.

Earlier, the group had opened a gap of nearly 10 minutes over the peloton after about 60 miles.

Saturday Ullrich could increase his lead of six minutes 22 seconds if he dominates the Disneyland time trial as he did that of St Etienne last Friday.

Ullrich, on course to be crowned Tour winner on the Champs Elysees Sunday, has shown signs of fatigue over the last few stages but he is in a class of his own in time trials.

Italian Mario Traversoni (Mercatone Uno) got the win for the 19th stage of the Tour de France due to the DQ of Dutchman Bart Voskamp and German Jens Heppner, who took part in an irregular sprint, which caused them to be relegated from the first two places.

Italian Mario Traversoni, from Team Mercatone Uno, couldn't hide his happiness when he was declared winner of the 19th stage of the Tour de France. "This is the best present that I have received since I've been a cyclist. It's a victory fallen from the sky, taking advantage of the rain that accompanied is. I don't think that it has any less value than others, because to win you gotta be there and I was. What's important is that my name will go into the history of the Tour and in a little while nobody will remember that it came on a rebound", said Traversoni. He added: "I don't know what happened between Heppner & Voskamp, but they have to have done something big on the sprint, because it is strange that both were DQ. Elbowing, holding and headbutts are habitual in sprint finishes, but when they are two it becomes more noticeable. I think that they were a little naive". "I think that I'm the just winner, like any of the riders on the breakaway could have been".

For the second time in three days, the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team's Viatcheslav Ekimov came through with a top-five stage finish in the 1997 Tour de France. Ekimov placed fifth today in a stage that resulted in yet another controversial finish.

A handful of kilometers into the 172km stage from Montbeliard, Ekimov and 13 other riders rolled away from the lackadaisical peloton. The breakaway quickly gained time on the field and, at one point, increased it's lead to nearly 13 minutes. With under 30km left in the stage, TVM's Bart Voskamp and Telekom's Jens Heppner attacked the break. The duo immediately established an advantage over their breakaway companions as two of Voskamp's teammates helped disorganize the chase. With 6km to go, the lead duo had nearly 30 seconds on Ekimov and the 11 pursuers. As Voskamp and Heppner sprinted to the finish line, however, the two riders interfered with each other in the last 20 meters and were eventually relegated by the judges to last place of the lead group. Thus, the stage win went to Mercatone-Uno's Mario Traversoni, who led Ekimov's group to the line.

Today's ruling marked the third time in this year's Tour that the judges relegated an apparent stage winner for dangerous tactics. The main peloton crossed the line, led by Gan's Cedric Vasseur and USPS' Adriano Baffi, nearly 18 minutes later. Heading into tomorrow's crucial 62km time trial in Disneyland-Paris, the USPS team remains one of just three teams to have all nine riders still in the race. Jean-Cyril Robin continues to hold the 15th spot through the 19 stages, and will be the last USPS rider to start tomorrow, at 3:26pm local time.