1. Erik Zabel (Ger) TEL 4.54.33 (avs: 45,628 km) h 2. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) MAP s.t. 3. Bjarne Riis (Dan) TEL s.t. 4. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONC s.t. 5. Davide Rebellin (Ita) FDJ s.t. 6. Abraham Olano (Spa) BAN s.t. 7. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) USP s.t. 8. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TEL s.t. 9. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) FES s.t. 10. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) CSO s.t. 11. Richard Virenque (Fra) FES s.t. 12. Bo Hamburger (Dan) TVM s.t. 13. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) RAB s.t. 14. Laurent Brochard (Fra) FES s.t. 15. Chris Boardman (G-B) GAN s.t. 16. Alberto Elli (Ita) CSO s.t. 17. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) USP s.t. 18. Pascal Lino (Fra) BIG s.t. 19. Fernando Escartin (Spa) KEL s.t. 20. Stiphane Heulot (Fra) FDJ s.t. 21. Cidric Vasseur (Fra) GAN 0.11 22. Oskar Camenzind (Swi) MAP 0.11 23. Francisco Benitez (Spa) KEL 0.11 24. Michael Boogerd (Ned) RAB 0.11 25. Mario Cipollini (Ita) SAE 0.11 26. Daniele Nardello (Ita) MAP 0.11 27. Evgueni Berzin (Rus) BAT 0.11 28. Laurent Madouas (Fra) LOT 0.11 29. Henk Vogels (Aus) GAN 0.11 30. David Etxebarria (Spa) ONC 0.11 31. Luc Leblanc (Fra) PLT 0.11 32. Maximilian Sciandri (G-B) FDJ 0.16 33. Fridiric Moncassin (Fra) GAN 0.16 34. Peter Farazijn (Bel) LOT 0.16 35. Georg Totschnig (Aut) TEL 0.25 36. Andreo Teteriuk (Kzk) LOT 0.25 37. Alexandre Gontchenkov (Rus) ROS 0.25 38. Joona Laukka (Fin) FES 0.25 39. Frankie Andreu (USA) COF 0.25 40. Pascal Hervi (Fra) FES 0.25 41. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) GAN 0.38 42. Adriano Baffi (Ita) USP 0.38 43. Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) COF 0.43 44. Mario Traversoni (Ita) MER 0.51 45. Frangois Simon (Fra) GAN 0.51 46. Arnaud Pretot (Fra) GAN 0.51 47. Didier Rous (Fra) FES 0.51 48. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) PLT 0.55 49. Bruno Cenghialta (Ita) BAT 1.03 50. Nicola Minali (Ita) BAT 1.03 51. Andreo Tchmil (Ukr) LOT 1.03 52. Fridiric Guesdon (Fra) FDJ 1.03 53. Damien Nazon (Fra) FDJ 1.03 54. Lauri Aus (Est) CSO 1.08 55. Jose Angel Vidal (Spa) KEL 1.20 56. Marco Pantani (Ita) MER 1.25 57. Valentino Fois (Ita) MAP 1.25 58. Bobby Julich (USA) COF 1.25 59. Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) ONC 1.29 60. Daniele Sgnaolin (Ita) ROS 1.29 61. Claude Lamour (Fra) MUT 1.29 62. Jens Heppner (Ger) TEL 1.31 63. Peter Meinert (Dan) USP 1.31 64. Marty Jemison (USA) USP 1.31 65. Santiago Blanco (Spa) BAN 1.31 66. Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) BIG 1.31 67. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) CSO 1.31 68. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) PLT 1.31 69. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) SAE 1.31 70. Jose Maria Jimenez (Spa) BAN 1.31 71. Hernan Buenahora (Col) KEL 1.31 72. Andrea Tafi (Ita) MAP 1.31 73. Alex Zulle (Swi) ONC 1.31 74. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) CSO 1.31 75. Dominique Rault (Fra) MUT 1.31 76. Patrick Jonker (Aus) RAB 1.31 77. Erik Dekker (Ned) RAB 1.31 78. Christophe Rinero (Fra) COF 1.31 79. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (Ouz) LOT 1.31 80. Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) BAN 1.38 81. Giuseppe Tartaggia (Ita) BAT 1.46 82. Javier Pascual (Spa) KEL 1.54 83. Erik Breukink (Ned) RAB 1.54 84. Jon Odriozola (Spa) BAT 1.54 85. Jaime Gonzalez (Col) KEL 1.54 86. Marco Zen (Ita) ROS 1.54 87. Massimo Podenzana (Ita) MER 1.54 88. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) MAP 2.04 89. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) TVM 2.04 90. Nicola Loda (Ita) MAG 2.04 91. Manuel Beltran (Spa) BAN 2.08 92. Marcello Siboni (Ita) MER 2.08 93. Stiphane Cueff (Fra) MUT 2.08 94. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM 2.08 95. Jean-Philippe Dojwa (Fra) MUT 2.08 96. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) MER 2.11 97. Roberto Conti (Ita) MER 2.11 98. David Delrieu (Fra) MUT 2.11 99. Tyler Hamilton (USA) USP 2.17 100. Jose de los Angeles (Spa) KEL 2.17 101. Orlando Rodrigues (Por) BAN 2.17 102. Christophe Moreau (Fra) FES 2.17 103. Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJ 2.17 104. Angel Casero (Spa) BAN 2.17 105. Benont Salmon (Fra) LOT 2.24 106. Aitor Garmendia (Spa) ONC 2.24 107. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) SAE 2.30 108. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) TEL 2.37 109. Vitali Kokorine (Rus) ROS 2.42 110. Andrea Peron (Ita) FDJ 2.48 111. Francisco Cabello (Spa) KEL 2.48 112. Zenon Jaskula (Pol) MAP 2.53 113. Flavio Vanzella (Ita) FDJ 2.57 114. Johan Museeuw (Bel) MAP 2.57 115. Christian Henn (Ger) TEL 2.57 116. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) FES 3.04 117. Rolf Jaermann (Swi) CSO 3.06 118. Rolf Sorensen (Dan) RAB 3.06 119. Anthony Morin (Fra) BIG 3.20 120. Pascal Lance (Fra) BIG 3.20 121. Miguel Arroyo (Mex) BIG 3.20 122. Girard Rui (Fra) GAN 3.20 123. Mauro Gianetti (Swi) FDJ 3.20 124. Marino Alonso (Spa) BAN 3.20 125. Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) PLT 3.20 126. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM 3.20 127. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) LOT 3.20 128. Gilles Maignan (Fra) MUT 3.20 129. Jo Planckaert (Bel) LOT 3.20 130. Giusvan Piovaccari (Ita) MER 3.20 131. Javier Mauleon (Spa) ONC 3.20 132. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) SAE 3.20 133. Inigo Cuesta (Spa) ONC 3.20 134. Ivan Gotti (Ita) SAE 3.20 135. Marco Saligari (Ita) CSO 3.20 136. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM 3.20 137. Jean-Frangois Anti (Fra) MUT 3.20 138. Gerrit De Vries (Ned) PLT 3.20 139. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM 3.20 140. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) PLT 3.20 141. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM 3.20 142. Fabiano Fontanelli (Ita) MAG 3.38 143. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) PLT 3.44 144. Beat Zberg (Swi) MER 3.59 145. Kevin Livingston (USA) COF 3.59 146. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) USP 3.59 147. Gordon Fraser (Can) MUT 3.59 148. Arturas Kasputis (Lit) CSO 4.07 149. Marco Artunghi (Ita) MER 4.30 150. Laurent Genty (Fra) BIG 5.17 151. Leon Van Bon (Ned) RAB 5.54 152. Neil Stephens (Aus) FES 5.54 153. Tom Steels (Bel) MAP 5.54 154. Robbie McEwen (Aus) RAB 5.54 155. Mirco Gualdi (Ita) PLT 6.06 156. Dario Frigo (Ita) SAE 6.54 157. Giorgio Furlan (Ita) SAE 6.54 158. Philipp Buschor (Swi) SAE 6.54 159. Rossano Brasi (Ita) PLT 6.54 160. Roberto Sierra (Spa) ONC 7.48 161. Marcelino Garcia (Spa) ONC 7.48 162. Laurent Pillon (Fra) MUT 7.48 163. Pascal Derami (Fra) USP 7.48 164. Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) BIG 7.48 165. Luca Colombo (Ita) BAT 7.48 166. Andrea Brognara (Ita) BAT 7.48 167. Francesco Frattini (Ita) BAT 7.48 168. George Hincapie (USA) USP 7.48 169. Gianluca Pierobon (Ita) BAT 7.48 170. Eros Poli (Ita) GAN 7.48 171. Jesper Skibby (Dan) TVM 7.48 172. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM 7.48 173. Udo Bolts (Ger) TEL 8.15 174. Pavel Padrnos (Tch) ROS 8.15 175. Marco Fincato (Ita) ROS 8.15 176. Fabio Baldato (Ita) MAG 8.15 177. Angelo Lecchi (Ita) MAG 8.15 178. Rolf Aldag (Ger) TEL 8.15 179. Carlo Finco (Ita) MAG 8.15 180. Viatcheslav Djavanian (Rus) ROS 8.15 181. Marc Wauters (Bel) LOT 8.15 182. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) COF 9.01 183. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) COF 9.03 184. Cyril Saugrain (Fra) COF 9.05 185. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) CSO 9.05 186. Danny Nelissen (Ned) RAB 9.18 187. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) MAG 10:51 188. Michele Bartoli (Ita) MAG 10:51 189. Luca Scinto (Ita) MAG 10:51 190. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) BAN 10:51 191. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) MAG 10:51 192. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) ROS 14:36 193. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) ROS 14:36 194. Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) SAE 14:36 195. Ludovic Auger (Fra) BIG 14:36 Abandoned: Tony Rominger (Swi) COF
1. Mario Cipollini (Ita) SAE 16.10:12 2. Erik Zabel (Ger) TEL 0.14 3. Chris Boardman (G-B) GAN 0.27 4. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TEL 0.29 5. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) MAP 0.33 6. Abraham Olano (Spa) BAN 0.37 7. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONC 0.39 8. Pascal Lino (Fra) BIG 0.52 9. Fridiric Moncassin (Fra) GAN 0.55 10. Oskar Camenzind (Swi) MAP 0.55 11. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) RAB 0.56 12. Davide Rebellin (Ita) FDJ 0.57 13. Daniele Nardello (Ita) MAP 1.05 14. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) USP 1.08 15. Frankie Andreu (USA) COF 1.11 16. Richard Virenque (Fra) FES 1.11 17. David Etxebarria (Spa) ONC 1.15 18. Laurent Madouas (Fra) LOT 1.21 19. Adriano Baffi (Ita) USP 1.27 20. Georg Totschnig (Aut) TEL 1.27 21. Cidric Vasseur (Fra) GAN 1.29 22. Bjarne Riis (Dan) TEL 1.32 23. Evgueni Berzin (Rus) BAT 1.41 24. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) GAN 1.42 25. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) FES 1.47 26. Alberto Elli (Ita) CSO 1.50 27. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) USP 1.50 28. Frangois Simon (Fra) GAN 1.58 29. Henk Vogels (Aus) GAN 2.00 30. Michael Boogerd (Ned) RAB 2.00 31. Francisco Benitez (Spa) KEL 2.02 32. Fernando Escartin (Spa) KEL 2.03 33. Mario Traversoni (Ita) MER 2.04 34. Stiphane Heulot (Fra) FDJ 2.05 35. Arnaud Pretot (Fra) GAN 2.08 36. Maximilian Sciandri (G-B) FDJ 2.10 37. Bruno Cenghialta (Ita) BAT 2.11 38. Andreo Teteriuk (Kzk) LOT 2.12 39. Laurent Brochard (Fra) FES 2.13 40. Erik Dekker (Ned) RAB 2.15 41. Jens Heppner (Ger) TEL 2.17 42. Nicola Minali (Ita) BAT 2.19 43. Andrea Tafi (Ita) MAP 2.29 44. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) CSO 2.31 45. Bo Hamburger (Dan) TVM 2.36 46. Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) BAN 2.38 47. Peter Farazijn (Bel) LOT 2.39 48. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) PLT 2.40 49. Alexandre Gontchenkov (Rus) ROS 2.44 50. Luc Leblanc (Fra) PLT 2.48 51. Christophe Rinero (Fra) COF 2.48 52. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) CSO 2.50 53. Jon Odriozola (Spa) BAT 2.52 54. Andreo Tchmil (Ukr) LOT 2.56 55. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) TVM 2.58 56. Peter Meinert (Dan) USP 3.03 57. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) MAP 3.08 58. Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) ONC 3.12 59. Joona Laukka (Fin) FES 3.13 60. Didier Rous (Fra) FES 3.15 61. Marco Zen (Ita) ROS 3.16 62. Orlando Rodrigues (Por) BAN 3.20 63. Nicola Loda (Ita) MAG 3.22 64. Stiphane Cueff (Fra) MUT 3.25 65. Patrick Jonker (Aus) RAB 3.25 66. Bobby Julich (USA) COF 3.27 67. Marco Pantani (Ita) MER 3.29 68. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) SAE 3.34 69. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) PLT 3.35 70. Marty Jemison (USA) USP 3.36 71. Hernan Buenahora (Col) KEL 3.38 72. Alex Zulle (Swi) ONC 3.38 73. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) SAE 3.41 74. Daniele Sgnaolin (Ita) ROS 3.43 75. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) TEL 3.44 76. Giuseppe Tartaggia (Ita) BAT 3.55 77. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) CSO 3.57 78. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM 3.59 79. Roberto Conti (Ita) MER 4:02 80. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM 4:02 81. Manuel Beltran (Spa) BAN 4:07 82. Erik Breukink (Ned) RAB 4:10 83. Jose Maria Jimenez (Spa) BAN 4:17 84. Jaime Gonzalez (Col) KEL 4:18 85. Javier Pascual (Spa) KEL 4:20 86. Santiago Blanco (Spa) BAN 4:21 87. Tyler Hamilton (USA) USP 4:26 88. David Delrieu (Fra) MUT 4:27 89. Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJ 4:27 90. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM 4:32 91. Dominique Rault (Fra) MUT 4:37 92. Girard Rui (Fra) GAN 4:37 93. Angel Casero (Spa) BAN 4:38 94. Aitor Garmendia (Spa) ONC 4:40 95. Fabiano Fontanelli (Ita) MAG 4:43 96. Vitali Kokorine (Rus) ROS 4:45 97. Massimo Podenzana (Ita) MER 4:46 98. Marcello Siboni (Ita) MER 4:54 99. Arturas Kasputis (Lit) CSO 4:55 100. Flavio Vanzella (Ita) FDJ 5.01 101. Gilles Maignan (Fra) MUT 5.04 102. Jose de los Angeles (Spa) KEL 5.08 103. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) MER 5.09 104. Francisco Cabello (Spa) KEL 5.10 105. Benont Salmon (Fra) LOT 5.13 106. Marino Alonso (Spa) BAN 5.14 107. Zenon Jaskula (Pol) MAP 5.16 108. Ivan Gotti (Ita) SAE 5.28 109. Marco Saligari (Ita) CSO 5.29 110. Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) PLT 5.30 111. Anthony Morin (Fra) BIG 5.31 112. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) SAE 5.32 113. Jean-Frangois Anti (Fra) MUT 5.34 114. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM 5.36 115. Johan Museeuw (Bel) MAP 5.36 116. Gerrit De Vries (Ned) PLT 5.42 117. Inigo Cuesta (Spa) ONC 5.45 118. Beat Zberg (Swi) MER 5.49 119. Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) COF 5.50 120. Pascal Lance (Fra) BIG 5.51 121. Andrea Peron (Ita) FDJ 5.55 122. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM 5.57 123. Jo Planckaert (Bel) LOT 6.01 124. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) LOT 6.06 125. Javier Mauleon (Spa) ONC 6.07 126. Pascal Hervi (Fra) FES 6.11 127. Lauri Aus (Est) CSO 6.20 128. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) USP 6.26 129. Mauro Gianetti (Swi) FDJ 6.27 130. Giusvan Piovaccari (Ita) MER 6.30 131. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) PLT 6.34 132. Tom Steels (Bel) MAP 6.35 133. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) PLT 6.46 134. Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) BIG 6.49 135. Kevin Livingston (USA) COF 6.51 136. Jose Angel Vidal (Spa) KEL 6.58 137. Valentino Fois (Ita) MAP 7.04 138. Robbie McEwen (Aus) RAB 7.19 139. Laurent Genty (Fra) BIG 7.20 140. Claude Lamour (Fra) MUT 7.24 141. Marco Artunghi (Ita) MER 7.25 142. Christophe Moreau (Fra) FES 7.25 143. Jean-Philippe Dojwa (Fra) MUT 8.00 144. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) FES 8.23 145. Christian Henn (Ger) TEL 8.28 146. Rolf Jaermann (Swi) CSO 8.31 147. George Hincapie (USA) USP 8.42 148. Mirco Gualdi (Ita) PLT 8.44 149. Rolf Sorensen (Dan) RAB 8.54 150. Rossano Brasi (Ita) PLT 8.57 151. Eros Poli (Ita) GAN 8.57 152. Andrea Brognara (Ita) BAT 9.00 153. Pascal Derami (Fra) USP 9.05 154. Leon Van Bon (Ned) RAB 9.14 155. Marco Fincato (Ita) ROS 9.14 156. Udo Bolts (Ger) TEL 9.17 157. Fabio Baldato (Ita) MAG 9.19 158. Miguel Arroyo (Mex) BIG 9.23 159. Giorgio Furlan (Ita) SAE 9.31 160. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM 9.36 161. Fridiric Guesdon (Fra) FDJ 9.50 162. Dario Frigo (Ita) SAE 10:02 163. Danny Nelissen (Ned) RAB 10:05 164. Francesco Frattini (Ita) BAT 10:11 165. Rolf Aldag (Ger) TEL 10:18 166. Viatcheslav Djavanian (Rus) ROS 10:26 167. Roberto Sierra (Spa) ONC 10:29 168. Jesper Skibby (Dan) TVM 10:32 169. Laurent Pillon (Fra) MUT 10:34 170. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (Ouz) LOT 10:40 171. Pavel Padrnos (Tch) ROS 10:45 172. Carlo Finco (Ita) MAG 10:47 173. Angelo Lecchi (Ita) MAG 10:53 174. Neil Stephens (Aus) FES 11:23 175. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) COF 11:24 176. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) COF 11:35 177. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) MAG 11:45 178. Cyril Saugrain (Fra) COF 12:04 179. Luca Scinto (Ita) MAG 13:02 180. Marcelino Garcia (Spa) ONC 13:27 181. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) MAG 14:00 182. Philipp Buschor (Swi) SAE 15:17 183. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) ROS 15:40 184. Michele Bartoli (Ita) MAG 16:03 185. Gordon Fraser (Can) MUT 16:23 186. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) BAN 16:35 187. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) ROS 16:37 188. Marc Wauters (Bel) LOT 17:02 189. Luca Colombo (Ita) BAT 20:10 190. Gianluca Pierobon (Ita) BAT 20:14 191. Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) BIG 21:42 192. Damien Nazon (Fra) FDJ 23:14 193. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) CSO 24:04 194. Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) SAE 27:22 195. Ludovic Auger (Fra) BIG 38:34
Also it is rumoured that Riis has fallen out with Ullrich after the German refused to wait for him after Riis had crashed on Day 1. Can't confirm this at present.
Veteran sprinter Erik Zabel (Telekom) sprung past rising star Franck Vandenbroucke (Mapei) on Tuesday's short, steep sprint finish to win the third stage of the 84th Tour de France.
Two-stage winner Mario Cipollini (Saeco) lost time but retained the overall lead, while Cofidis's Tony Rominger broke his right clavicle in a crash late in the 224-km stage from Vire to Plumelec in western France.
The 36-year-old Rominger, in his last year of racing, was transported to a local hospital for x-rays and is out of the only "grand tour" he never won. Several riders went sprawling to the ground 9 kilometers from the finish as Telekom and Mapei powered the peloton to reel in attacking Francois Simon (Gan). MG's Michele Bartoli suffered serious cuts and limped in nearly 11 minutes later. FDJ's Andrea Peron crashed for the second time, injuring his left knee.
With several riders held up by the spill, including Mapei's Tom Steels and ONCE's Alex Zulle, Telekom charged ahead to set up Zabel, looking to avenge his second-place finish to Cipollini in Monday's sprint at Vire.
With Simon caught 5 kilometers from the finish and a solo attack by Cofidis's Nicolas Jalabert falling 1 km short, Telekom's Jan Ullrich went to set up Zabel. Before Zabel could make his move, the 22-year-old Vandenbroucke made a charge in the final 500 yards of the 2km, 6-percent grade climb to the finish line.
"When I saw Ullrich with Zabel, I knew my only chance was to attack early," said Vandenbroucke, one of cycling's rising stars who won the Paris-Brussels race in 1995. "I had a good attack, but Zabel was too strong. He's a strong sprinter, but I thought with the steep finish I might be able to hold him off."
But Zabel, 27, had promises to keep and last year's points jersey winner powered past Tour rookie Vandenbroucke to win his fifth career Tour stage. "My family is here for the first four or five days and I told my son he could come on the podium with me if I won," said Zabel, who kept his promise, appearing on the podium with his 3-year-old boy.
"I was really motivated to win today," said Zabel, who takes over the green points jersey and moves into second overall at 14 seconds back. "Cipollini is very strong, but I wanted to prove that I could beat him. Last year, it was easier for me to win." ONCE's Laurent Jalabert crossed the line fourth and FDJ's Davide Rebellin was fifth, while 1996 winner Bjarne Riis (Telekom) charged late to cross the line third, an affirmation the Dane is hungry to defend his Tour title.
"It's going really well. I'm happy with third; it's a good result. I know I'm in good form. I've got good morale for everything to come," said Riis, who lost nearly one minute to rivals in a spill in the Tour's opening stage. "I've always been confident. I lost one minute, but that's nothing to worry about." With the second-place stage finish, Vandenbroucke moves to fifth overall behind Jan Ullrich in fourth and Chris Boardman in third. Spain's Abraham Olano (Banesto) finished sixth in the stage and moves into sixth overall at 37 seconds back.
"There's a lot of pressure for me this year because the public remembers (Miguel) Indurain," said Olano, referring to the retired Spaniard who won the Tour five times with Banesto. "We were working today for (Orlando) Rodrigues, one of the strongest climbers on the team," the 1995 world champion said. "For me, I'm taking it day by day."
After a slow start out of Vire, a town completely destroyed by bombing in World War II, Festina's Laurent Brochard won two category-four climbs early in the stage to keep the climber's jersey.
Hundreds of thousands of fans lined the rolling course as the Tour entered into the lush Brittany region of western France. Clear skies and calm winds have welcomed the peloton in the Tour's opening days.
Festina's Gianluca Bortolami broke 84 kilometers into the stage, with Rodrigues, Simon, and Rabobank's Danny Nelissen pulling out with him. The quartet built up a three-minute lead when Simon pulled out with 15 miles to go.
For Rominger, the 1997 Tour ends in disaster. The Swiss veteran started the day in fourth overall at 41 seconds back. While never a likely threat for the overall, Rominger said he wanted to try to win a stage in the race he never won. Rominger, whose attempt to regain the hour record later this year could be in jeopardy, finished second in 1993 behind Indurain. He won three straight Vueltas Espana and the 1995 Giro d'Italia, but he always had bad luck in the Tour. Not as bad as Tuesday's, though. Examination confirmed a compound fracture in his right shoulder, and Rominger will travel to Paris on Wednesday for surgery.
For the third time in four days, the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team placed a rider among the top seven stage finishers today when Jean-Cyril Robin took 7th in the fourth stage of the Tour de France.
Robin's performance enabled him to move into 14th place overall, 1:08 behind race leader, Mario Cipollini of Saeco. The USPS team also moved up a spot in the team classification, and now holds the fourth position out of 22 teams.
Telekom's Erik Zabel won today's 224km stage from Vire by taking the sprint from a group of 20 riders. Along with Robin, the USPS's Viatcheslav Ekimov finished in the same time as Zabel, in 17th place. Ekimov now sits in 27th place overall, 1:50 back.
For the second time in three days, the stage was marred by a crash in the final 10 kilometers. Many name riders lost time when they found themselves caught behind the large crash. Tour favorite Tony Rominger broke his collar bone in the fall, thus ending his 1997 Tour bid. The USPS's Adriano Baffi, Peter Meinert, and Marty Jemison all were caught behind the crash and lost time. Teammates George Hincapie, Dariusz Baranowski and Pascal Derame all went down in the crash, but finished the stage.
Tomorrow's 225km Stage 4 goes from Plumelec to Le Puy du Fou.