1. Cidric Vasseur (Fra) GAN 6.16.44 (avs 1,647 km) 2. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) GAN 2.32 3. Francisco Cabello (Spa) KEL 2.32 4. Marco Artunghi (Ita) MER 2.32 5. Peter Meinert (Dan) USP 2.32 6. Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) BIG 2.32 7. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) CSO 2.32 8. Stiphane Cueff (Fra) MUT 2.32 9. Marco Zen (Ita) ROS 2.32 10. Bo Hamburger (Dan) TVM 2.32 11. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) CSO 2.32 12. Mario Cipollini (Ita) SAE 3.24 13. Erik Zabel (Ger) TEL 3.24 14. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) SAE 3.24 15. Fridiric Moncassin (Fra) GAN 3.24 16. Adriano Baffi (Ita) USP 3.24 17. Richard Virenque (Fra) FES 3.24 18. Gordon Fraser (Can) MUT 3.24 19. Mario Traversoni (Ita) MER 3.24 20. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) MAG 3.24 21. Frangois Simon (Fra) GAN 3.24 22. Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJ 3.24 23. George Hincapie (USA) USP 3.24 24. Andreo Tchmil (Ukr) LOT 3.24 25. Abraham Olano (Spa) BAN 3.24 26. Vitali Kokorine (Rus) ROS 3.24 27. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) LOT 3.24 28. Laurent Pillon (Fra) MUT 3.24 29. Christophe Moreau (Fra) FES 3.24 30. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) ROS 3.24 31. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) CSO 3.24 32. Angel Casero (Spa) BAN 3.24 33. Leon Van Bon (Ned) RAB 3.24 34. Valentino Fois (Ita) MAP 3.24 35. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) RAB 3.24 36. Chris Boardman (G-B) GAN 3.24 37. Erik Dekker (Ned) RAB 3.24 38. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TEL 3.24 39. Davide Rebellin (Ita) FDJ 3.24 40. Laurent Madouas (Fra) LOT 3.24 41. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) TEL 3.24 42. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) MAP 3.24 43. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) FES 3.24 44. Luc Leblanc (Fra) PLT 3.24 45. Frankie Andreu (USA) COF 3.24 46. Christophe Rinero (Fra) COF 3.24 47. Beat Zberg (Swi) MER 3.24 48. Bjarne Riis (Dan) TEL 3.24 49. Stiphane Heulot (Fra) FDJ 3.24 50. Fernando Escartin (Spa) KEL 3.24 51. Marcello Siboni (Ita) MER 3.24 52. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONC 3.24 53. Miguel Arroyo (Mex) BIG 3.24 54. Anthony Morin (Fra) BIG 3.24 55. Laurent Brochard (Fra) FES 3.24 56. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) USP 3.24 57. Jose Angel Vidal (Spa) KEL 3.24 58. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) PLT 3.24 59. Fridiric Guesdon (Fra) FDJ 3.24 60. Georg Totschnig (Aut) TEL 3.24 61. Marco Pantani (Ita) MER 3.24 62. Giusvan Piovaccari (Ita) MER 3.24 63. Andrea Tafi (Ita) MAP 3.24 64. Oskar Camenzind (Swi) MAP 3.24 65. Orlando Rodrigues (Por) BAN 3.24 66. Claude Lamour (Fra) MUT 3.24 67. Alberto Elli (Ita) CSO 3.24 68. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM 3.24 69. Didier Rous (Fra) FES 3.24 70. Massimo Podenzana (Ita) MER 3.24 71. Peter Farazijn (Bel) LOT 3.24 72. David Delrieu (Fra) MUT 3.24 73. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM 3.24 74. Jens Heppner (Ger) TEL 3.24 75. Zenon Jaskula (Pol) MAP 3.24 76. Pascal Hervi (Fra) FES 3.24 77. Bobby Julich (USA) COF 3.24 78. Michael Boogerd (Ned) RAB 3.24 79. David Etxebarria (Spa) ONC 3.24 80. Mauro Gianetti (Swi) FDJ 3.24 81. Tyler Hamilton (USA) USP 3.24 82. Marco Saligari (Ita) CSO 3.24 83. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) PLT 3.24 84. Manuel Beltran (Spa) BAN 3.24 85. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (Ouz) LOT 3.24 86. Neil Stephens (Aus) FES 3.24 87. Pascal Lino (Fra) BIG 3.24 88. Marty Jemison (USA) USP 3.24 89. Francisco Benitez (Spa) KEL 3.24 90. Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) ONC 3.24 91. Andrea Peron (Ita) FDJ 3.24 92. Bruno Cenghialta (Ita) BAT 3.24 93. Patrick Jonker (Aus) RAB 3.24 94. Laurent Genty (Fra) BIG 3.24 95. Henk Vogels (Aus) GAN 3.24 96. Rolf Aldag (Ger) TEL 3.24 97. Joona Laukka (Fin) FES 3.24 98. Udo Bolts (Ger) TEL 3.24 99. Nicola Loda (Ita) MAG 3.24 100. Jean-Philippe Dojwa (Fra) MUT 3.24 101. Daniele Nardello (Ita) MAP 3.24 102. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) SAE 3.24 103. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) PLT 3.24 104. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) FES 3.24 105. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) CSO 3.24 106. Jon Odriozola (Spa) BAT 3.24 107. Benont Salmon (Fra) LOT 3.24 108. Roberto Sierra (Spa) ONC 3.24 109. Girard Rui (Fra) GAN 3.24 110. Arnaud Pretot (Fra) GAN 3.24 111. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM 3.24 112. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) SAE 3.24 113. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) MER 3.24 114. Giuseppe Tartaggia (Ita) BAT 3.24 115. Jose de los Angeles (Spa) KEL 3.24 116. Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) PLT 3.24 117. Andreo Teteriuk (Kzk) LOT 3.24 118. Jean-Frangois Anti (Fra) MUT 3.24 119. Giorgio Furlan (Ita) SAE 3.24 120. Andrea Brognara (Ita) BAT 3.24 121. Pascal Lance (Fra) BIG 3.24 122. Gerrit De Vries (Ned) PLT 3.24 123. Rolf Sorensen (Dan) RAB 3.24 124. Philipp Buschor (Swi) SAE 3.24 125. Pavel Padrnos (Tch) ROS 3.24 126. Aitor Garmendia (Spa) ONC 3.24 127. Evgueni Berzin (Rus) BAT 3.24 128. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) USP 3.24 129. Daniele Sgnaolin (Ita) ROS 3.24 130. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) USP 3.24 131. Marino Alonso (Spa) BAN 3.24 132. Alexandre Gontchenkov (Rus) ROS 3.24 133. Nicola Minali (Ita) BAT 3.24 134. Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) BIG 3.24 135. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) BAN 3.24 136. Marco Fincato (Ita) ROS 3.24 137. Robbie McEwen (Aus) RAB 3.24 138. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) MAG 3.24 139. Angelo Lecchi (Ita) MAG 3.24 140. Pascal Derami (Fra) USP 3.24 141. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) TVM 3.24 142. Arturas Kasputis (Lit) CSO 3.24 143. Eros Poli (Ita) GAN 3.24 144. Javier Mauleon (Spa) ONC 3.24 145. Rossano Brasi (Ita) PLT 3.24 146. Inigo Cuesta (Spa) ONC 3.24 147. Jesper Skibby (Dan) TVM 3.24 148. Jo Planckaert (Bel) LOT 3.24 149. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) COF 3.24 150. Marc Wauters (Bel) LOT 3.24 151. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) COF 3.24 152. Gilles Maignan (Fra) MUT 3.24 153. Francesco Frattini (Ita) BAT 3.24 154. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) PLT 3.24 155. Johan Museeuw (Bel) MAP 3.24 156. Marcelino Garcia (Spa) ONC 3.24 157. Rolf Jaermann (Swi) CSO 3.24 158. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM 3.24 159. Santiago Blanco (Spa) BAN 3.24 160. Javier Pascual (Spa) KEL 3.24 161. Ivan Gotti (Ita) SAE 3.24 162. Kevin Livingston (USA) COF 3.24 163. Erik Breukink (Ned) RAB 3.24 164. Viatcheslav Djavanian (Rus) ROS 3.24 165. Carlo Finco (Ita) MAG 3.24 166. Dario Frigo (Ita) SAE 3.24 167. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) MAP 3.24 168. Roberto Conti (Ita) MER 3.24 169. Jose Maria Jimenez (Spa) BAN 3.24 170. Hernan Buenahora (Col) KEL 3.24 171. Danny Nelissen (Ned) RAB 3.24 172. Tom Steels (Bel) MAP 3.24 173. Luca Colombo (Ita) BAT 3.24 174. Christian Henn (Ger) TEL 3.24 175. Jaime Gonzalez (Col) KEL 3.24 176. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM 3.24 177. Flavio Vanzella (Ita) FDJ 3.24 178. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM 3.24 179. Maximilian Sciandri (G-B) FDJ 3.24 180. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) ROS 3.24 181. Dominique Rault (Fra) MUT 3.24 182. Fabio Baldato (Ita) MAG 3.24 183. Cyril Saugrain (Fra) COF 3.24 184. Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) COF 3.24 185. Mirco Gualdi (Ita) PLT 3.24 186. Damien Nazon (Fra) FDJ 3.24 187. Lauri Aus (Est) CSO 3.24 188. Michele Bartoli (Ita) MAG 3.24 189. Luca Scinto (Ita) MAG 3.24 190. Ludovic Auger (Fra) BIG 3.24 191. Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) SAE 4.01 192. Gianluca Pierobon (Ita) BAT 4.03 Did not start. Alex Zulle (Swi) ONC
1. Cidric Vasseur (Fra) GAN 28.14.35 2. Mario Cipollini (Ita) SAE 2.17 3. Erik Zabel (Ger) TEL 2.19 4. Chris Boardman (G-B) GAN 2.54 5. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TEL 2.56 6. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) MAP 3.00 7. Abraham Olano (Spa) BAN 3.04 8. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) GAN 3.05 9. Fridiric Moncassin (Fra) GAN 3.06 10. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONC 3.06 11. Pascal Lino (Fra) BIG 3.19 12. Oskar Camenzind (Swi) MAP 3.22 13. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) RAB 3.23 14. Davide Rebellin (Ita) FDJ 3.24 15. Daniele Nardello (Ita) MAP 3.32 16. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) USP 3.35 17. Frankie Andreu (USA) COF 3.38 18. Richard Virenque (Fra) FES 3.38 19. David Etxebarria (Spa) ONC 3.42 20. Laurent Madouas (Fra) LOT 3.48 21. Adriano Baffi (Ita) USP 3.54 22. Georg Totschnig (Aut) TEL 3.54 23. Bjarne Riis (Dan) TEL 3.59 24. Evgueni Berzin (Rus) BAT 4.08 25. Bo Hamburger (Dan) TVM 4.11 26. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) FES 4.14 27. Alberto Elli (Ita) CSO 4.17 28. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) USP 4.17 29. Frangois Simon (Fra) GAN 4.25 30. Nicola Minali (Ita) BAT 4.26 31. Henk Vogels (Aus) GAN 4.27 32. Michael Boogerd (Ned) RAB 4.27 33. Francisco Benitez (Spa) KEL 4.29 34. Mario Traversoni (Ita) MER 4.29 35. Fernando Escartin (Spa) KEL 4.30 36. Stiphane Heulot (Fra) FDJ 4.32 37. Laurent Brochard (Fra) FES 4.40 38. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) CSO 4.56 39. Arnaud Pretot (Fra) GAN 5.06 40. Bruno Cenghialta (Ita) BAT 5.09 41. Peter Meinert (Dan) USP 5.09 42. Alexandre Gontchenkov (Rus) ROS 5.11 43. Jens Heppner (Ger) TEL 5.15 44. Luc Leblanc (Fra) PLT 5.15 45. Christophe Rinero (Fra) COF 5.15 46. Marco Zen (Ita) ROS 5.22 47. Andreo Tchmil (Ukr) LOT 5.23 48. Andrea Tafi (Ita) MAP 5.27 49. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) CSO 5.29 50. Andreo Teteriuk (Kzk) LOT 5.30 51. Stiphane Cueff (Fra) MUT 5.31 52. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) CSO 5.32 53. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) MAP 5.35 54. Peter Farazijn (Bel) LOT 5.37 55. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) PLT 5.38 56. Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) ONC 5.39 57. Maximilian Sciandri (G-B) FDJ 5.39 58. Nicola Loda (Ita) MAG 5.43 59. Jon Odriozola (Spa) BAT 5.50 60. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) TVM 5.54 61. Bobby Julich (USA) COF 5.54 62. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) SAE 6.08 63. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) TEL 6.11 64. Joona Laukka (Fin) FES 6.11 65. Orlando Rodrigues (Por) BAN 6.18 66. Patrick Jonker (Aus) RAB 6.23 67. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM 6.26 68. Marco Pantani (Ita) MER 6.27 69. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) SAE 6.32 70. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) PLT 6.33 71. Marty Jemison (USA) USP 6.34 72. Hernan Buenahora (Col) KEL 6.36 73. Daniele Sgnaolin (Ita) ROS 6.41 74. Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJ 6.54 75. Roberto Conti (Ita) MER 7.00 76. Manuel Beltran (Spa) BAN 7.05 77. Erik Breukink (Ned) RAB 7.08 78. Francisco Cabello (Spa) KEL 7.08 79. Didier Rous (Fra) FES 7.09 80. Giuseppe Tartaggia (Ita) BAT 7.13 81. Javier Pascual (Spa) KEL 7.18 82. Santiago Blanco (Spa) BAN 7.19 83. Tyler Hamilton (USA) USP 7.24 84. David Delrieu (Fra) MUT 7.25 85. Jose Maria Jimenez (Spa) BAN 7.35 86. Girard Rui (Fra) GAN 7.35 87. Angel Casero (Spa) BAN 7.36 88. Jaime Gonzalez (Col) KEL 7.36 89. Aitor Garmendia (Spa) ONC 7.38 90. Massimo Podenzana (Ita) MER 7.44 91. Marcello Siboni (Ita) MER 7.52 92. Flavio Vanzella (Ita) FDJ 7.59 93. Johan Museeuw (Bel) MAP 8.03 94. Jose de los Angeles (Spa) KEL 8.06 95. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) MER 8.07 96. Marino Alonso (Spa) BAN 8.12 97. Arturas Kasputis (Lit) CSO 8.13 98. Vitali Kokorine (Rus) ROS 8.14 99. Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) COF 8.17 100. Gilles Maignan (Fra) MUT 8.22 101. Andrea Peron (Ita) FDJ 8.22 102. Ivan Gotti (Ita) SAE 8.26 103. Marco Saligari (Ita) CSO 8.27 104. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) SAE 8.30 105. Benont Salmon (Fra) LOT 8.31 106. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM 8.34 107. Zenon Jaskula (Pol) MAP 8.34 108. Dominique Rault (Fra) MUT 8.40 109. Beat Zberg (Swi) MER 8.47 110. Anthony Morin (Fra) BIG 8.49 111. Jean-Frangois Anti (Fra) MUT 8.52 112. Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) BIG 8.55 113. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM 8.55 114. Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) PLT 8.59 115. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) PLT 9.01 116. Tom Steels (Bel) MAP 9.02 117. Inigo Cuesta (Spa) ONC 9.03 118. Javier Mauleon (Spa) ONC 9.05 119. Pascal Lance (Fra) BIG 9.09 120. Gerrit De Vries (Ned) PLT 9.11 121. Jo Planckaert (Bel) LOT 9.19 122. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) USP 9.24 123. Mauro Gianetti (Swi) FDJ 9.25 124. Jose Angel Vidal (Spa) KEL 9.25 125. Pascal Hervi (Fra) FES 9.29 126. Valentino Fois (Ita) MAP 9.31 127. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) LOT 9.31 128. Lauri Aus (Est) CSO 9.38 129. Robbie McEwen (Aus) RAB 9.46 130. Claude Lamour (Fra) MUT 9.47 131. Giusvan Piovaccari (Ita) MER 9.48 132. Kevin Livingston (USA) COF 9.49 133. Marco Artunghi (Ita) MER 10.02 134. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) PLT 10.15 135. Laurent Genty (Fra) BIG 10.18 136. Christophe Moreau (Fra) FES 10.23 137. Rolf Jaermann (Swi) CSO 10.56 138. Jean-Philippe Dojwa (Fra) MUT 10.58 139. George Hincapie (USA) USP 11.09 140. Rolf Sorensen (Dan) RAB 11.21 141. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) FES 11.21 142. Christian Henn (Ger) TEL 11.26 143. Erik Dekker (Ned) RAB 11.32 144. Udo Bolts (Ger) TEL 11.44 145. Fabio Baldato (Ita) MAG 11.46 146. Rossano Brasi (Ita) PLT 11.55 147. Eros Poli (Ita) GAN 11.55 148. Leon Van Bon (Ned) RAB 12.12 149. Marco Fincato (Ita) ROS 12.12 150. Miguel Arroyo (Mex) BIG 12.21 151. Pascal Derami (Fra) USP 12.23 152. Mirco Gualdi (Ita) PLT 12.38 153. Francesco Frattini (Ita) BAT 12.38 154. Giorgio Furlan (Ita) SAE 12.49 155. Rolf Aldag (Ger) TEL 12.55 156. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (Ouz) LOT 12.59 157. Frederic Guesdon (Fra) FDJ 13.08 158. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM 13.19 159. Danny Nelissen (Ned) RAB 13.23 160. Roberto Sierra (Spa) ONC 13.27 161. Dario Frigo (Ita) SAE 13.31 162. Pavel Padrnos (Tch) ROS 13.43 163. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM 13.49 164. Neil Stephens (Aus) FES 13.50 165. Angelo Lecchi (Ita) MAG 13.51 166. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM 13.53 167. Viatcheslav Djavanian (Rus) ROS 13.55 168. Jesper Skibby (Dan) TVM 14.01 169. Carlo Finco (Ita) MAG 14.16 170. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) COF 14.33 171. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) MAG 14.43 172. Cyril Saugrain (Fra) COF 15.22 173. Luca Scinto (Ita) MAG 16.56 174. Marcelino Garcia (Spa) ONC 17.21 175. Andrea Brognara (Ita) BAT 18.17 176. Philipp Buschor (Swi) SAE 18.35 177. Gordon Fraser (Can) MUT 18.50 178. Michele Bartoli (Ita) MAG 19.32 179. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) ROS 19.34 180. Laurent Pillon (Fra) MUT 19.51 181. Marc Wauters (Bel) LOT 20.00 182. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) BAN 20.29 183. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) MAG 23.17 184. Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) BIG 24.09 185. Luca Colombo (Ita) BAT 24.26 186. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) COF 25.17 187. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) ROS 25.54 188. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) CSO 26.31 189. Damien Nazon (Fra) FDJ 32.31 190. Gianluca Pierobon (Ita) BAT 34.52 191. Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) SAE 37.16 192. Ludovic Auger (Fra) BIG 47.51
Points (green jersey): Erik Zabel (Germany) Telekom 148 points Mario Cipollini (Italy) Saeco 135 Frederic Moncassin (France) GAN 103 Jeroen Blijlevens (Netherlands) TVM 72 Robbie McEwen (Australia) Rabobank Adriano Baffi (Italy) U.S. Postal Francois Simon (France) GAN Mario Traversoni (Italy) Mercatone Uno 56 Nicola Minali (Italy) Batik Cedric Vasseur (France) GAN 53 KOM (polka dot jersey) Laurent Brochard (France) Festina 36 points Cyril Saugrain (France) Cofidis 11 Arturas Kasputis (Lithuania) Casino 10 Simon 6 Cedric Vasseur (France) GAN Thierry Gouvenou(France) Big Mat 5 Luca Colombo (Italy) Batik Servais Knaven (Netherlands) TVM 4 Richard Virenque (France) Festina Gianluca Bortolami (Italy) Festina 3
The Once team leader, a faller on three successive days this week, failed to make the start of the 261.5 km fifth stage from Chantonnay and Chatre.
``Alex Zuelle, who has suffered a lot of incidents since the start of the Tour, does not want to take any more risks in order not to jeopardise the rest of his season. He is therefore a non-starter this morning,'' Tour organisers announced.
Zuelle escaped injury in the crashes but had dropped to 73rd overall, four minutes 17 seconds behind leader Mario Cipollini of Italy.
The Swiss, winner of last year's Tour of Spain, also suffered two bad crashes last month, breaking his collarbone in the Tour of Switzerland.
His fifth-place finish in Saturday's prologue time trial reassured his followers that he was in good shape, but between Monday and Wednesday he had the bad fortune to be involved in mass pile-ups that have marred the early days of the Tour.
Veteran compatriot Tony Rominger, leader of the French Cofidis team, crashed out of his last Tour on Tuesday when he suffered a double fracture of the right collarbone in a fall.
Spaniard Vicente Garcia-Acosta and Italy's Fabiano Fontanelli pulled out injured on Wednesday after a multiple crash in which the Italian ran into a woman spectator who was also badly hurt.
But the 26-year old rider also went one better than his father by taking the race leader's yellow jersey off Mario Cipollini's shoulders at the end of the first successful breakaway in this Tour.
Vasseur, who now leads the Italian sprinter by two minutes 17 seconds overall, also recaptured the leader's jersey for his GAN team, who held it after the victory of Briton Chris Boardman in the prologue.
``I thought about my father and near the finish, I knew I was doing even better by taking the leader's jersey,'' he said.
Alain Vasseur won a stage in Felsberg in 1970, also after a long solitary ride.
The win represented revenge for the GAN team, who have collected 25 second places this season including one in the previous stage through Frederic Moncassin.
The long 261.5-km stage was also the first in four days without a serious crash but saw the exit of Swiss Alex Zuelle, second in 1995 and among the pre-race favourites.
Having started the race just two weeks after surgery on a broken collarbone, the Once team leader did not turn up for the start of the 261.5-km fifth stage from Chantonnay and Chatre.
``Alex Zuelle, who has suffered a lot of incidents since the start of the Tour, does not want to take any more risks in order not to jeopardise the rest of his season. He is therefore a non-starter this morning,'' the Tour organisers announced.
Zuelle was involved in a fall on Wednesday for the third successive stage this week. Although not injured, he was only 73rd overall four minutes 17 seconds behind leader Mario Cipollini of Italy.
The bespectacled 28-year-old winner of last year's Tour of Spain suffered two bad crashes last month in the Dauphine Libere in France in mid-June and the Tour of Switzerland a week later when he broke his collarbone.
His fifth-place finish in Saturday's prologue time trial reassured his followers that he was in good shape, but between Monday and Wednesday he had the misfortune to be involved in mass pile-ups that have marred the early days of the Tour.
Veteran compatriot Tony Rominger, leader of the French Cofidis team, crashed out of his last Tour on Tuesday when he suffered a double fracture of the right collarbone in a fall.
Spaniard Vicente Garcia-Acosta and Italy's Fabiano Fontanelli pulled out injured on Wednesay after several riders were involved in a crash when the Italian ran into a woman spectator who was also badly hurt.
Friday's 6th stage takes the riders from Le Blanc to the oyster port of Marennes over 217 km.