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89th Tour de France - Grand Tour
France, July 6-28, 2002
Main page Stage profile Start List Full results
Prologue - Saturday July 6, 2002: Luxembourg ITT, 7 km
Complete Live Report
14:15 CEST
Welcome to Cyclingnews.com's coverage of the 89th Tour de France, which begins
in Luxembourg with a 7 kilometre prologue time trial. The first rider off is
Stephane Augé (Jean Delatour), who will leave at 16:00 local time. The remainder
of the 189 riders follow at 1 minute intervals, with defending champion Lance
Armstrong starting at 19:08.
Although Armstrong is a great time trialist, today's course is suited to the real prologue specialists, especially those with good cornering skills. The 7 km parcours contains 27 corners, an 80 km/h descent, and some tricky pavé. Riders like Brad McGee, Baden Cooke (FDJ), Rik Verbrugghe (Lotto), Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank), Didier Rous (Bonjour), Piotr Wadecki (Domo), Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole), David Millar (Cofidis), Tyler Hamilton (CSC), Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE), Bobby Julich (Telekom) and Lance Armstrong himself are favourites for this event, but the big names may choose not to take many risks for the sake of a few seconds.
The weather for the race is cool and overcast, with the threat of rain. If that happens, all predictions go out the window as any rider who gets dry conditions will have a huge advantage over the rest.
15:50 CEST
With 10 minutes until start time, the riders are starting to arrive in the team
area, ready for their 10 minutes of maximum effort. the nature of the course
and the weather means that it will be a case of "who dares wins".
The rain has been falling since early afternoon, but the roads have now started
to dry up and hopefully will improve later in the evening.
Cyclingnews spoke with Bobby Julich (Telekom) a few moments ago about the race "I hope it's the same for everybody," he said. "It's dangerous enough as it is. With any bit of rain out there it's not going to be quite a fair race."
On the climb in the second half of the race: "That's where the strong guys are really going to come through. Those guys who are good at descending and cornering and taking the risks will be able to make up some time on the first part of the course. The strong guys will come through on the second part of course."
16:10 CEST
The first riders have set off, as light rain starts to fall on the parcours.
Auge, Brognara, Berges, Bossoni, Flores, Pagliarini, Vierhouten, Garcia Acosta
and Trampusch are the first 10 out of the gate.
Five time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault told Cyclingnews this morning that "It's a technical prologue course, to win, you'll need strength and good endurance. It's for an all-around rider...who will have to ride very well to win. I think Armstrong, Millar, (Igor) Galdeano will be good, but there might be a suprise winner too. You never know... "
16:22 CEST
Stephane Berges (Ag2r) has set the fastest time so far, but it's no speed record.
10'12.95 for 7 kilometres is an average speed of 41.1 km/h. That's no surprising
given the conditions and the technical nature of the parcours.
16:32 CEST
32 riders have started the prologue in Luxembourg. Domo's Enrico Cassani lowers
the bar with a time of 10'01 (41.93 km/h). Jacky Durand (FDJ) is 6 seconds behind
him, with Berges now in third at 26 seconds.
16:43 CEST
Eddy Seigneur knocks 10 seconds off Cassani's time, but he is bettered by Alvaro
Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE), who clocks 9'49.
The rain has eased and the roads are drying a little.
16:52 CEST
George Hincapie (USPS) and Abraham Olano (ONCE) have passed through the halfway
point in 4'15, the quickest today. Of course the latter part of the course is
all uphill...
Hincapie spoke to Cyclingnews earlier about the course: "It's technical; very hard to get a rhythm, lots of corners, lots of ups and downs...I think it will be exciting to watch."
17:01 CEST
George Hincapie has posted a time of 9'29, by far the best today with Olano
still to come through.
17:15 CEST
George Hincapie's time is quick, but the specialists will probably knock another
30 seconds off it, especially if these dryer conditions continue.
His teammate Floyd Landis said to Cyclingnews this morning "I'm impressed with the parcours and everything...it's all on a grand scale. I'm excited to be here and the prologue is good but it's a long race so I'm not going to take any risks. We've got the best team so I'm really happy to be here. The final climb is not so bad; it's really technical in the beginning don't take any risks, and just use it all on the last climb and the final, flat 1.5k...you'll gain more time there anyway."
17:30 CEST
Hincapie's time still stands, as Olano could only finish in 9'39. De Groot (Rabobank)
is in second spot.
17:35 CEST
Andrea Peron (CSC) has gone under Hincapie's time with a 9'24. Top three now:
Peron, Hincapie and De Groot.
Iban Mayo (Euskaltel) comes through in 9'32, not bad at all. Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole) sets off on his ride.
17:43 CEST
Viatcheslav Ekimov sets off on his ride, and has to be a top 20 candidate today.
He commented to Cyclingnews that "Some parts are fast and some are slow
and technnical and will be very a selective course if it rains. I think it's
a pretty good course for me because there are some points I can gain good speed."
Top 3: 1. Peron in 9.24, 2. Bertogliati at 0.01, 3. Hincapie at 0.05
17:48 CEST
Voigt finishes just under 9'40, a respectable time that gives him 17th so far.
But here comes Inigo Cuesta close behind him - the Cofidis rider finishes in
9.23.56, new best time.
Did we mention that there are 27 corners on this course? It's going to be hard to average over 47 km/h due to these and the climb.
17:54 CEST
Ekimov finishes in a time of 9.27 - good enough for fourth, and two seconds
in front of Hincapie.
Brad McGee, one of the favourites for this stage, has started.
Mario Aerts (Lotto) has set the third fastest time at the halfway point, and he looks very smooth.
17:59 CEST
McGee has his head down and is flying over the first part of the parcours, which
is all downhill. The question is how he'll fare over the second part...
Aerts comes close, but finishes with 9'26 - fourth fastest.
18:02 CEST
McGee makes his way up the second half of the course, to the sounds of "go,
go, go" from the massive crowd gathered along the circuit. They've really
come out to support the Tour today.
Jörg Jaksche (ONCE-Eroski) starts his ride.
18:05 CEST
McGee knocks two seconds off Cuesta's time, really pushing it over the final
500 metres.
Floyd Landis (US Postal) hits the pave, and starts the climb.
18:14 CEST
Landis finishes in 9'33, 17th best so far. Mapei's Laszlo Bodrogi, recently
crowned Hungarian TT champ, is on his way.
Brad McGee commented after his ride: "Yeah I'll wait and see how good it was. I think in my preparation I handled it a lot better than last year. I didn't have the fantastic sensations but I had my director screaming at me. I'm happy but I don't think it's good enough to win."
"The climb was hard. I had a 52 tooth chainring and left it in the big ring on the hill. I found myself in the 21. I took a risk."
18:21 CEST
Bodrogi is in the final kilometre. Can the Mapei rider beat 9'21?
Just - 9'21.43. He is 0.26 seconds quicker than McGee. How many will go faster?
18:26 CEST
Erik Dekker does a very respectable time of around 9'34. He will be hoping to
ride into some fitness during this Tour, after his crash in Milan-San Remo.
Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) is negotiating his was around one of the more technical parts of the course.
O'Grady's time is 9'31.38, which is 16th so far.
18:31 CEST
A good time for Cofidis' David Moncoutie, who finishes just under 9'26 for 6th
place in the intermediate standings. He his followed by Kelme's Toni Tauler,
with 9'23.30, that's third best.
18:37 CEST
Nicolas Vogondy (FDJ) is just about to start, and he gets a big send off as
the French champion. He is chasing Michael Boogerd (Rabobank).
Laurent Dufaux (Alessio) finishes in 9'30.
Lance Armstrong is warming up, in the company of his family. His son Luke offers him a bidon, but he declines.
18:40 CEST
Piotr Wadecki (Domo) sets off, although he has been a little ill lately. Hopefully
he will recover soon, as he's a good chance for a top 10 GC place.
Robbie McEwen (Lotto) has set the third fastest time at 3.5 km.
Tyler Hamilton (CSC) sets off.
18:43 CEST
Francisco Mancebo (iBanesto) finishes in 9'22.70, third best. Santiago Botero
(Kelme) starts his ride.
McEwen finishes in 9'39, enough to put him in striking distance of yellow in the coming days. But he will have to work for it.
18:51 CEST
Hamilton sprints home in 9.24.70, 6th best today. Bodrogi's time of 9'21.42
is starting to look good.
Not for long - Botero smashes it with 9'12.60. That's a massive improvement. Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE) is good too, finishing in 9.17.18 (2nd best).
18:56 CEST
Heras finishes in 9'26 as Brochard charges towards the finish. He clocks 9'14.78,
faster than Igor Gonzalez, but slower than Botero.
Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) and Rik Verbrugghe (Lotto) are both underway as Baden Cooke (FDJ) starts.
Didier Rous (Bonjour) has fallen.
19:00 CEST
Dario Frigo (Tacconi) finishes in 9'16.98, after taking the scenic route from
one side of the road to the other on the approach to the finish. Maybe he found
a wormhole... But his time is still good enough for third.
Rous is back on his bike.
Raimondas Rumsas (Lampre) beats Botero! 9'11.97. New best time.
19:04 CEST
Rik Verbrugghe is disappointing in 9'27 (17th so far). He will be annoyed with
that.
Baden Cooke has set the 5th quickest time at the intermediate check.
19:06 CEST
Joseba Beloki (ONCE) sets off. He is chasing Oscar Sevilla (Kelme). The last
two riders to start are Erik Zabel (Telekom) and Lance Armstrong (USPS).
Leipheimer's time of 9'24.94 is respectable, but will not get him in the top 10.
19:09 CEST
Lance Armstrong has started, as Laurent Jalabert (CSC) sets a slightly quicker
time than McGee at the intermediate check.
Gontchar finishes in 9'23, 11th best. Virenque's time isn't bad - 9'26.21, top 20.
19:11 CEST
Christophe Moreau (Credit Agricole) has a fairly average ride, clocking 9'36.
He is followed by Jalabert, who sets the new best time: 9'10.52. Great effort
over the final part of the course.
19:14 CEST
Sevilla finishes in 9'41, which puts him in 70th. However, he will hope to make
up that and more in the mountains. Beloki finishes in 921.34, 8th quickest.
Zabel is home in 9'33, but here comes Armstrong. The US Postal leader wins it in 9'08.78!
Provisional standings
1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal) 9.08.78 (45.92 km/h) 2 Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali) 0.02 3 Raimondas Rumsas (Lampre) 0.04 4 Santiago Botero (Kelme-Costa Blanca) 5 David Millar (Cofidis) 0.06 6 Laurent Brochard (Jean Delatour) 7 Dario Frigo (Tacconi Sport) 0.07 8 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE-Eroski) 9 Joseba Beloki (ONCE-Eroski) 0.11 10 Laszlo Bodrogi (Mapei-Quick Step) 0.10 11 Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com)
