 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
89th Tour de France - Grand Tour
France, July 6-28, 2002
Main page Stage profile & start times Start List Results
Stage 19 - Saturday July 27: Regnie-Durette-Macon, Individual TT, 50 km
Complete Live Report
Start time: 10:45 CEST
Estimated finish time: 17:25 CEST
10:45 CEST
Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the 19th stage of the Tour de France.
Today's stage is a medium length individual time trial between Regnie-Durette
and Macon. The stage starts with a Cat. 3 climb (Côte Du Fût D'avenas) at km
10.5, and the remaining 40 kilometres are either flat or undulating.
The starting times are in reverse GC order, with Igor Flores (Euskaltel) off first, followed by Arvis Piziks (CSC).
The weather today is once again quite nice - sunny with a light NW wind that will pick up later in the afternoon. That could make things harder for the riders starting last.
11:05 CEST
There is actually a bit of a contest between the last two riders on GC: Flores
and Piziks. Reason being that the "Lantern Rouge" can stand to make
a bit of extra money at post-Tour criteriums, which can be quite lucrative.
But second last is worth nothing! So Piziks actually pulled off the back of
the peloton yesterday and lost 2'20 to Flores. But today the Latvian will have
to ride quite slowly and lose another 3'45 to Flores if he's to claim the last
spot on GC.
He could do it though, as he's already lost 1'31 to the Basque at the first time check (the top of the climb at 10.5 km). Flores crossed in 19'35, but Piziks clocked 21'06. Of course, if he goes too slowly he won't make the time cut...
11:19 CEST
Seven riders have gone through the first time check at km 10.5, with Ag2r's
Stephane Berges the quickest at 19'06 (33 km/h). Damien Nazon (Bonjour) is 14
seconds slower, followed by Flores at 29 seconds.
11:33 CEST
Berges still holds the best time at 10.5 km, followed by Nazon. Erik Dekker
(Rabobank) is in third place at that stage, clocking 19'24. He is followed by
Knaven and Flores.
By the way, Rabobank's Karsten Kroon (who placed last in the first time trial, the day after winning in Plouay) is in 11th position after 10.5 km (of 17 riders).
11:45 CEST
The Flores/Piziks battle for last place continues, with the Latvian now losing
2'46 to the Euskaltel rider at km 33. He has to lose 3'45 in order to "overtake"
Flores as the last rider on GC.
12:01 CEST
30 riders are now through the first time check at km 10.5, and it's still Stephane
Berges with the quickest time. Two seconds behind him is Australian sprinter
Baden Cooke (FDJ), followed by Lotto-Adecco's Thierry Marichal at 6 seconds.
At km 33, Berges is ahead of Damien Nazon by 30 seconds and Igor Flores third at 41 seconds.
At km 50 (finish), Berges has clocked 1'10'24 to post the fastest time. Flores slowed over the final kilometres (or Piziks sped up), meaning that Piziks only ended up losing 2'48 to the Lanterne Rouge. He may try again on the Champs Elysees though...
12:16 CEST
Berges still holds the fastest time at the finish, with 9 riders having completed
the course. Igor Flores is in second place at 39 seconds, followed by Damien
Nazon at 49 seconds.
The cycling events in the Commonwealth Games started today - full results of the women's time trial can be found here. The men's time trial will follow later today.
12:27 CEST
Erik Dekker has finished in a time of 1'09'29 - nearly 1 minute better than
Berges. Meanwhile, Raivis Belohvosciks (Lampre) and Brad McGee (FDJ) have the
two quickest times at 10.5 km, with Raivis clocking 18'21.
News just to hand: Gilberto Simoni has been absolved by the Italian Cycling Federation and the public prosecutor in Trento, Bruno Giardina, for testing non-negative to cocaine on two separate occasions. The team has revoked his suspension and Simoni will race in next Sunday's HEW Cyclassics World Cup.
12:40 CEST
Raivis Belohvosciks (Lampre) has come through km 33 in 46'41 - over 2 minutes
quicker than Erik Dekker, and clearly on his way to setting some sort of benchmark
by the finish.
12:51 CEST
Belohvosciks is through 44 km now, 3'03 faster than Dekker, so on track for
a 1'06'00. No-one has yet bettered the Latvian at any of the intermediate checks.
12:56 CEST
Hmm, maybe I should have placed a bet somewhere. Belohvosciks finishes with
1:05:59.76, an average speed of 45.5 km/h.
13:09 CEST
73 riders have now started the individual time trial, with Erik Zabel the latest
rider to leave the start ramp in Regnie-Durette. His rival for the green jersey,
Robbie McEwen, has already finished the time trial, in 35th place (of 39) in
a time of 1'14.05. Obviously saving himself for tomorrow's battle on the Champs
Elysees.
13:23 CEST
The early lead in this final time trial is Latvian Raivis Belohvosciks, who
with a time of 1'06'00 leads FDJeux.com's Brad McGee by 1'13. In third place
is Erik Dekker, who has survived the Tour and hopes to now go on to do a good
late season classics program.
13:32 CEST
Colombian TT specialist Victor Hugo Pena (USPS) has bettered Belohvosciks' time
at the 10.5 kilometre mark, with 18'12, 9 seconds faster. Now that the race
is all but finished, maybe Pena is seeing what he can do.
13:41 CEST
Laszlo Bodrogi (Mapei-Quick Step) is the next rider to start - only 64 riders
to come after him. The Hungarian finished 5th in the first time trial, and could
well put in another good ride today, although the course is a lot tougher.
13:55 CEST
As we wait for Bodrogi to come through, David Millar (Cofidis) has clocked 17'49
at 10.5 km - beating Pena by 23 seconds. Millar is one of the favourites today,
and is obviously not riding the Commonwealth Games time trial which is also
on today. Not long after Millar is Serguei Gontchar (Fassa Bortolo), who has
done 17'45 at 10.5 km. Better still!
14:21 CEST
Bodrogi comes through 10.5 km in 18'10, third best time so far.
14:25 CEST
Millar is past km 33 in 45'37, 47 seconds faster than Victor Pena. We'll wait
for Gontchar's time.
14:34 CEST
It's very hot on this course - probably over 30 degrees. There's not much of
a breeze either. The first part of the course is really tough, with very heavy
roads.
Bodrogi is through km 33 in 45'48, which moves him up to second behind Millar. Gontchar has lost time and is 20 seconds back.
14:42 CEST
Gontchar finishes in 1'05.34, which gives him second place behind Millar. But
Bodrogi is having a great second half, and was 1 second slower than Millar with
6 km to go.
14:59 CEST
And Bodrogi is the quickest - he finishes in 1'04.56, 9 seconds faster than
Millar.
15:06 CEST
Laurent Jalabert (CSC) is not having such a bad ride, clocking 47'17 at km 44,
which is 7th best so far. The King of the Mountains in the last two Tours de
France is clearly enjoying his final ride against the clock in the Tour.
15:11 CEST
Dario Frigo (Tacconi), the Italian TT champion, has just started. He is 23rd
on GC and could perhaps move up to 22nd, as Ivan Gotti in front of him is not
such a good time trialist. Frigo needs 1'37.
Further along the road, Telekom's Bobby Julich has passed Miguel Martinez (Mapei). Speaking of Telekom riders, Julich's teammate Kevin Livingston has announced that this season will be his last. Livingston's contract was not going to be renewed by Telekom, and he decided that he wanted to spend more time with his family.
15:19 CEST
Frigo is pedalling quite a large gear up the first climb, which is fairly tough.
Interestingly Bodrogi had conceded 26 seconds to Gontchar on the climb, but
had more than reversed the deficit by the finish. The Hungarian is still the
fastest rider of the day.
15:26 CEST
Jalabert goes under 1 km to go, and is giving it everything. He finishes in
1'08'16 (13th best) and gets a massive cheer from the crowd.
15:34 CEST
Still no changes to the top 5, as Laszlo Bodrogi (Mapei) has the quickest time
at 1'04'56 (46.2 km/h). He could well finish in the top 5 with that time, although
the likes of Botero, Galdeano, Leipheimer, Rumsas, Beloki and Armstrong will
all be going flat out.
15:40 CEST
Bobby Julich (Telekom) finishes in 1'07.32, which is good enough for 8th best
so far. Not a bad performance.
Richard Virenque (Domo) has just started his ride.
15:47 CEST
Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) and David Moncoutie (Cofidis) have now started. Moncoutie
is in 12th place, but probably can't close the 2 minute gap on GC to 11th placed
Ivan Basso, who is next to go. The battle between the top 10 will be interesting,
with riders like Levi Leipheimer (9th) aiming to move up a few places.
Tyler Hamilton has come through 10.5 km in 18'12, 28 seconds slower than Gontchar. A good ride from Hamilton will move him up into the top 15.
15:56 CEST
Leipheimer starts off on his ride, and gets into his aerodynamic position quickly.
He trails Lance Armstrong by 13'58, but the gap to 5th placed Jose Azevedo is
just 1'50. However, Azevedo is also an excellent time trialist.
Massimiliano Lelli (Cofidis) has done a great time at km 10.5 - only 2 seconds slower than Gontchar.
16:00 CEST
Dario Frigo appears to be cooking on the course, coming through 33 km in a shade
under 50 minutes. That's only 45th place for the Italian TT champ, who hates
the heat.
Leipheimer attacks the first climb in the saddle, trying to hold his aerodynamic position. Approximately 3 minutes in front of him is Ivan Basso, who is doing the same thing.
Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE) is just about to leave. Armstrong rated him as the biggest threat today, but perhaps a bigger one may come from Santi Botero.
16:08 CEST
Laurent Brochard (Jean Delatour) finishes with a respectable 1'09.22, 27th best
so far.
Ivan Basso crosses the 10.5 km check in 18'08, 4th best at that point.
16:11 CEST
Santiago Botero (Kelme) looks highly motivated as he sprints off from the start.
He would love to win his third stage in this Tour.
Raimondas Rumsas (Lampre) is next off. He will probably keep his 3rd place on GC today, as the gaps either side of him are too great. Joseba Beloki and Lance Armstrong are the last two riders to come.
16:15 CEST
Tyler Hamilton is still going well, clocking 46'39 at km 33, which is 5th best
so far.
Joseba Beloki sets off. He cannot possibly catch 5'03 on Armstrong today, but he needs to ride a good time to prevent Rumsas from getting to close to him.
16:19 CEST
Armstrong wheels his bike up to the starting house, signs on and gets ready
to roll. He looks relaxed but very focused at the same time. He wants to win
this one.
16:21 CEST
Dario Frigo cruises into the finish in 1'11'01 - definitely not a good ride
today, perhaps in the second half of the field.
Armstrong is riding towards the first climb, pedalling 110 rpm (or a touch slower).
Massimiliano Lelli crosses the 33 km point in 46'20, 4th best time.
16:26 CEST
Igor Gonzalez crosses 10.5 km in 17'46, only 2 seconds slower than Gontchar.
That's a good start from the ONCE rider.
Botero is slightly slower, crossing in 17'48, which puts him in 4th place at 10.5 km.
16:31 CEST
Rumsas is on a mission! He clocks 17'11 at km 10.5 - that's 33 seconds faster
than Gontchar's previous best. Maybe Beloki's second place is under threat?
16:35 CEST
Hamilton finishes in 1'06'36, which gives him 6th place so far. Meanwhile, at
km 10.5, Beloki has already lost 47 seconds to Rumsas...
16:37 CEST
Armstrong rides through the crowds up the first climb, and crosses in second
place, 17 seconds slower than Rumsas, who could cause an upset today.
Rumsas needs to make up 2'18 on Beloki in order to pass him on GC. He already has 46 seconds after the first 10.5 km, but he may pay for that later, we'll see.
16:45 CEST
Lelli finishes in 1'06'45, 7th fastest. Bodrogi's finish is still by far the
best.
16:53 CEST
Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano is 4 seconds slower than Millar at km 33, second fastest
so far.
16:56 CEST
Botero comes through km 33 in 46'07, meaning that he has lost 30 seconds to
Millar. He will not win the time trial today.
Basso finishes in 1'08'04, 16th best, as Raimondas Rumsas flies through km 33 in 44'55. He grabs a drink bottle on the way. He is by far the quickest today.
17:03 CEST
Joseba Beloki comes through after Rumsas, but the ONCE climber is still losing
time. He has lost 1'16 in the first 33 km - he can lose 2'18...
Levi Leipheimer finishes in 1'07'03, which is 9th best so far.
17:05 CEST
Armstrong is better than Rumsas at km 33 - but not by much. He is over in 44'47,
seven seconds faster than the Lithuanian.
Roberto Heras finishes in 1'08'14, and will lose his 8th place on GC to Levi Leipheimer.
17:14 CEST
Rumsas comes through km 44 in 57.35, which is the best time. However, he has
troubles with his handlebars which appear to have come loose. If he beats Beloki
today by 2'18, it will be a miracle.
17:17 CEST
Botero finishes in a time of 1'06'01, 6th place.
Rumsas can barely use the brakes now - he is gripping the centre of the bars, hoping they'll last. He will finish in a good time, but it won't be enough to win the stage. Across the line it's 1'04'43 - he beats Bodrogi, who should end up third.
Armstrong is past km 44 in 57'01, and is on his way to his fourth stage win.
17:23 CEST
Beloki is home in 1'06'01, which will ensure that he keeps his second place
on GC. Armstrong is not far behind, and powers up the final straight to cross
in 1'03'50 - he wins the stage!
There were some changes to the top 10 GC, with Igor Gonzalez moving up to 5th in front of teammate Jose Azevedo, and Levi Leipheimer moving up to 8th from 9th. Armstrong will win the Tour with a 7'17 margin to Joseba Beloki, which is greater than his 6'55 to Jan Ullrich last year. Who can challenge him next year?
Results
1 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service 1.03.50 (47.0 km/h) 2 Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Lampre Daikin 0.52 3 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Mapei-Quick Step 1.06 4 David Millar (GBr) Cofidis 1.14 5 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 1.42 6 Serguei Gontchar (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo 1.43 7 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Lampre Daikin 2.09 8 Santiago Botero (Col) Kelme-Costa Blanca 2.10 9 Joseba Beloki (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 2.11 10 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) US Postal Service 2.29 General classification after stage 19 1 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service 78.34.25 2 Joseba Beloki (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 7.17 3 Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Lampre Daikin 8.17 4 Santiago Botero (Col) Kelme-Costa Blanca 13.10 5 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 13.54 6 José Azevedo (Por) ONCE-Eroski 15.44 7 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) iBanesto.com 16.05 8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 17.11 9 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) US Postal Service 17.18 10 Carlos Sastre (Spa) CSC-Tiscali 19.05
Intermediate timing
Kilometre 10.5 Kilometre 33 Raimondas Rumsas (Lampre Daikin) 17.11 Lance Armstrong (US Postal Service) 44.47 Lance Armstrong (US Postal Service) 0.17 Raimondas Rumsas (Lampre Daikin) 0.07 Serguei Gontchar (Fassa Bortolo) 0.33 David Millar (Cofidis) 0.50 Massimiliano Lelli (Cofidis) 0.35 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE-Eroski)0.54 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE-Eroski) 0.35 Laszlo Bodrogi (Mapei-Quick Step) 1.01 Kilometre 44 Kilometre 50 Lance Armstrong (US Postal Service) 57.01 Lance Armstrong (US Postal Service) 1.03.50 Raimondas Rumsas (Lampre Daikin) 0.34 Raimondas Rumsas (Lampre Daikin) 0.52 David Millar (Cofidis) 1.11 Laszlo Bodrogi (Mapei-Quick Step) 1.06 Laszlo Bodrogi (Mapei-Quick Step) 1.12 David Millar (Cofidis) 1.14 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE-Eroski) 1.32 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE-Eroski) 1.42
