Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Dauphiné Libéré Photo ©: Sirotti |
91st Tour de France - July 3-25, 2004
Main Page Stages & Results Stage Profile Latest Live Report Results
Stage 15 - Tuesday July 20: Valreas - Villard-de-Lans, 180.5 km
Commentary by Roger Hughes, with additional reporting from Tim Maloney and Chris Henry
Complete live report
Live coverage starts: 12:04 CEST
Estimated finish time: 17:05 CEST
 |
 |
The stage starts in Valréas, with a nine kilometre flat section, before the riders hit the difficult Col des Limouches that takes us into the Vercors region. The last 150 kilometres of this stage are very difficult, with a number of category climbs to contend with. The finish is at Côte, which is just above Villard de Lans, after the final three kilometre climb. The end of this stage is at the same place as in 1987 when Stephen Roche outwitted Jean-François Bernard.
Climbs
Km 15: Côte d'Aleryrac - Cat. 3, 3.4 km at 4.7%
Km 38: Côte du Puy-Saint-Martin - Cat. 3, 3.9 km at 3%
Km 91.5: Col des Limouches - Cat. 2, 10.7 km at 6.4%
Km 121: Col de l'Echarasson - Cat. 1, 12 km at 7.4%
Km 137: Col de Carri - Cat. 3, 6.2 km at 2.6%
Km 164: Côte de Chalimont - Cat. 2, 10.3 km at 5.8%
Km 179: Villard-de-Lans (Côte 2000) - Cat. 2, 2.3 km at 6.6%
12:02 CEST
Today's stage commences with a 1.4
km neutral section out of Valreas, before the flag is dropped for the official
start around 12:04.
There are two intermediate sprints today, with
the first one in Puy-Saint-Martin (km 34) and the second in Saint-Jean-en-Royans
(km 115). Australian Robbie McEwen still leads the points competition with 225
points, 13 more than Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) and 16 more than Thor Hushovd (CA).
Iban Mayo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was a non-starter this morning, although a reason
has not been given by his team.
12:09 CEST
Jakob Piil also didn't start today,
after suffering a knee injury last week. He opted to pull out on the rest day
yesterday.
12:13 CEST 5km/175.5km to go
After five kilometres
of racing, the peloton is still together in the 15th stage.
The weather
today: sunny and very warm with little wind. Temperatures are around 30 degrees
at the moment and should rise during the afternoon. There is a chance of an
afternoon thunderstorm or two.
12:16 CEST 6.5km/174km to go
The first attack
of the day goes with (naturally) Richard Virenque (Quick.Step), Janek Tombak
(Cofidis), Carlos Da Cruz (FDJ) and Ludovic Martin (RAGT). They are being pursued
by Chente Garcia Acosta (Illes Balears).
12:20 CEST 8km/172.5km to go
Garcia Acosta joins
the front group with Virenque in it, while Filippo Simeoni (Domina) and Jan
Hruska (Liberty) also give chase. The peloton is back at 15 seconds.
12:24 CEST 12km/168.5km to go
And then there
were four. Da Cruz goes back to the peloton, leaving Virenque, Garcia Acosta,
Tombak and Martin with a 10 second lead.
12:29 CEST 13.5km/167km to go
Virenque and co.
are persisting with their breakaway attempt as a new chase group splinters off
the front of the peloton in pursuit. Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) and Paolo
Bettini (Quick.Step) have joined the front riders on the Cat. 3 Cote d'Aleyrac.
12:31 CEST 15km/165.5km to go
Axel Merckx (Lotto-Domo)
has caught the front group as well, and is now off the front on his own on the
climb. There are three riders in pursuit, while Virenque has gone back to the
peloton.
Already Jimmy Casper and Massimiliano Mori have been dropped
by the peloton.
12:36 CEST 18km/162.5km to go
Axel Merckx takes
the four points on offer on the first climb, with Aitor Gonzalez (Fassa) in
second, followed by Marcos Serrano (Liberty) and Jean-Cyril Robin (FDJeux.com).
Merckx persists with his attack over the top of the climb, and is joined by
Stéphane Goubert (Ag2r).
Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile) has crashed, but
he's on the bike again and back in the peloton.
12:39 CEST 23km/157.5km to go
The lead group
now contains: Santiago Botero (T-Mobile), José Enrique Gutierrez (Phonak), Aitor
Gonzalez (Fassa Bortolo), Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears), David Moncoutié
(Cofidis), Marcos Serrano (Liberty Seguros), Stéphane Goubert (AG2R), Jean-Cyril
Robin (Fdjeux.com), Axel Merckx (Lotto-Domo).
They have 41 seconds
on the peloton, and are riding well together. Goubert is the best placed on
GC, sitting in 17th at 12'44.
12:44 CEST 28km/152.5km to go
The nine leaders
have been pulled back to 24 seconds. Rabobank missed the move again, and is
bringing the peloton to within striking distance, presumably to try and get
one of their riders across.
12:50 CEST 34km/146.5km to go
The nine leaders
are persisting, and have increased their advantage out to 36 seconds at the
first sprint in Puy-Saint-Martin.
12:53 CEST 36km/144.5km to go
The first sprint
is won by Jean-Cyril Robin ahead of Marcos Serrano and David Moncoutié, with
the peloton another 30 seconds behind.
The gap is now down to 19
seconds.
12:59 CEST 38km/142.5km to go
It's still Santiago
Botero (T-Mobile), José Enrique Gutierrez (Phonak), Aitor Gonzalez (Fassa Bortolo),
Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears), David Moncoutié (Cofidis), Marcos Serrano
(Liberty Seguros), Stéphane Goubert (AG2R), Jean-Cyril Robin (Fdjeux.com), Axel
Merckx (Lotto-Domo) in front with a slim 17 second advantage. Virenque and Rasmussen
are trying to close to the leaders, but not succeeding.
The leaders
are on the second climb (Cote de Puy St Martin) which commenced right after
the second sprint.
13:01 CEST
The peloton has split on the climb,
with Voeckler making the front group (just) but Robbie McEwen being tailed off
in the second group. The gap is fairly large between the two groups, and it's
US Postal setting the tempo in front.
The nine leaders have just
11 seconds.
13:03 CEST 40km/140.5km to go
Axel Merckx wins
the points on the second climb ahead of Botero, Gutierrez and Karpets. Merckx
might be on a mission today to close the gap to Virenque. But he has a pretty
big task ahead of him.
13:08 CEST 46km/134.5km to go
After a fairly
lumpy first hour, the average speed is 43.9 km/h. The nine leaders still have
10 seconds on the US Postal-led peloton. McEwen's second group is at 55 seconds
from the leaders.
13:12 CEST 51km/129.5km to go
Finally the leaders
have been caught after a concerted effort from US Postal. There are now two
pelotons: the first containing all the GC riders and the second containing McEwen,
which is 1'00 behind at the moment. They're not coming back unless the pace
slows in front.
13:23 CEST 59km/121.5km to go
Things are getting
messy.
The attacks are continuing in the first peloton, which is
definitely not the bigger portion of the field. In the lead we now have three
riders: Santos Gonzalez (Phonak), Laurent Brochard (AG2R Prévoyance) and Dmitri
Fofonov (Cofidis).
The are being chased by a group with Padrnos,
Aitor Gonzalez, Hushovd, Voigt, Garcia Acosta, Dufaux, Vandevelde, O'Grady and
Virenque, who close the gap.
The next group of 34 riders has Armstrong,
Voeckler, Ullrich, Basso, Merckx etc. in it and is at 22 seconds. Robbie McEwen's
green jersey peloton is now at 1'40. This could be a chance for O'Grady to take
back some points.
13:25 CEST 62km/118.5km to go
In the lead we
now have: Pavel Padrnos (US Postal), Santos Gonzalez (Phonak), Aitor Gonzalez
(Fassa Bortolo), Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole), Jens Voigt (Team CSC), José
V. Garcia Acosta (Illes Balears), Stuart O'Grady, Dmitri Fofonov (Cofidis),
Richard Virenque, Laurent Dufaux (Quick Step-Davitamon), Christian Vandevelde
(Liberty Seguros), Anthony Charteau (Brioches La Boulangère), Laurent Brochard
(AG2R Prévoyance), Scott Sunderland (Alessio-Bianchi), Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank).
The Voeckler/Armstrong group of 34 is at 40 seconds, while the McEwen group
is at 2'00.
13:32 CEST 67.5km/113km to go
The 15 leaders
now have 1'33 on the peloton as they get close to the feed zone at Les Faucons.
Rasmussen is the best placed on GC in the break, lying in 18th at 13'03.
Meanwhile, McEwen's green jersey peloton has closed the gap to the yellow jersey
group, which has eased up a bit.
13:36 CEST 71km/109.5km to go
Pavel Padrnos (US
Postal) has been called back to the peloton, leaving 14 leaders at 1'50:
Santos Gonzalez (Phonak), Aitor Gonzalez (Fassa Bortolo), Thor Hushovd (Crédit
Agricole), Jens Voigt (Team CSC), José V. Garcia Acosta (Illes Balears), Stuart
O'Grady, Dmitri Fofonov (Cofidis), Richard Virenque, Laurent Dufaux (Quick Step-Davitamon),
Christian Vandevelde (Liberty Seguros), Anthony Charteau (Brioches La Boulangère),
Laurent Brochard (AG2R Prévoyance), Scott Sunderland (Alessio-Bianchi), Michael
Rasmussen (Rabobank)
13:43 CEST 75km/105.5km to go
The 14 leaders
pass through the feed zone with 2'28 advantage to the US Postal/CSC led bunch.
The Cat. 2 ascent of Col des Limouches will commence in about 5 km. It's 10.7
km at 6.3%.
Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile) is off the back again, but
we're not sure if it's because of his crash earlier or if it's a mechanical/other.
13:49 CEST 80km/100.5km to go
This is an interesting
escape, with riders like Hushovd and O'Grady in it, who are obviously keen for
the green jersey points, and also Virenque, who wants to sew up the spotty jersey,
and Rasmussen, who is a good candidate for the victory if this break goes all
the way. There's also Stage 14 winner Aitor Gonzalez, the ever aggressive Jens
Voigt, a Brioches rider in Anthony Charteau, Cyclingnews diarist Scott Sunderland,
and former World Champion Laurent Brochard. What a mix!
The gap is
stable at 2'23 as they commence the climb.
13:56 CEST 82km/98.5km to go
The 14 leaders are
riding up the Col de Limouches at a steady pace, with the Postal led peloton
still hovering behind at 2'20. They don't want to let someone like Rasmussen
get 10 minutes today.
14:01 CEST
Cyclingnews spoke to Levi Leipheimer
(Rabobank) this morning about his plans for the day. The 14th placed rider on
GC told us, "I'm feeling fine. The rest day went well. I'm not going to go in
the early breakaway, but you've got to be attentive on that second last climb.
I think a lot of people are going to look for that as an opportunity. Maybe
if Voeckler is hurting then US Postal will put the pressure on so Lance will
have the jersey tomorrow. Tomorrow is a big day so you can't burn too many matches
today."
14:05 CEST 86km/94.5km to go
The lead group has
splintered, with Santos Gonzalez, Virenque, Voigt and Rasmussen going clear
on the Col des Limouches with about 4 km from the summit.
14:07 CEST 87km/93.5km to go
Scott Sunderland
and Laurent Dufaux are having difficulties holding onto the chase group, which
contains Aitor Gonzalez, Hushovd, Garcia Acosta, O'Grady, Fofonov, Vandevelde,
Charteau and Brochard.
14:08 CEST
The average speed for the second
hour was 41.9 km/h, which brings the overall average speed of the stage down
to 42.9 km/h.
14:09 CEST 88km/92.5km to go
Brochard has caught
the lead group, which has five riders in it now: Virenque, Rasmussen, Voigt,
S. Gonzalez and Brochard.
14:12 CEST 89km/91.5km to go
As the leaders approach
the summit of the Col des Limouches, we have Santos Gonzalez (Phonak), Michael
Rasmussen (Rabobank), Jens Voigt (Team CSC), Richard Virenque (Quick.Step),
Laurent Brochard (AG2R Prévoyance) in the lead. At 13 seconds is a group with
Aitor Gonzalez (Fassa Bortolo), José V. Garcia Acosta (Illes Balears), Stuart
O'Grady, Dmitri Fofonov (Cofidis), Christian Vandevelde (Liberty Seguros), Anthony
Charteau (Brioches La Boulangère). Then Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole), Laurent
Dufaux (Quick Step-Davitamon) at 0'20, then Scott Sunderland (Alessio-Bianchi)
at 1'00 and the peloton at 3'10.
14:18 CEST 90.5km/90km to go
The five leaders
now have 3'20 on the peloton as they near the summit of the second climb. The
remnants of the breakaway are chasing at various intervals, and the group with
O'Grady, Garcia Acosta and Aitor Gonzalez may be able to close the gap on the
descent.
14:23 CEST 91.5km/89km to go
Virenque attacks
for the mountain points at the top of the Limouches. It's a cat. 2 climb, so
there's 10 points for the winner.
In the main peloton (at 3'30),
yellow jersey Thomas Voeckler is near the back, suffering on this nearly 11
km climb.
14:27 CEST 97km/83.5km to go
Virenque took the
points on the climb ahead of Brochard, Santos Gonzalez, Rasmussen, Voigt and
Charteau. On the descent, there has been a small regrouping with O'Grady, Garcia
Acosta and Vandevelde joining the leaders. In fact, O'Grady is descending so
well that he is now 20 seconds ahead of the others.
14:32 CEST 102km/78.5km to go
At the moment we
have Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis) in the lead, being pursued by Thor Hushovd. The
second and final bonus sprint is at km 115, so O'Grady and Hushovd obviously
want it.
Behind them are Santos Gonzalez (Phonak), Michael Rasmussen
(Rabobank), Jens Voigt (Team CSC), Richard Virenque (Quick.Step), Laurent Brochard
(AG2R Prévoyance), José V. Garcia Acosta (Illes Balears) and Christian Vandevelde
(Liberty Seguros) at 24 seconds, with Aitor Gonzalez (Fassa Bortolo) and Anthony
Charteau (Brioches La Boulangère) at 0'45; Dmitri Fofonov (Cofidis) and Laurent
Dufaux (Quick Step-Davitamon) at 1'00 and the peloton led by USPS at 3'07.
McEwen is chasing on after being dropped by the peloton on the climb.
14:33 CEST
Fofonov and Dufaux have sat up and
will be caught by the peloton. Sunderland has also been caught (which obviously
means he's not in the leading break!).
14:38 CEST 109km/71.5km to go
O'Grady now has
35 seconds lead on Hushovd as they fly down the mountain. He should be able
to make it to the sprint at St Jean en Royans to pick up six valuable green
jersey points. But Hushovd will get four in any case.
The seven chasers
will probably catch them on the next climb, the Col de l'Echarasson, which begins
straight after the sprint. It's a Category 1 ascent, measuring 12 km at 7.4%.
14:42 CEST 114km/66.5km to go
Hushovd is 30 seconds
behind O'Grady, while the chase group at 0'50 has grown to nine (S. Gonzalez,
A. Gonzalez, Virenque, Rasmussen, Voigt, Brochard, Garcia Acosta, Vandevelde,
Charteau). Scott Sunderland is still out there at 2'50, while the peloton has
dropped back to 5'15.
14:47 CEST 116km/64.5km to go
O'Grady has taken
the points at St Jean en Royans, with Hushovd getting second and Brochard third.
O'Grady's now on the Cat. 1 climb. The nine leaders are at 54 seconds, with
Sunderland alone at 2'50 and the peloton at 5'50.
14:55 CEST 118km/62.5km to go
Robbie McEwen,
dropped earlier gets back on to the bunch at the foot of the descent.
O'Grady and Hushovd are continuing their efforts on what is the day's hardest
climb, but for both it is probably just a matter of getting to the finish from
here; they have picked up what they can for the day now. Hushovd is back up
to second in the green jersey classification, a point ahead of Zabel and 12
behind McEwen.
Back down the hill in the peloton It is still US
Postal setting a rhythm. An autobus group is now forming.
15:00 CEST
T-Mobile jerseys have now moved up
ahead of the US Postal train, Guerini leading with Klöden in third wheel and
Ullrich ahead of him. A very substantial selection is going on, with 5km still
for the bunch until the summit; riders are streaming off the back. Among them
is Thomas Voeckler; this could be the day he loses that yellow jersey.
15:04 CEST
Ullrich attacks alone and opens a
gap. The Posties are chasing.
15:07 CEST
Ullrich has Botero up the road, but
with a seven minute advantage, Lance Armstrong is not panicking; it is still
a steady team chase with Landis leading. Basso is with Armstrong.
The gap stabilises at 12 seconds, and Ullrich doesn't seem to be going anywhere
for the moment.
15:13 CEST 124km/56.5km to go
Ahead Rasmussen
and Virenque have gone clear of the leading group, which has swept up the two
sprinters and spat them out the back.
Landis and Azevedo are keeping
up the pace; they are the last domestiques for Armstrong; Ullrich has Botero
up the road, and Klöden with Armstrong, so the teams are notionally about even.
Basso, Sastre and Rasmussen are making up the numbers of what is now a very
select group.
15:14 CEST
Ullrich, racing vest open to the
waist now has 41 seconds on the Armstrong group and is going away.
15:20 CEST
Armstrong has picked up Sunday's
stage winner Aitor Gonzalez, who jumps to get onto his wheel - normally not
a wise move. Botero wasn't in that group - commentator error there.
Voeckler is leading one of many groups of stragglers, still looking like a real
tryer - the whole race is spread down the slopes of the Vercors plateau - there
isn't a bunch any more.
15:24 CEST 127km/53.5km to go
Virenque takes
the points as they crest the climb with Rasmussen; 35 seconds down Brochard
leads Voigt over. Ullrich is 1.56 down with Santos Gonzalez (Phonak) on his
wheel.
The Armstrong group has also picked up some of the earlier
leaders as they go over; I forgot to mention Leipheimer and Sabaliauskas who
are also with them.
15:29 CEST 130.5km/50km to go
The Armstrong group's
gap was 54 seconds on Ullrich. The yellow jersey comes over the top about three
minutes down, but Voeckler still has his white to start with.
Ullrich
and Gonzalez have picked up Christian Vandevelde as the finish the short descent
which his followed again by the 3rd-cat Col de Carri; ahead it looks as though
Voigt has been called back to assist Sastre and Basso; he's just pootling along
the road.
15:32 CEST
Voigt is caught by the Armstrong/Basso
group and goes straight to the front of them to set a rhythm; Basso is clearly
concerned by Ullrich even if Armstrong isn't.
1.09 between Ullrich
and Armstrong now.
15:40 CEST 137km/43.5km to go
Voigt's efforts
have brought back Ullrich's lead under a minute again as he pulls them over
the top of the col de Carri, where Virenque led Rasmussen over again 2.22 earlier.
15:42 CEST
Virenque and Rasmussen are still
ploughing along ahead. On the descent from the Col de Carri Ullrich nearly manages
one of his trademark off-road trips on a corner, but not quite. Gonzalez is
working with him too.
15:48 CEST
For the chasers Voigt and Landis
are dong bit and bit on the front, but their chase (Landis in particular) looks
measured rather than desperate. Ullrich and Gonzalez have caught Brochard, but
the gap behind them is closing again.
TV pictures have captured
something being passed between the US Postal and CSC team cars, intriguingly
enough.
Thomas Voeckler and several of his Brioches la Boulangère
team are now towing along what might reasonably be termed something like the
peloton, 20 or so riders.
15:54 CEST
Voigt and Landis are reeling the
Ullrich group (as well as the two leaders) back in now; Gonzalez is now pulling
on the front, but too little, too late.
"What happened in the Pyrenees
surprised me because I thought I was at my best level," Ullrich commented to
L'Equipe this morning. "But I just didn't have the legs to match my ambitions.
The Alps suit my potential better. I'm a fighter. I will keep trying to prove
that I was not wrong in my approach to the Tour."
16:03 CEST 155km/25.5km to go
The two leaders
set out up the second category Col de Chalimont, for which the bare figures
of 10.3 km at 5.8% disguise some substantially steeper bits early on. The Armstrong
group comes through 46 seconds behind, and some of the refugees from the earlier
break are in trouble very quickly, first Vandevelde and then both the Gonzalezes,
then Brochard. Floyd Landis again is setting the pace.
16:07 CEST
Virenque is leading out of the saddle,
with a seated Rasmussen firmly on his wheel.
Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner)
is coming back up to the Armstrong group from behind, so it's not all one-way
traffic. Landis leads Azevedo, with Armstrong, Basso and Ullrich next in line.
16:11 CEST 159.5km/21km to go
Voeckler is cooked,
and can no longer hold the group he was in. He is still well ahead of his nearest
rivals for the white jersey, however, so he should be safe there.
The US Postal train gets the two leaders in sight. Virenque and Rasmussen are
chatting.
Levi Leipheimer plays the old one-two and jumps up to the
pair, and they pull away, but Rasmussen can't hang on.
16:14 CEST 160.5km/20km to go
Brochard and then
Landis are dropped; Voigt isn't there any more either. Sastre takes up the chase.
Nice to have friends.
Leipheimer drops Virenque as they come up
to the 20 km to go banner, but his advantage is still just a few seconds.
16:16 CEST
Sastre is now leading Basso, with
Armstrong and Ullrich sharing his wheel; the group is down to eight now.
16:23 CEST 164km/16.5km to go
Leipheimer's efforts
go unrewarded and he is back in the group; two Postals (Armstrong and Azevedo),
two CSCs (Basso and Sastre), two T-Mobiles (Ullrich and Klöden) plus Virenque
and Leipheimer now make up the front group.
Klöden drops back to
the car, but it's too far on in the stage to take bottles.
At the
top of the climb p'tit Richard Virenque takes the points; his day is now done,
and he drops back to the back of the group for the descent to the village of
Villard de Lans and the final climb up to the ski station of Côte 2000.
16:29 CEST
The descent is wooded and narrow
but largely hairpin-free; Azevedo is leading the string.
The indefatigable
Jens Voigt brings Michael Rasmussen back up to the leaders on the descent, giving
CSC a small mathematical advantage for the final climb.
16:31 CEST 172km/8.5km to go
Sabaliauskas too
nearly gets back up on the last few metres of the descent, but it may be a few
metres too far as Voigt moves up to the front of the line.
16:37 CEST 176km/4.5km to go
Azevedo and Voigt
are keeping it lined out as they come into the village of Villard-de-Lans. Sabaliauskas
is still hanging a painful few yards off the back. Armstrong is doing the poker
face thing. Rasmussen is bringing up the rear.
16:40 CEST 178.5km/2km to go
The finish climb
is only a couple of kilometres of 5.7%, but every summit finish is a chance
for a time gap. Voigt is pulling the train to the foot of the climb now. Armstrong
seems a log way back as the climb starts and Voigt pulls off the front, but
Sastre blows immediately as well and Basso is now alone.
16:41 CEST
Azevedo is dropped as well, then
Rasmussen and Virenque.
16:42 CEST
That damage all happened as Klöden
takes the front with Ullrich and Basso on his wheel, then the black-socked (I
hate that. Don't you?) Armstrong, then Leipheimer. That's who it's between today...
16:45 CEST
Klöden is setting the pace still;
Leipheimer seems to be finding it difficult at 500 m to go.
Basso
jumps clear, but Armstrong doesn't think he deserves it and comes round him
into the final couple of corners - he has it for his second (or third) stage
win of this Tour.
16:56 CEST
And the rest of the race straggles
in one by one.
Finally outgoing Maillot Jaune Thomas Voeckler comes
around the corner to the finish 9.32 down, looking less than completely happy
about life; he has had a good run in yellow, but he will now be wearing the
white jersey which he has also been holding since the big break on the stage
to Chartres.
17:07 CEST
As the new leader Armstrong (about
to put on his 61st yellow jersey) will of course have the advantage of starting
last in tomorrow's time trial up the Alpe d'Huez. Riding fairly quietly, he
has successfully imposed his rhythm on a tricky stage in Vercors partisan country
(but finally breaking Voeckler's French resistance). Although Basso, Ullrich
and Klöden are certainly not yet beaten, it does seem that they will not be
able to put time into the American unless they catch him on a jour non;
if you're betting on it, make sure you get suitably long odds.
Thanks
for following the day's stage with us at Cyclingnews - we hope to have you back
for tomorrow's mountain time trial from around 1400 CEST tomorrow.
Provisional result
1 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal p/b Berry Floor 4.40.30
2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC
3 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 0.03
4 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile Team 0.06
5 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 0.13
6 Richard Virenque (Fra) Quick Step-Davitamon 0.48
7 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 0.49
8 Jose Azevedo (Por) US Postal p/b Berry Floor 0.53
9 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 1.04
10 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 1.24
General classification after stage 15
1 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal p/b Berry Floor 67.13.43
2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 1.25
3 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile Team 3.22
4 Francisco Mancebo Pérez (Spa) Illes Balears - Banesto 5.39
5 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 6.54
6 Jose Azevedo (Por) US Postal p/b Berry Floor 7.34
7 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 8.19
8 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 9.28
9 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 10.10
10 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 10.58
