2001 tour de france

2001 Tour de France

88th edition: july 7 - july 29, 2001, results, map, stages with running gc & elevation profiles.

2000 Tour | 2002 Tour | Tour de France database | Quick Facts | Final GC | Stages with running GC | Teams | Predictions

Prologue | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 | Stage 6 | Stage 7 | Stage 8 | Stage 9 | Stage 10 | Stage 11 | Rest Day 1 | Stage 12 | Stage 13 | Stage 14 | Rest Day 2 | Stage 15 | Stage 16 | Stage 17 | Stage 18 | Stage 19 | Stage 20

Map of the 2001 Tour de France

Les Woodland's book Cycling's 50 Triumphs and Tragedies: The Rise and Fall of Bicycle Racing's Champions is available as an audiobook here . For the print or Kindle eBook version, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Quick Facts:

The 2001 Tour had 20 stages covering 3,462 kilometers.

Average speed: 40.07 km/hr.

This was the third consecutive Tour win for Armstrong, this one more dominating than his previous two.

This was also Jan Ullrich's fourth second place after he again failed to come to the Tour in competitive condition.

Erik Zabel earned his sixth green jersey (a record).

The 2001 Tour had the same podium as 2000, only 1978 and 1979 had that same repeat.

Lance Armstrong was stripped of his Tour wins in 2012 when his doping was revealed.

Complete Final 2001 Tour de France General Classification:

• Jan Ullrich (Telekom) @ 6min 44sec
• Joseba Beloki (ONCE) @ 9min 5sec
• Andrei Kivilev (Cofidis) @ 9min 53sec
• Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE) @ 13min 28sec
• François Simon (Bonjour) @ 17min 22sec
• Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) @ 19min 30sec
• Santiago Botero (Kelme) @ 20min 55sec
• Marcos Serrano (ONCE) @ 21min 45sec
• Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) @ 22min 38sec
• Didier Rous (Bonjour) @ 24min 22sec
• Inigo Chaureau (Euskaltel) @ 28min 9sec
• Francisco Mancebo (ibanesto) @ 28min 33sec
• Stefano Garzelli (Mapei) @ 29min
• Roberto Heras (US Postal) @ 30min 44sec
• Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom) @ 33min 55sec
• Alexandre Botcharov (Ag2r) @ 41min 15sec
• Bobby Julich (Credit Agricole) 2 48min 4sec
• Laurent Jalabert (CSC) @ 50min 6sec
• Carlos Sastre (ONCE) @ 50min 20sec
• Thomas Brozyna (ibanesto) @ 53min 35sec
• Axel Merckx (Domo-Farm Frites) @ 55min 29sec
• Laurent Brochard (Jean Delatour) @ 56min 1sec
• Wladimir Belli (Fassa Bortolo) @ 57min 29sec
• José Enrique Gutierrez (Kelme) @ 59min 17sec
• Andreas Klöden (Telekom) @ 59min 53sec
• Mario Aerts (Lotto-Asecco) @ 1hr 0min 6sec
• Roberto Laiseka (Euskaltel) @ 1hr 2min 15sec
• Jörg Jaksche (ONCE) @ 1hr 6min 2sec
• Daniel Atienza (Cofidis) @ 1hr 7min 10sec
• Stéphane Goubert (Jean Delatour) @ 1hr 8min 40sec
• Luis Perez (Festina) @ 1hr 11min 7sec
• Michele Bartoli (Mapei) @ 1hr 13min 5sec
• David Etxebarria (Euskaltel) @ 1hr 15min 57sec
• Benoît Salmon (Ag2r) @ 1hr 17min 7sec
• Stive Vermaut (Lotto) @ 1hr 20min 13sec
• Felix Manuel Garcia (Festina) @ 1hr 20min 33sec
• José-Luis Rubiera (US Postal) @ 1hr 21min 48sec
• Giuseppe Guerini (Telekom) @ 1hr 22min 1sec
• Stéphane Heulot (Bit Mat-Auber 93) @ 1hr 22min 2sec
• Javier Pascual (ibanesto) @ 1hr 22min 37sec
• Walter Bénéteau (Bonjour) @ 1hr 24min 28sec
• Kevin Livingston (Telekom) @ 1hr 24min 31sec
• Leonardo Piepoli (ibanesto) @ 1hr 26min 21sec
• Guido Trentin (Cofidis) @ 1hr 29min 40sec
• Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole) @ 1hr 30min 2sec
• Denis Menchov (ibanesto) @ 1hr 31min 50sec
• David Moncoutié (Cofidis) @ 1hr 32min 9sec
• Nicki Sørensen (CSC) @ 1hr 33min 14sec
• Laurent Roux (Jean Delatour) @ 1hr 35min 26sec
• Udo Bölts (Telekom) @ 1hr 34min 10sec
• Marco Pinotti (Lampre) @ 1hr 34min 29sec
• Gilles Bouvard (Jean Delatour) @ 1hr 35min 35sec
• Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) @ 1hr 36min 20sec
• Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour) @ 1hr 38min 38sec
• Jean-Cyril Robin (Bonjour) @ 1hr 39min 33sec
• Daniele Nardello (Mapei) @ 1hr 41min 49sec
• Javier Pascual (Kelme) @ 1hr 44min 40sec
• Guennadi Mikhailov (lotto) @ 1hr 46min 23sec
• Matteo Tosatto (Fassa Bortolo) @ 1hr 50min 7sec
• Félix Rafael Cárdenas (Kelme) @ 1hr 55min 25sec
• Mikel Pradera (ONCE) @ 1hr 57min 9sec
• Iñigo Cuesta (Cofidis) @ 1hr 58min 31sec
• José Ivan Gutierrez (ONCE) @ 1hr 59min 12sec
• Sylvain Chavanel (Bonjour) @ 1hr 59min 40sec
• Daniel Schnider (FDJ) @ 2hr 0min 43sec
• Massimiliano Lelli (Cofidis) @ 2hr 1min 26sec
• Piotr Wadecki (Domo-Farm Frites) @ 2hr 2min 3sec
• Jon Odriozola (ibanesto) @ 2hr 5min 23sec
• Paolo Bettini (Mapei) @ 2hr 5min 38sec
• George Hincapie (US Postal) @ 2hr 5min 46sec
• Geert Verheyen (Rabobank) @ 2hr 5min 53sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel) @ 2hr 6min 17sec
• Franck Bouyer (Bonjour) @ 2hr 7min 1sec
• Maarten Den Bakker (Rabobank) @ 2hr 7min 42sec
• Antonio Tauler (Kelme) @ 2hr 8min 11sec
• Alberto Lopez (Euskaltel) @ 2hr 8min 19sec
• Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r) @ 2hr 9min 21sec
• Victor Hugo Peña (US Postal) @ 2hr 10min 5sec
• Sven Teutenberg (Festina) @ 2hr 11min 22sec
• Fabio Baldato (Fassa Bortolo) @ 2hr 11min 50sec
• Viatcheslav Ekimov (US Postal) @ 2hr 17min 4sec
• Bradley McGee (FDJ) @ 2hr 17min 54sec
• Michael Blaudzun (CSC) @ 2hr 22min 28sec
• Serge Baguet (Lotto) @ 2hr 22min 50sec
• José Angel Vidal (Kelme) @ 2hr 23min 9sec
• Pascal Lino (Festina) @ 2hr 24min 9sec
• Unai Ttxebarria (Euskaltel) @ 2hr 26min 4sec
• Nicolas Vogondy (FDJ) @ 2hr 27min 37sec
• Servais Knaven (Domo-Farm Frites) @ 2hr 27min 51sec
• Erik Dekker (Rabobank) @ 2hr 29min 16sec
• Paul Van Hyfte (Lotto) @ 2hr 29min 57sec
• Marc Lotz (Rabobank) @ 2hr 31min 2sec
• Tyler Hamilton (US Postal) @ 2hr 31min 35sec
• Eddy Seigneur (Jean Delatour) @ 2hr 34min 19sec
• Erik Zabel (Telekom) @ 2hr 34min 28sec
• Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) @ 2hr 35min 8sec
• Nico Mattan (Cofidis) @ 2hr 35min 39sec
• Nicola Loda (Fassa Bortolo) @ 2hr 35min 51sec
• Florent Brard (Festina) @ 2hr 37min 5sec
• Steffen Kjærgaard (US Postal) @ 2hr 37min 24sec
• Chirstophe Mengin (FDJ) @ 2hr 40min 28sec
• Angel Castresana (Euskaltel) @ 2hr 42min 41sec
• Alexei Sivakov (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 2hr 43min 2sec
• Eladio Jiménez (ibanesto) @ 2hr 43min 8sec
• Jérôme Bernard (Jean Delatour) @ 2hr 44min 9sec
• Anthony Morin (Credit Agricole) @ 2hr 46min 48sec
• Sebastien Demarbaix (Ag2r) @ 2hr 47min 19sec
• Damien Nazon (Bonjour) @ 2hr 48min 10sec
• Ravis Belohvoščiks (Lampre) @ 2hr 48min 14sec 
• Christophe Oriol (Jean Delatour) @ 2hr 49min 0sec
• Rik Verbrugghe (Lotto) @ 2hr 49min 17sec
• Emmanuel Magnien (FDJ) @ 2hr 50min 7sec
• Pascal Chanteur (Festina) @ 2hr 50min 26sec
• Nicolas Jalabert (CSC) @ 2hr 50min 31sec
• Franck Renier (Bonjour) @ 2hr 56min 0sec
• Jakob Piil (CSC) @ 2hr 58min 6sec
• Francisco Javier Cerezo (CSC) @ 2hr 59min 57sec
• Frédérick Bessy (Credit Agricole) @ 3hr 1min 2sec
• Christophe Agnolutto (Ag2r) @ 3hr 1min 24sec
• Gilles Maignan (Ag2r) @ 3hr 1min 27sec
• Marcelino García (CSC) @ 3hr 5min 5sec
• Christophe Capelle (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 3hr 5min 12sec
• Frédérick Guesdon (FDJ) @ 3hr 7min 12sec
• Marco Serpellini (Lampre) @ 3hr 7min 47sec
• Sébastien Talabardon (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 3hr 9min 2sec
• Jacky Durand (FDJ) @ 3hr 9min 58sec
• Matteo Frutti (Lampre) @ 3hr 13min 1sec
• Ján Svorada (Lampre) @ 3hr 17min 38sec
• Johan Verstrepen (Lampre) @ 3hr 21min 26sec
• Thierry Gouvenou (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 3hr 24min 23sec
• Romans Vainsteins (Domo-Fram Frites) @ 3hr 24min 56sec
• Ludovic Auger (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 3hr 26min 2sec
• Max Van Heeswijk (Domo-Farm Frites) @ 2hr 27min 22sec
• Stéphane Bergès (Ag2r) @ 3hr 29min 53sec
• Guillaume Auger (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 3hr 30min 44sec
• Sébastien Hinault (Credit Agricole) @ 3hr 33min 21sec
• Olivier Perraudeau (Bonjour) @ 3hr 38min 0sec
• Christopher Jenner (Credit Agricole) @ 3hr 38min 21sec
• Rubens Bertogliati (Lampre) @ 3hr 39min 5sec
• Rolf Sørensen (CSC) @ 3hr 40min 36sec
• Davide Bramati (Mapei) @ 3hr 41min 14sec
• Enrico Cassani (Domo-Farm Frites) @ 3hr 42min 46sec
• Jimmy Casper (FDJ) @ 3hr 52min 17sec

Climbers' Competition:

• Jan Ullrich (Telekom): 211
• Laurent Roux (Jean Delatour): 200
• Lance Armstrong (US Postal): 195
• Stefano Garzelli (Mapei): 164
• Robert Laiseka (Euskaltel): 147
• Joseba Beloki (ONCE): 145
• Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom): 134
• Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour): 123
• Oscar Sevilla (Kelme): 120

Points Competition:

• Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole): 244
• Damien Nazon (Bonjour): 169
• Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo): 148
• Sven Teutenberg (Festina): 141
• Lance Armstrong (US postal): 134
• Jan Ullrich (Telekom): 127
• Ján Svorada (Lampre): 124
• Christophe Capelle (Big Mat-Auber 93): 114
• François Simon (Bonjour): 108

Young Rider:

• Francisco Mancebo (ibanesto) @ 10min 3sec
• Jörg Jaksche (ONCE) @ 47min 32sec
• Denis Menchov (ibanesto) @ 1hr 13min 20sec
• Marco Pinotti (Lampre) @ 1hr 15min 59sec

Team Classification:

• Kelme: 259hr 14min 44sec
• ONCE @ 4min 59sec
• Telekom @ 41min 6sec
• Bonjour @ 41min 49sec
• Rabobank @ 51min 53sec
• US Postal @ 54min 51sec
• Cofidis @ 1hr 20min 41sec
• ibanesto @ 1hr 22min 24sec
• Festina @ 1hr 45min 33sec
• Jean Delatour @ 1hr 49min 18sec

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Stage results with running GC:

July 7 Saturday: Prologue . Dunkirk individual time trial, 8.2 km.

Flat stage. At 3:00 PM local time it is presently cloudy with a slight breeze from the northwest. Weather predicted for Dunkirk is showers and a high of 70F (21C) and the wind from the west at 14 mph (about 21 kph). First rider is off 4:00 PM local time. Last rider should finish at 7:30 PM. The wind is supposed to grow stronger in the evening. At the presentation yesterday, Echelon-velo reports that the US Postal team (with bodyguard for Lance) were booed as well as cheered by many members of the crowd, probably for Cedric Vasseur's exclusion from the Postal Tour team.

The rain held off, with only a few drops falling during Armstrong's ride, and the wind died down to allow the favorites to have a clean ride. The French should be happy. They gained the Yellow Jersey (Moreau) and the White Jersey for the best young rider (Florent Brard).

July 8, Sunday: Stage 1 , St. Omer - Boulogne sur Mer, 194.5 km. This stage is nearly flat with two category 4 climbs near the end. It starts at 12:40 at S. Omer, about 35 kilometers south of Dunkirk (on the North Sea coast). The finishing city, Boulogne-sur-Mer is only about 50 kilometers to the west of St. Omer. But, the route heads in a big loop south and east to the North Sea Coast, then north up the coastal road until just before Boulogne-sur-Mer. Then, they circle around the city to enter it from the north. In this little extra loop they climb the Cote des Desvres (1 km at 5.4%) at kilometer 155 and the Cote du Cap Gris Nez (1.7 km at 5.6%) at kilometer 176 just on the coast, then on into town for the sprint. The two little climbs will give us our first climber's jersey. At 43 kph, they should finsh at 5:30 PM local time (8:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time).

Côte de Devres (Category 4) Côte du Cap Gris-Nez (Category 4)

• Erik Zabel (Telekom) 4hr 55min 15sec 39.53 km/hr
• Romans Vainsteins (Domo) s.t.
• Jimmy Casper (FDJ) s.t.
• Thor Hushvovd (Credit Agricole) s.t.
• Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2R) s.t.
• Damien Nazon (Bonjour) s.t.
• Steven De Jongh (Rabobank) s.t.
• Christophe Capelle (Big Mat-auber 93) s.t.
• Sven Teutenberg (Festina) s.t.
• Robert Hunter (Lampre) s.t.

GC after stage 1:

• Christophe Moreau (Festina) 5hr 4min 35sec
• Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (ONCE) @ 3sec
• Lance Armstrong (US Postal) @ 4sec
• Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2R) @ 7sec
• Jan Ullrich (Telekom) s.t.
• Florent Brard (Festina) s.t.
• Santiago Botero (Kelme) @ 10sec
• Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) @ 11sec
• Jacky Durand (FDJ) @ 13sec
• Joseba Beloki (ONCE) s.t.

Green Jersey (points): Erik Zabel (Telekom) Polka Dot Jersey (Climber): Jacky Durand (FDJ) White Jersey (Young Rider) Florent Brard (Festrina) Combativity leader: Jacky Durand (FDJ) Leading Team: Festina

July 9, Monday: Stage 2 , Calais - Antwerp, 218.5 km.

A pan flat stage with no rated climbs. They'll start on the coastal city of Calais and head east to Dunkirk, then a little dog-leg south for a few kilometers and then east into Belgium. The route takes the racers between Brugge and Gent on their way to Antwerp You may see references, especially in the official Tour literature, to Anvers, the French name for Antwerp. Antwerp is mostly Flemish speaking and they call their city Antwerpen. The weather forecast is rain from Calais to Antwerp with a high of 66F (19C). I'm sure Tom Steels would like to have a home-country field-sprint win. We'll see what Zabel, Caspers and the rest of the speedsters have to say about it.

16 riders got away. Kirsipuu (17th) lead in the bunch as they rolled in 22 seconds later.

• Marc Wauters (Rabobank) 4hr 35min 47sec
• Arnaud Pretot (Festina) s.t.
• Servais Knaven (Domo) s.t.
• Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) s.t.
• Davide Bramante (Mapei) s.t.
• Rik Verbrugghe (Lotto) s.t.
• Ivan Basso (Fassa Bortolo) s.t.
• Marco Milesi (Domo-Farm Frites) s.t.
• Erik Dekker (Rabobank) s.t.
• Daniele Nardello (Mapei) @ 22sec. Yesterday, after his crash his start today was in doubt. He finished in the main field with Ullrich, Armstrong, etc.

GC after Stage 2:

Yellow Jersey (GC leader): Marc Wauters (Rabobank) Green Jersey (Points): Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2R) Polka Dot Jersey (Climber): Jacky Durand (FDJ) White Jersey (Young rider) Robert Hunter (Lampre) Combativity Prize: Jacky Durand (FDJ) Leading Team: Credit Agricole 29hr 2min 3sec

July 10, Tuesday: Stage 3 , Antwerp - Seraing, 198.5 km.

This stage is entirely in the borders of Belgium. It starts flat enough, but there are 3 category-three rated climbs in the last 40 kilometers with an uphill finishing run into Seraing, a city sitting just southwest of Liege. Weather forecast for Tueday at Liege; Cloudy and 70F (21C).

Km 164.5: Cote de Mont Theux (330m) 2.6 km at 5.9% (Cat 3) Km 174: Cote des Forges (301m) 1.9 km at 6.4% (Cat 3) Km 186: Cote de Sart-Tilman-Tilff, 3.6 km at 5.2% (Cat 3)

• Erik Zabel (Telekom) 4hr 35min 17sec. 43.22 km/hr
• Emmanuel Mangien (FDJ) s.t.
• Stefano Garzelli (Mapei) s.t.
• Fabio Baldato (Fassa Bortolo) s.t.
• François Simon (Bonjour) s.t.
• Guennadi Mikhailov (Lotto) s.t.
• Christophe Capelle (Big Mat-Auber 93) s.t.
• Franck Bouyer (Bonjour) s.t.
• Serge Baguet (Lotto) s.t.
• Lance Armstrong (US Postal) s.t.
• Christophe Moreau (Festina) s.t.
• José Enrique Gutierrez (Kelme) s.t.
• Joseb Beloki (ONCE) s.t.
• Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) s.t.

GC after Stage 3:

• Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) 14hr 14min 52sec
• Christophe Moreau (Festina) @ 17sec
• Rik Verbrugghe (Lotto) @ 18 sec.
• Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole) @ 20sec
• Igor Gonzales Galdeano (ONCE) @ 20sec
• Bobby Julich (Credit Agricole) @ 21sec
• Lance Armstrong (US Postal) @ 21sec
• Erik Zabel (Telekom) @ 23sec
• Jan Ullrich (Telekom) @ 24sec
• Francesco Casagrande (Fassa Bortolo) @ 5min 56sec
• Marc Wauters (Rabobank) @ 6min 26sec

Yellow Jersey: Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) Green Jersey (points): Erik Zabel (Telekom) Leading Team: Credit Agricole Combativity Prize: Jacky Durand (FDJ) White Jersey (young rider) Florent Brard (Festina)

July 11, Wednesday: Stage 4 , Huy - Verdun, 215 km.

Huy is still in Belgium, about midway between Liege and Namur, on the Meuse River. This stage is an almost straight south shot down to Verdun. The first 75 kilometers contain 4 categorized climbs as the pack rolls through the Ardennes as they did late in yesterday's stage.

After these climbs, the terrain remains rolling to the end as they head due south, entering France and followng the Loison River. Just before they reach Verdun, they rejoin the Meuse River and roll into Verdun. With the team time-trial on Thursday, I would expect the teams with GC pretensions to try to ride as conservatively as possible. But, Kelme, Bonjour, and other scrappy teams will be using this hard ride to get away. I expect an extremely aggressive day with the major teams trying to contain any possible damage with the absolute minimum of energy expenditure. Credit Agricole excepted, as they will surely work to defend O'Grady's Yellow Jersey.

1. Km 42, Cote de Celles (277m), Cat 4, 1.4 km at 6.6% 2. Km. 46, Cote de la Marquisette, Cat 4, 1.5 km at 6% 3. Km. 59, Cote de Ave-et-Auffe, Cat 4, 1.4 km at 5.6% 4. Km 72, Cote de Redu, Cat 3, 4.1 km at 5.1%

• Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali) 5hr 17min 49sec. 40.6 km/hr
• Ludo Dierckxsens (Lampre) s.t.
• Damien Nazon (Bonjour) @ 7sec
• Fred Rodriguez (Domo-Farm Frites) @ 7sec
• Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) @ 7sec
• Paul Van Hyfte (Lotto) s.t.
• Sébastien Talabardon (Big Mat-Auber 93) s.t.

GC After Stage 4:

• Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) 19hr 32min 49sec
• Laurent Jalabert (CSC) @ 18sec
• Christophe Moreau (Festina) @ 23sec
• Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole) @ 26sec
• Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (ONCE) @ 26sec
• Bobby Julich (Credit Agricole) @ 27sec
• Lance Armstrong (US Postal) @ 27sec
• Jan Ullrich (Telekom) @ 30sec
• Santiago Botero (Kelme) @ 33sec
• Joseba Beloki (ONCE) @ 36sec

Yellow Jersey: Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) Green Jersey (Points): Erik Zabel (Telekom) Polka Dot Jersey (Climber): Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour) White Jersey (Young Rider) Florent Brard (Festina) Combativity: Jacky Durand (FDJ) Leading Team: Credit Agricole

Stage 4 as it happened:

Km 133, 3:30 PM. local time, Stage 4. After being away for 81 km, the 9-man break is caught. ONCE joined the Postal squad to bring the escapees back.

Km 90, 2:30 PM, local time, Stage 4. 9 riders are away with a 10min 10sec gap on the peloton and working well together: Bolts, Perez, Boogerd, Julich, Agnolutto, Halgand, Vidal, Mengin, and Lamouller. Julich is the virtual leader on the road and Patrice Halgand has wrapped up enough of the climbing points available today to wear the Polka Dot Jersey in Stage 5 tomorrow. Posties are chasing. They have to. Telekom, Kelme, Ag2R, C.A, and Rabo have riders in the break and Postal doesn't feel like spotting Bobby Julich 10 minutes.

July 12, Thursday: Stage 5 , Verdun - Bar le Duc, 67 km team time trial.

This is an almost straight south trip down to Bar-le-duc. The course is gently undulating with a nasty surprise at the end, 2 kilometers of 3.9%. Did the Posties use up too much energy chasing down the Julich-Boogerd break on Wednesday's stage 4? Armstrong said that the team was tired after the chase. I expect ONCE (winner of last year's TTT), Telekom, Postal (who came apart somewhat last year with uncoordinated hard pulls, wasting time and energy) and Credit Agricole (who are good at TTT and want to keep O'Grady in Yellow) to be the top placers. First team is off at 2:05 PM local time. The teams will go every 5 minutes. The last team should finish a little after 5:00 PM (8:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time). The Tour organizer's schedule assumes a 52 kph average.

The Race: Vandevelde and Heras of Postal crashed, the team waited and continued complete. Armstrong took long, monster pulls during the TTT. Zabel of Telekom flatted with a few kilometers to go and was left by the team. Julich of C.A. flatted and rejoined the team.

GC after Stage 5:

Yellow Jersey: Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) Green Jersey (Points): Erik Zabel (Telekom) Polka Dot Jersey (Climber) Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour) White Jersey (Young Rider) Jorg Jaksche (ONCE)

The Wise Pro Writes. With stage 5's TTT on his mind, Celestino Vercelli, owner of Vittoria Shoes sent me an e-mail about time-trialing. He was a finisher of many Giros and Tours as a pro for Brooklyn and SCIC. I thought you would enjoy it.

"Personally, I loved the chrono. I had the right concentration for this type of race. When I was an amateur, I won a lot of time-trials (actually, in all modesty, I almost always won them). In my career as a professional, my best result was a 3rd place in the 1964 Giro, finishing just behind Adorni and Bitossi, the champions of the 70's. In this type of race it is very important to be predisposed towards it, just like climbing or sprinting. It is the race of truth. It's a combination of power/strenth, the ability to concentrate upon the measurement of one's energy, and a capacity to suffer. The time trials are the barometer of the racer's physical form. The moment before starting is the most delicate. The concentration and stress are at the maximum point; the start is a liberation, but the beginning of the suffering. You give all of yourself for a few kilometers. Then, the clock's answer...joy or disappointment. Regarding the team-time-trial, the most important point is to get on well together. The best racer, who drives the team, has to measure the strength of the others, in order to give the maximum, but to avoid arriving alone. "Saluti e complimenti vivissimi,

Celestino"

July 13, Friday: Stage 6 , Commercy - Strasbourg, 211.5 km.

Commercy, on the Meuse River, is almost due south of Verdun and east of Bar-le-Duc, where the Tour finished yesterday. The route heads south and almost immediately hits the first of the day's 3 rated climbs, At Vaucoulers (km 16.5), they depart from the major road. From then on, until just before the outskirts of Strasbourg, they will be riding on very small secondary roads. They head east, out of the Meuse Valley and into the Vosges, the hills of northeastern France that parallel the Rhine. Just before reaching the official Vosges region boundry, they climb the second rated hill, Then, a few kilometers later, at km 153, the first real test of the climbers, the 2nd category Col du Donon. You don't think the Kelme guys haven't been licking their chops over this for days? The pack descends down the eastern face of the Vosges for about 60 kilometers to the finish at Strasbourg, which sits on the western shore of the Rhine.

Will the pack come back together for a sprint finish after the big climb? My guess is that with the frenzied aggression of this Tour, it's going to break up early and get shattered on the Donon. And this is just a transition stage for the hard stuff to come. Any race course is hard if you race it hard.

Côte de Void-Vacon (330m), 1.3 km @ 6.7%. (Category 4) Côte de Chapelotte (431m) at km 135, 4.6 km @ 2.3 %. (Category 4) Col du Donon (727m), 4 km at 7.9%. (Category 2)

• Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2r) 4hr 50min 39sec
• Jan Svorada (Lampre) s.t.
• Erik Zabel (Telekom) s.t.
• Nico Mattan (Cofidis) s.t.
• Christophe Capelle (Bigmat Auber 93) s.t.
• Alexei Sivikov (Bigmat Auber 93) s.t.
• Romans Vainsteins (Domo-Fram-Frites) s.t.

GC after Stage 6:

• Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) 25hr 45min 0sec
• Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE) @ 57sec
• Joseba Beloki (ONCE) @ 1min 7sec
• Carlos Sastre (ONCE) @ 1min 8sec
• Jörg Jaksche (ONCE) @ 1min 12sec
• Christophe Moreau (Festina) @ 1min 17sec
• Ivan Gutierrez (ONCE) @ 1min 20sec
• Marco Serrano (ONCE) @ 1min 23sec

July 14, Saturday: Stage 7, Strasbourg - Colmar, 162.5 km.

This is another day in the Vosges mountains that parallel the Rhine. These aren't the high Alps or Pyrenees, but with 5 rated climbs, two of them Category 2, this stage will be hard. They start by leaving Strasbourg on the route they came in at the end of Stage 6, heading east now, away from the Rhine. At kilometer 15, they turn south. They wander among little roads in the Vosges, roughly paralleling the Rhine as they head south, encountering several mid-category climbs.

After the last climb, its a quick drop into Colmar, sitting just a few kilometers west of the Rhine.

GC after Stage 7:

Yellow gersey: Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole) Green Jersey (Points): Erik Zabel (Telekom) 93 pints, 2nd Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) 90 points. Polka Dot (Climber): Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour) 60 points, 2nd Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali) 60 points White (Young Rider): Jorg Jaksche (ONCE) Combativity: Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali) Leading Team: Credit Agricole, 2nd ONCE @ 6min 29sec

July 15, Sunday: Stage 8, Colmar - Pontarlier, 222.5 km.

This long stage could have been so much harder. There are plenty of perils on the way from Colmar, situated on the Rhine, to Pontarlier, just west of The Swiss border, just opposite Lake Neuchatel. The race, officially starting at 11:47 AM local time, heads east and south to follow the Rhine, until kilometer 49, when it turns southeast, doing a big loop around and avoiding Mulhouse. This route avoids the Vosges Mountains that they have been racing in for the last two days. From km 118 (Audincourt), they follow the Doubs river until the Côte de Saint Hippolyte. It's a little rolling from there, but the hard work is done, as they rejoin the Daubs River in the Saug Valley on their way into Pontarlier.

Km 111: Beucourt, 1.3 km at 6.5% (Category 4) Km: 165: Côte de Saint Hippolyte, 8 km @ 5.1% (Category 3).

GC after Stage 8:

Yellow Jersey: Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) Green Jersey (Points): 1st Stuart O'Grady (Credit aGricole) 116 points, 2nd Erik Zabel Telekom) 103 points. Zabel will wear the Green Jersey because O'Grady also has the Yellow Jersey. Polka Dot Jersey (Climber): Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour) 60 points. 2nd Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali) 50 points. White Jersey (Young Rider): Jorg Jaksche (ONCE) Combativity: Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali) Leading Team: Rabobank 105hr 12min 16sec. 2nd Festina @ 23min 55sec

July 16, Monday: Stage 9, Pontarlier - Aix les Bains, 185 km.

The route heads almost due south for the Tour's appointment with destiny on Tuesday. The roads are small as they wind their way through the Jura. They almost parallel the Swiss border as they did Sunday. They go sort of wide and to the west a bit around Geneva, then they resume their near dead-south direction to Aix-les-Bains. There are three rated climbs. I think the sawtooth profile of the route and little roads where a break can get out of sight of the pack will be conducive to more break attempts.

Km 68.0 - Col des Les Rousses: 7.0 km climb at 5.2 % - 3rd Cat. Km 131.5 - Côte de Pralon : 4.4 km climb at 3.7 % - 4th Cat. Km 145.0 - Côte de Bossy : 3.4 km climb at 7.6 % - 3rd Cat.

• Sergeui Ivanov (Fassa Bortolo) 3hr 57min 48sec. 46.68 km/hr
• David Etxebarria (Euskaltel) @ 16sec
• Bradley McGee (FDJ) @ 17sec
• Erik Zabel (Telekom) @ 24sec
• Damien Nazon (Bonjour) @ 24sec
• Paolo Bettini (Mapei) s.t.
• Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) s.t.

Yellow Jersey: Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) Polka Dot (climber): Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour) Green Jersey (points) Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole). Erik Zabel, 2nd place will wear the Green because O'Grady has the Yellow. White Jersey (young rider) Jorg Jaksche (ONCE) Combativity: Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali) Leading Team: Rabobank

July 17, Tuesday: Stage 10, Aix-les-Bains - L'Alpe d'Huez , 209 km.

There has been enough arm-chair directing. It's time to end all those guesses about form and strategy. Today's stage includes three "Above Categorization" (labeled "HC" in all the literature) climbs: the Madeleine, the Glandon as well as a hill-top finsh at L'Alpe d'Huez.

The stage starts where it ended on Monday, at Aix-les-Bains and does a series of big, looping S's. They start heading north then head south through the Massif des Bauges with only the Cat 3 Col du Frene to show for it. They then join the main road heading northeast to Albertville then they head south. Then, around kilometer 90, they leave the roads that circle the Massif de la Vannoise (the mountain group with the Madeleine among others), and head south-southwest across the Massif Vannoise for the Madeleine at kilometer 114. A fast, winding, descent, still heading south-soutwest and they climb the Glandon. Owen Mulholland says the approach of the Glandon from the north is the most difficult of all the French Alpine climbs. They then head in a less direct, but southerly direction for Bourg-D'Oisans. Then the final challenge, they head northeast for the 21 switchbacks of L'Alpe D'Huez. Scheduled start is at 10:40 AM, local time (1:40 AM Pacific Daylight). If they average 32 kph, they finish a little after 5:00 PM, local time (8:00 AM Pacific).

O'Grady came off the pack on the final 3rd Category climb on Monday's stage. I don't think you'll see him in yellow Tuesday afternnon. But Kivelev (Cofidis): is his 13 min+ lead enough? This will be a fantastic stage.

Results: What a ride! Armstrong crushes the field with a bravura display of tactics and power.

GC after Stage 9:

Yellow Jersey: Francois Simon (Bonjour) Green Jersey (Points): Stuart O'Grady, 136, 2nd Erik Zabel 127 points. Polka Dot (Climber): Laurent Roux (Jean Delatour) White (Young Rider): Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) Leading Team: Rabobank 136hr 48min 8sec, 2nd Kelme @ 37min 30sec Combativity: Laurent Roux (Jean Delatour)

July 18, Wednesday: Stage 11 , Grenoble - Chamrousse, 32 km individual time trial.

It starts at 209m elevation at Grenoble and finishes at 1730m at Chamrousse. The climb, Above Category (HC) is the last 18.7 km at 7.2%. The transfer to Grenoble from the end of Stage 10 is just a short leg to the west. Leaving Grenoble every two minutes, they will ride southeast, heading towards, of all places, L'Ape d'Huez. The road doesn't go there, but the end at Chamrousse is less than 20 kilometers from Tuesday's finish, as the crow flies. The climbing starts at Uriage-les-Bains (kilometer 13.5). From then on the HC climb is on a road that looks like a piece of twisting intestine. Armstrong proved that he can win on a stage like this (uphill individual time trial) in this year's Tour of Switzerland.

• Lance Armstrong (US Postal) 1hr 7min 27sec
• Jan Ullrich (Telekom) @ 1min 0sec
• Joseba Beloki (ONCE) @ 1min 35sec
• Roberto Laiseka (Euskaltel) @ 2min 3sec
• Oscar Sevilla (Kelma) @ 2min 24sec
• Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE) @ 2min 31sec
• Santiago Botero (Kelme) @ 2min 43sec
• Christophe Moreau (Festina) @ 3min
• Sven Montgomery (FDJ) @ 3min 7sec
• Stefano Garzelli (Mapei) @ 3min 8sec

GC after Stage 11:

• François Simon (Bonjour) 46hr 48min 36sec
• Andrei Kivilev (Cofidis) @ 11min 1sec
• Lance Armstrong (US Postal) @ 13min 7sec
• Joseba Beloki (ONCE) @ 16min 17sec
• Jan Ullrich (Telekom) @ 16min 41sec
• Christophe Moreau (Festina) @ 18min 21sec
• Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE) @ 19min 5sec
• Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) @ 19min 31sec
• Santiago Botero (Kelme) @ 21min 35sec
• Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) @ 21min 48sec

July 19, Thursday: Rest day, transfer. They call it a rest day, but involves a flight to Perpignan for the Pyrenean stages.

July 20, Friday: Stage 12, Perpignan - Aix les Thermes, 166.5 km. Hill-top finish.

Perpignan is just off the Mediterranean coast just north of the Spanish border. The route heads almost due east, climbing slightly, going from just above sea level to 325 meters at Prades (km 40) where they turn off the main road and head northeast into the mountains, called the "Pyrenees Orientales". From where the race turns north form Prades, the route is the shape of a giant downward-facing sickle with the road from Prades to the Col de Jau forming the handle The race has 5 rated climbs.

The finishing town is about 30 kilometers north of the tiny country of Andorra. This is the first of 3 days of racing in the Pyrenees, with the next two more challenging. We will be on the home turf of the Spanish riders who will have an extra motivation to ride well with what will surely be giant crowds of thier countrymen lining the roads. Armstrong must continue to ride strongly to whittle away at the leads of Kivilev and Simon. Ullrich must attempt to take time from Armstrong. The racing should be aggressive. After these three days in the mountains, there is just the 18th stage with its 60 km time trial as the last likely chance to make a major change in the standings.

GC after Stage 12:

Yellow Jersey: François Simon (Bonjour) Green Jersey: Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) Polka Dot: Laurent Roux (Jean Delatour) White (Young Rider): Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) Combativity: Laurent Roux (Jean Delatour) Leading Team: Rabobank

July 21, Saturday: Stage 13 , Foix - St. Lary Soulan, 194 km. Hill-top finish. This stage has one cat 2, four cat 1 climbs and an HC hill-top finish.

The start at Foix (10:22 AM local time) is just a short transfer north from Stage 12's finish at Aix-les-Thermes. They head dead west for about 95 kilometers with the only real wiggle being the first climb at km 71. They head south at Boutx (km 95) and follow the Garonne river. Following the Garonne, they enter Spain (km 110). They jump off the Garrone and head east again and immediately encounter the switchbacks of the Portillon (Km 126). From then on, they cover little, tiny roads, heading steadily eastward, paralleling the Spanish border (about 10 kilometers) for the final three climbs. They should finsh about 4:15 PM local time (7:15 AM Pacific).

This is a much tougher stage than yesterday. I've been hoping for the best for François Simon as even his own team leaves him alone on the climbs to find his own way. I think I can hear the cellos playing minor chords as the relentless Armstong-Ullrich train keeps eating his once large lead. It will be astounding if he can keep the yellow after this stage.

GC after stage 13:

Yellow: Lance Armstrong (US Postal) Polka Dot:Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Green: Stuart O'Grady (Credit agricole) White (youth) Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) Combativity: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Leading Team: Kelme

July 22, Sunday: Stage 14 , Tarbes - Luz Ardiden, 141.5 km. Hill top finish.

Things shift a little bit to the west for the start, which should be at 12:56 PM, local time. There are two roads that head south out of Tarbes. The westerly one goes to Lourdes and Hautacam. The easterly one is the one for this stage. The southern road rolls tolerably until Bagneres (km 17). They head east and then start twisting on mountain roads with increasingly difficult climbs the whole day. The first one is the cat 4 climb at km 21. From then on, the hits keep coming.

From Bagneres, they do a big clockwise loop that takes in even the Col d'Aspin. From there, they again, like yesterday, parallel the Spanish border, heading west as they take in some of the most famous climbs in the Tour, the Tourmelet and Luz-Ardiden.

Ullrich has said he isn't giving up. Beloki wants a piece of the podium. More fireworks coming.

GC After Stage 14:

Yellow: Lance Armstrong (US Postal) Green: Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) Polka Dot: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) White: Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) Combativity: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Leading team: Kelme

July 23, Monday: Rest Day.

Paolo Guerciotti (former Champion of Italy) was talking to some of his friends in the last couple of days about the Tour. He asked them their thoughts about the final GC podium in Paris, since the fight for 3rd place is so interesting, and why Armstong is so strong.

Felice Gimondi (Tour winner and World Road Champion): Armstong, Ullrich, and Beloki. Armstrong is not a rider. He is a man from a different planet.

Gianni Bugno (Giro winner and former World Road Champion): Armstrong, Ullrich, and Simon. After what he has physically suffered, Armstrong is surely used to these endeavors.

Franco Bitossi (One of the great, dominant riders of the 70s): Armstrong, Ullrich, Beloki. There is no explanation, but he deserves all the success he is having.

July 24, Tuesday: Stage 15, Pau - Lavaur, 232.5 km.

The start city of Pau is only about 35 kilometers to the west of Sunday's start city of Tarbes. They head almost due west for the first 180 kilometers of this long stage with a jagged sawtooth profile. There are several small rated climbs in the first 75 kilometers.

They pass to the south of the city of Toulouse, then hook around to the east of it, ending up just northeast of Toulouse at Lavaur. As they head east, near Toulouse, the route they took west on Saturday out of Foix is only about 50 kilometers to the south. It's only two stages ago, but it seems almost like forever, so much has happened.

The contest for the green Jersey between Zabel (127 points) and O'Grady (140 points) for the intermediate and final sprint should be interesting. They should be scrambling for every point. And what about that 3rd place on the podium? Does Beloki feel like leaving it to the time trial to put away Kivilev? And all those teams with no stage wins. They are going to run out of Tour rather soon. They will want something to show for their visit. The big guys may have settled things a bit, but there are lots of sub-plots awaiting further development.

Km 22.0: Côte de la Tricherie, 1.5 km climb at 7.2%, 3rd Category. Km 27.0: Côte de Lamayou, 0.9 km climb at 8.7%, 4th Category. Km 50.5: Côte du Puntous (LAGUIAN-MAZOUS), 1.2 km climb at 6.8%, 4th Category. Km 71.5: Côte de Bidalon (SAINT-MICHEL), 1.4 km climb at 6.4%, 4th Category.

Results: A 25 man break with no serious GC Podium contenders rolled off early and stayed away.

GC after Stage 15:

Boogerd moves up into the top 10 after being in the break.

Yellow Jersey: Lance Armstrong (US Postal) Polka Dot: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Green Jersey: Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) White (youth) Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) Combativity: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Leading Team: Kelme

July 25, Wednesday: Stage 16, Castelsarrasin - Sarran, 229.5 km.

Things are set for a hot, long day in the saddle. The start, Castelsarrasin, is just northeast of Toulouse in the southern France. It's a relentless day of short, hard climbs. They head northeast until kilometer 42, then it's an almost due north trip, headed for the Massif Central (or what you might call The French Central Highlands. They cover about 1/6th of France) and the finish in the small burg of Sarran. The last few kilometers have two rated climbs.

The start should be at 11:30 AM, local time and finish at about 5:15 PM (8:15 AM Pacific time). Some Big-Dog teams have little or nothing to show for the Tour. ONCE and Mapei, among others, must be getting hungry for a stage win. This terrain should allow things to break up.

Km 172.5: Côte de Lostanges, 5.3 km climb at 5.2 %, 3rd Category. Km 200.5: Côte de Saint-Adrian, 2.1 km climb at 5.6 %, 4th Category.

Results: By beating O'Grady for the field sprint, Zabel got a wee bit closer to the green jersey

GC after Stage 16:

Yellow Jersey: Lance Armstrong (US Postal) Polka Dot: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Green Jersey: Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole), 157 points, 2nd Erik Zabel 145 points. White (youth) Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) Combativity: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Leading Team: Kelme

July 26, Thursday: Stage 17, Brive la Gaillarde - Montluçon, 194 km.

This is another day of crossing the Central Massif, or Central Highland of France. They head almost due north and then, about halfway through the race, bend a bit northeast. The unrelenting small climbs will make for more aggresive riding. There are two small rated climbs.

Still no wins for Mapei and ONCE. They will start at 12:30 PM, local time and should finish in Montlucon, at the northern edge of the Massif, a bit after 5:00 PM (8:00 AM, Pacific time). We are almost at the geographic center of France. I expect O'Grady and Zabel to fight hard for the sprint points. The Green Jersey is surely still up for grabs. With a 61 km individual time trial tomorrow, I'm sure the GC contenders will want to ride as economically as possible.

Km 87.0: Côte de la Fôret de la Feuillade, 2.7 km climb at 5.0%, 4th Category. Km 125.5: Côte de Rozeille (MOUTIER-ROZEILLE), 1.7 km climb at 5.1%, 4th Category.

GC after stage 17:

145 finished

Yellow Jersey: Lance Armstrong (US Postal) Polka Dot: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Green Jersey: Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole), 176 points, 2nd Erik Zabel 165 points. White (youth) Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) Combativity: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Leading Team: Kelme

July 27, Friday: Stage 18 , Montluçon - St. Amand Montrond, 60.5 km individual time trial.

This will be the last chance, barring some freak occurance, for the riders to change their GC standings. The riders will go out, starting at 10:45 AM at 2-minute intervals. The last 20 riders will go every three minutes. The route heads almost due north, until they head a bit east at kilomter 21 to go through the Troncais Forest. At one time, a primeval forest covered all of the Bourbon area of central France. What is left of this is the Troncais Forest. Beloki and Kivilev will settle who will get the 3rd place on the podium. Beloki is said to be the better Crono man. Ullrich said that this was his last chance to win a stage. He isn't talking about taking back enough time to regain the yellow jersey. He is too much of a realist for that. Zabel and O'Grady will postpone their fight for the Green Jersey until Saturday.

• Lance Armstrong (US Postal) 1hr 14min 16sec
• Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE) @ 1min 24sec
• Jan Ullrich (Telekom) @ 1min 39sec
• Didier Rous (Bonjour) @ 2min 25sec
• Marcos Serrano (ONCE) s.t.
• Joseba Beloki (ONCE) @ 2min 32sec
• Bobby Julich (Credit Agricole) @ 2min 37sec
• Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom) @ 2min 57sec
• José Gutierrez (Kelme) @ 3min 1sec

GC after Stage 18:

Yellow Jersey: Lance Armstrong Polka Dot: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Green Jersey: Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole), 176 points, 2nd Erik Zabel 165 points. White (youth) Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) Combativity: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Leading Team: Kelme

July 28, Saturday: Stage 19, Orleans - Evry, 149.5 km. The penultimate stage. A fairly flat little shorty that blasts out of the ancient city of Orleans (the Romans called it Aurelianum. You can see how over the centuries it became Orleans. But, I digress.), heading north to Paris in an elongated "S". The finishing city of Evry sits about 25 kilometers south of Notre Dame in Paris.

And...the number one cycling nation in the world, Italy, has yet to win a stage. Mama Mia! The powerful teams of ONCE and Mapei are still empty handed while little teams like Bonjour have intellegently ridden themselves into Tour history. It's head and legs, and luck. The ongoing saga of Erik Zabel and his shadow Stuart O'Grady will continue as the last great prize of the Tour, the Green Jersey, is still up for grabs.

Km 87.0: Côte de Gironvill, 0.7 km climb at 5.4%, 4th Category

Results: O'Grady just keeps the Green Jersey.

GC after Stage 19:

Yellow Jersey: Lance Armstrong Polka Dot: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Green Jersey: Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole), 212 points, 2nd Erik Zabel 210 points. White (youth) Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) Combativity: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Leading Team: Kelme

July 29, Sunday: Stage 20, Corbeil Essonnes - Paris (Champs-Elysées), 160.5 km.

The final stage. It starts at 1:00 PM. Corbeil Essones is just a few kilometers south of Saturday's finshing town, Evry. It's less than 30 kilometers due south of Central Paris. They head east and then hook around and turn north to enter Paris from the southeast at Boulogne-Billancourt on the outskirts of central Paris. From there, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysées all sit about 5 kilometers to the north. Then, the greatest criterium in the world in the most beautiful city in the world, 10 circuits on the Champs Elysées. With only 2 points seperating Zabel and O'Grady for the green jersey, it will come down to the final sprint of the final stage. It should all be over at about 5:00 PM, local time (8:00 AM Pacific).

Results: Zabel takes the Green!

Complete Final GC

Yellow Jersey: Lance Armstrong Polka Dot: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Green Jersey: Erik Zabel ((Telekom, 252 points), 2nd Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole, 244 points) White (youth) Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) Combativity: Laurent Jalabert (CSC) Leading Team: Kelme

Updated Wednesday, July 4. This is the likely roster.

Netherlands :

Predictions

Our cast of prognosticators did a rather poor job of predicting the Giro, but that is the beauty of the sport. It's so upredictable. A crash here, a punch in the nose there, some bronchitis scattered about and all bets are off. Victory is promised to no one.

I asked my dear friend, Paolo Guerciotti for his Tour picks, listed below. He kindly called a couple of his friends and asked them for their thoughts. The notes below for Gimondi and Bugno are not exact quotes, but paraphrased from my conversation with Paolo.

Celestino Vercelli, owner of Vittoria Shoes and ex-Brooklyn, SCIC pro, finisher of many Giros and Tours.

The Tour begins. The greatest manefestation of cycling in the world.

Sprinter's Jersey: 1. Zabel, 2. Steels

Climber's Jersey: 1. Heras, 2. Beloki.

This year the Tour will be a little bit poorer because of the absence of racers who did great things in the past; Pantani, Cipollini, Zulle, etc. In any case, it will be a great race and the winner a noble racer. My predictions are for Armstrong and Ullrich, but believe in the new racers who might still be very young. Surprises are welcome. As usual, there will be big things in the Alps and Pyrenees.

Gianni Bugno, twice Champion of the World and Giro winner.

Armstrong demonstrated his very fine condition with the uphill time trial in the Tour of Switzerland. The mountain top finishes work to his particular advantage. Casagrande has continued to mature as a stage racer. If he hadn't crashed in the first stage of the Giro, he might have won.

Sprinter: 1st Zabel, 2nd Steels

Felice Gimondi, Tour de France winner 1965, and one of the greatest riders in the history of the sport.

I give the win to Armstrong because of the 5 mountain top finishes, which will be to Armstrong's advantage. Francesco Casagrande and Stefano Garzelli will be strong contenders for the third place on the podium.

Sprinter's Jersey: Erik Zabel or Tom Steels

Franco Bitossi. People still talk about his incredible solo ride in the Dolomites in the 1964 Giro and that fantastic flyer that almost won him the rainbow jersey at Gap. Bitossi raced with his head as well as his legs.

Climber: I am not ready to predict this classification. Green Sprinters Jersey: Erik Zabel

Paolo Guerciotti, former Champion of Italy

Armstrong can time-trial very well, and he has the advantage in the the hard climbs. With all the mountain-top finshes, Armstrong should win the Tour. At this time, it does not appear that Ullrich is in the ultimate condition needed to beat Armstrong.

Mauro Mondonico

Here are my thoughts on the next TDF.

I am predicting an outcome that the others don't think will happen. It's too easy to put Armstrong at the 1st place. Here is my podium:

I think that it will be very hard for Lance to win the third Tour in a row. Of course, for him it is possible but this year I want to exclude him from the podium thinking that something wrong will happen to him. So the first place is for Ullrich. He finished the Giro in good shape as preparation for the Tour. Did you see his legs after 21 Giro stages? I can assure you that he can be so strong...I put Beloki second for his capacity to be consistent on every road. When the best competitors increase the pace, he is there in the first 5. Also ONCE is a better team for him during a stage race like the Tour. 3rd Casagrande. Of course, I am Italian so I put an Italian rider on the podium. Anyway, he crashed in the first stage of the Giro and so he will want to have a revenge to save his stage race season.

Polka dot jersey: Heras Green jersey: Zabel

Chairman Bill

Podium: 1st Armstrong, 2nd Ullrich, 3rd Moreau. Then, maybe Garzelli in 4th

Green Jersey: Zabel

Climber's Jersey: Beloki; or Garzelli if he loses too much GC time.

After the impressive display of power in the Tour of Switzerland, it is obvious that the Tour is Lance Armstrong's to lose. Early in his preparations, he got a second to Erik Dekker in the Amstel Gold Classic. His team is awsome. They got 4 of the first 7 places in the prologue time trial of the Tour of Switzerland, a pure power event that these GC contenders, climbers and helpers dominated. Can Jan Ullrich find that 1997 form again? Has all that sine-wave of form loss and recapture and yo-yo-ing weight reduced the potential of what everyone agrees is the most talented rider in the peloton? I think the meticulous preparation of Armstrong will beat the undisciplined raw talent of Jan Ullrich.

Since I wrote the paragraph above, Ullrich won the German Championship in a superb display of power. The last time he won the German Champion's Jersey was in 1997, the year he won the Tour. I still give the nod to Armstrong, but I think it will be a knock-down Irish bar-fight. The big question, as Owen Mulholland told me, is Ullrich's climbing. Has he regained that awesome power to just leave people whenever he wants, no matter what the terrain? Maybe.

Telekom clearly wants this Tour badly. They don't want a green sprinter's jersey, they want the Yellow Jersey, they want the big win. They have sacrificed stage wins from Zabel by eliminating his gifted (and expensive) lead-out man, Fagnini, from the Telekom Tour team. Telekom wanted another GC domestique available for Jan. This does show a certain confidence in Ullrich's form, given that they are willing to make Zabel find his own wheel in the mass sprints. Because Zabel is such a superb, all-round rider and that rare sprinter that gets over the hills, I give him the nod for the green jersey.

The 3rd place on the podium is the interesting one. There is a crew of fine, but slightly lesser riders: Casagrande, Garzelli, Tonkov, Moreau, Beloki, Boogerd. I give it to Festina's Christophe Moreau. He did well, holding off Tonkov in the Dauphine this year by that precious 1 second. He got 4th place in the Tour last year even though he was riding as Joseba Beloki's domestique. Without those duties, he should shine. Beloki's powerful ONCE squad gives him a strong advantage, but the hopes of the French spectators will help lift the Great French Hope up the mountains.

I had been griping that the exclusion of some of the major Italian teams had robbed the Tour of some of its sparkle. In writing this, I think maybe the Spanish will bring some snap and punch to the race through their very aggressive and relentless racing.

© McGann Publishing

2000 Tour de France      Teams      Reactions      Summary     Complete Route     Climbs

Short, intense climber's Tour De France for 2001

• The team of the winner of the Tour de France 2000
• The team winner of the teams classification of the Tour de France 2000, Giro 2000 and Vuelta 2000
• The team winner of the UCI 2000 World Cup
• The first 10 teams of the UCI Classification on 15th November 2000, under the condition, however, that they are still among the first 16 teams of the classification after transfers.
• The UCI regulations will apply this procedure from the 2002 season for the three major Tours (Spain, Italy, France)
• 4 remaining wild cards will be attributed at the end of April 2001.
• Race distance: 3,462 kilometres
• Average stage distance: 173.1 km
• Average stage distance (excluding time trials): 205.9 km
• 20 stages in total
• 10 flat stages
• 3 medium mountain stages
• 4 high mountain stages
• 2 individual time trials.
• 1 team time trial.
• 5 mountain top finishes
• 2 rest days
• 101 kilometres of individual time trials
• A 67 kilometre team time trial
• Prologue - July 7: Dunkrik, ITT, 8.2 km
• Stage 1 - July 8: St Omer - Boulogne sur Mer, 198 km
• Stage 2 - July 9: Calais - Antwerp, 200 km
• Stage 3 - July 10: Antwerp - Seraing, 200 km
• Stage 4 - July 11: Huy - Verdun, 210 km
• Stage 5 - July 12: Verdun - Bar-les-Duc, TTT, 67 km
• Stage 6 - July 13: Commercy - Strasbourg, 220 km
• Stage 7 - July 14: Strasbourg - Colmar, 162 km
• Stage 8 - July 15: Colmar - Pontarlier, 220 km
• Stage 9 - July 16: Pontarlier - Aix-Les-Bains, 185 km
• Stage 10 - July 17: Aix-Les-Bains -L'Alpe d'Huez, 208 km
• Stage 11 - July 18: Grenoble - Chamrousse, Mountain ITT, 32 km
• Rest Day - July 19: Transfer from Grenoble to Perpginan
• Stage 12 - July 20: Perpginan - Ax-les-Thermes (Plateau de Bonascre), 166 km
• Stage 13 - July 21: Foix - Saint-Lary-Soulan (Pla d'Adet), 198 km
• Stage 14 - July 22: Tarbes - Luz Ardiden, 144 km
• Rest Day - July 23: Pau
• Stage 15 - July 24: Pau - Lavaur, 226 km
• Stage 16 - July 25: Castelsarrasin - Sarran, 224 km
• Stage 17 - July 26: Brive-la-Gaillarde - Montlucon, 200 km
• Stage 18 - July 27: Montlucon - Saint Amand Montrond ITT, 61 km
• Stage 19 - July 28: Orleans - Evry, 160 km
• Stage 20 - July 29: Corbeil Essones - Paris (Champs Elys�es), 150 km

The Major Climbs:

Col de Kreuzweg (15 km at 3.6%) Col de Fouchy (5 km at 5.7 km Col d'Adelspach (9.5 km at 5%) Col du Bonhomme (12.3 km at 4.4 %) Col du Calvaire (2.4 km at 6.5%) Collet du Linge (5.8 km at 3.2 %)

Col du Frêne (2.1 km at 8.6%) Col de la Madeleine (24.8 km at 6.2%) Col du Glandon (19.9 km at 7.3%) l'Alpe d'Huez (13.9 km at 8.1%)

Montée vers Chamrousse (18.7 km at 7.1 %)

Col de Jau (22.8 km at 5.2%). Col de Coudons (10.9 km at 5.5%) Col des Sept-Frères (4.7 km at 4.4%) Col du Chioula (5.3 km at 3.2%) Ax-les-Thermes. Plateau de Bonascre (9.4 km at 7%)

Col du Portet d'Aspet (2.6 km at 8.6%) Col de Menté (11.1 km at 6.4%) Col du Portillon (8.3 km at 7.3%) Col de Peyresourde (13 km at 7%) Col de Val Louron-Azet (7.4 km at 8.3%) Pla d'Adet (10.3 km at 8.3%)

Col du "Haut de la Côte" (1.5 km at 6.3%) Côte de Mauvezin (3 km at 6.7%) Col d'Aspin (12.1 km at 6.5 km Col du Tourmalet (16.8 km at 7.5%) Luz-Ardiden (13.7 km at 7.5%)

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Sprint | Albertville (68.5 km)

Sprint | bourg-d'oisans (193 km), finishline points, mountain sprint | col du fr, mountain sprint | col de la madeleine (souvenir henri desgrange) (114 km), mountain sprint | col du glandon (156.5 km), mountain sprint | l'alpe d'huez (209 km), team day classification, race information.

• Date: 17 July 2001
• Start time: -
• Avg. speed winner: 32.675 km/h
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 209 km
• Points scale: GT.A.Stage
• Parcours type:
• ProfileScore: 431
• Vert. meters: 5864
• Departure: Aix-Les-Bains
• Arrival: L'Alpe d'Huez
• Race ranking: 0
• Startlist quality score: 1496
• Won how: 7 km solo
• Avg. temperature:

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Home Explore France Official Tourism Board Website

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The 5-minute essential guide to the Tour de France

Inspiration

Cycling Tourism Sporting Activities

Reading time: 0 min Published on 8 January 2024, updated on 18 April 2024

It is the biggest cycling race in the world: a national event that France cherishes almost as much as its Eiffel Tower and its 360 native cheeses! Every year in July, the Tour de France sets off on the roads of France and crosses some of its most beautiful landscapes. Here’s everything you should know in advance of the 2018 race…

‘La Grande Boucle’

In over a century of existence, the Tour has extended its distance and passed through the whole country. Almost 3,500 kilometers are now covered each year in the first three weeks of July, with 22 teams of 8 cyclists. The 176 competitors criss-cross the most beautiful roads of France in 23 days, over 21 stages. More than a third of France’s departments are passed through, on a route that changes each year.

A little tour to start

The first ever Tour de France took place in 1903. It had just six stages – Paris-Lyon, Lyon-Marseille, Marseille-Toulouse, Toulouse-Bordeaux, Bordeaux-Nantes and Nantes-Paris – and 60 cyclists at the start line. At the time, the brave cycled up to 18 hours at a stretch, by day and night, on roads and dirt tracks. By the end, they’d managed 2,300 kilometers. Must have had some tight calves!

Mountain events are often the most famous and hotly contested. Spectators watch in awe as the riders attack the passes and hit speeds of 100 km/h. In the Pyrenees and the Alps, the Galibier and Tourmalet ascents are legendary sections of the Tour, worthy of a very elegant polka dot jersey for the best climber…

The darling of the Tour

In terms of the number of victories per nation, France comes out on top, with 36 races won by a French cyclist. In second place is Belgium with 18 wins, and in third is Spain with 12. The darling of the Tour remains Eddy Merckx, holding the record of 111 days in the yellow jersey. This Belgian won 5 times the Great Loop as Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Michael Indurain.

‘Le maillot jaune’

The yellow jersey is worn by the race winner in the general classification (calculated by adding up the times from each individual stage). This tradition goes back to 1919. It has nothing to do with the July sunshine or the sunflower fields along the roads; it was simply the colour of the pages of newspaper L’Auto, which was creator and organiser of the competition at the time.

The Tour de France is the third major world sporting event after the Olympic Games and the World Cup, covered by 600 media and 2,000 journalists. The race is broadcast in 130 countries by 100 television channels over 6,300 hours, and is followed by 3.5 billion viewers.

The Champs-Élysées finish

Each year the Tour departs from a different city, whether in France or in a neighbouring country. Since 1975, the triumphal arrival of the cyclists has always taken place across a finish line on Paris’ Champs-Élysées. It’s a truly beautiful setting for the final sprint.

And the winner is…

Seen from the sky and filmed by helicopters or drones, the Tour route resembles a long ribbon winding its way through France’s stunning landscapes: the groves of Normandy, the peaks of the Alps, the shores of Brittany and the beaches of the Côte d’Azur. In 2017, it was the Izoard pass in Hautes-Alpes that was elected the most beautiful stage, at an altitude of 2,361 metres. Which one gets your vote?

Find out more on the official Tour de France site: https://www.letour.fr

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