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The Tour de France of 2001 was relatively short, but also difficult, with a number of heavy mountain stages, a team time trial and a climbing time trial. France was done 'clockwise', and thus the Alps were visited before the Pyrenees. The Tour started in France, but in the first week Belgium was visited as well. The finish was, as is traditional, on the Champs Elysees in Paris
The great favorite was the winner of 1999 and 2000, the American Lance Armstrong. His major opponent, like last year, would probably be German Jan Ullrich. Other major contenders seemed to be Joseba Beloki from Spain, Christophe Moreau from France and Francesco Casagrande from Italy. Not starting, because their teams were not selected, were Swiss Alex Zülle, Italian climber Marco Pantani and Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini.
One of the favorites to win the prologue, last year's winner David Millar, fell in the last curve, and thus was only 110th. Winner was Christophe Moreau, but his gains on most other favorites were small, with the exception of Casagrande, who was 120th and lost 45 seconds. Stuart O'Grady (8th) and Jaan Kirsipuu (11th) are well-placed sprinters who might gain the yellow jersey in the coming days (there are seconds 'bonification' for the riders who score high on the final or intermediate sprints)
Frenchman Jacky Durand, well known for his attacking style, did it again. He was chased, and finally joined, by his fellow countryman Christophe Oriol. The two escapers were caught back by the peloton, but Durand had managed to be first on two small (4th category) climbs, and thus was the first wearer of the mountain jersey this Tour de France. Laurent Brochard tried to get away in the last kilometres, but in the very last kilometre was caught back. Thus, the stage became a mass spurt, won by Erik Zabel.
General Classification:
points classification:
mountains classification:
A group of 16 riders escaped from the peloton, and stayed away until the end, although with only a small difference. Because sprinter Stuart O'Grady was present, he was expected to take both the stage and the yellow jersey, but the Rabobank team had different plans. Their rider Erik Dekker, who took 3 stages in 2000, was present, and was expected to try something, but instead he helped his team mate Marc Wauters to escape. Marc got Arnaud Pretot with him, and they scored first and second. Because he also had had a good prologue, this was enough for Wauters to take the yellow as well.
General classification:
Points classification:
The stage seemed to be a likely prey for Erik Zabel: Some mountains (in the Ardennes), too tough for the pure sprinters, but not tough enough to really break the peloton, with a spurt going uphill. His team worked hard for him, even though this might cost them some power which they might need to help Jan Ullrich in the mountains. Marc Wauters had the honor to drive through the village where he lives ahead in the yellow, but later had to let the peloton go in the Ardennes. Apparently, the pressure got too much for him, for although he is certainly not a climber, he normally should not lose any time on a hill stage like this. Another person who lost time was Francesco Casagrande, still suffering from a broken arm he got in May. Because Wauters dropped out, Stuart O'Grady got to wear the yellow jersey after all, one day later than expected.
General classification:
Points classification:
Mountains classification:
Patrice Halgand was the great attacker in the first part of the stage, which gained him the mountains jersey. In the end this led to a break-away group of nine. The nine riders got up to 10 minutes ahead, but the teams of US Postal (Armstrong) and ONCE (Beloki and Gonzalez de Galdeano) started chasing, because the break-away also contained Bobby Julich and Michael Boogerd, who might well be considered dangerous outsiders. The heavy chase combined with a strong wind against caused the peloton to break. All favorites as well as yellow jersey O'Grady were in the first group, but still some riders who could well place in the top-10 were left behind. After the nine were caught, the second group could rejoin, but the combined group of about 80 riders gained 18 minutes over a lot of other riders. Laurent Jalabert, Francisco Mancebo and Ludo Dierckxsens managed to escape. Mancebo in the end was caught back, but Jalabert and Dierckxsens were just a few seconds ahead of the (first) peloton, the first winning the spurt. One favorite was lost for this year's Tour definitively, because Casagrande abandoned.
General classification:
Points classification:
Mountains classification:
A team time trial, one of the hardest disciplines of cycling. The riders, going by team, have to make the fastest time for their team (fifth to arrive counts). Where it was expected that O'Grady would lose some time here on the major contestants for the general classification, his Crédit Agricole team surprised everyone by actually winning the stage. The ONCE team, considered the great favorites, placed second. Loser of the day was Jan Ullrich, who lost 30 seconds on Lance Armstrong (US Postal) and 1 minute on Joseba Beloki (ONCE). In the results the major GC contenders of each team are given between brackets. In the general classification, Credit Agricole now takes places 1 to 3, while the rest of the top-10 are all ONCE riders except for Moreau.
General Classification:
Little happened in this stage. A group of 5 riders (Axel Merckx, Michele Bartoli, Laurent Brochard, Rik Verbrugghe and Fred Bessy) got ahead with a maximum lead of 3 minutes, but was caught back by the joint work of Crédit Agricole and the sprint teams. The sprint was won by Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu. Belgian sprinter Tom Steels originally placed fourth, but because of 'irregular riding' during the spurt was declassified to the last place of the peloton.
General classification:
Points classification:
Mountains classification:
Although the Alps were not yet there, this was quite a mountainous ride through the Vosges. A breakaway group of five stayed ahead (the unlucky Basso crashing), containing German Jens Voigt, who thus took over the yellow jersey from his teammate O'Grady. Laurent Jalabert took his second stage win in this still young Tour de France - on the French national holiday, moreover.
General Classification:
Points classification:
Mountains classification:
The peloton took a day-off, but not so a group of 14 riders that had broken away. In the end they had a lead of almost 36 minutes, by far the largest one achieved in recent history. Even a lead of 22 minutes had not occurred in the last 25 years. Formally, this meant that the whole peloton finished out of time limits, but the referees understandably used a rule saying that they could give clemency to any group of more than 20% of the stage's starting riders, officially citing the weather conditions as their reason to do so. Still, the effects on the general classification were huge: Stuart O'Grady, who was in the group, retook the yellow jersey, and is now over 35 minutes ahead of Armstrong. Armstrong also has to make good over half an hour on Frenchman François Simon. Perhaps even more dangerous is Andrei Kivilev. He is 'only' 13 minutes ahead of Armstrong, but unlike the others from the escape group, he is known to be good in the mountains, so he needs not lose very much on the toppers in the rest of the Tour. Memories went back to 1990, when in the first stage a group of four riders won 15 minutes. One of them, Claudio Chiapucci, held on to the end, and ended second, only 2 minutes behind winner Greg Lemond.
Among the fourteen breakaways was Erik Dekker, who had won a surprising three stages in the 2000 Tour de France. In the end phase of the stage, he escaped from the group, getting joined by fellow Dutchman Servais Knaven. Spanish Aitor Gonzalez set out to bridge the gap, and succeeded; however, in doing so, he also brought Dekker's team mate Marc Wauters (who had won in Antwerp and had worn the yellow jersey for one day). With the help of Wauters, Dekker had no difficulty winning the spurt, and thus he could add a fourth Tour stage to his list of wins.
General classification:
Points classification:
Mountains classification:
The stage started very fast, with many attacks. It was Bradley McGee and Davide Etxebarria who managed to make a gap of 1'20. Sergei Ivanov went after them and bridged the gap. The three leaders, chased by Momo Agnolutto, got a maximum of 7 minutes, but after that, the joined forces of Bonjour (of sprinter Damien Nazon) and Telekom (Zabel) quickly reduced the difference. Agnolutto was caught back, but the others managed to stay away, albeit only by a few seconds. Ivanov looked tired, and did not do his part of the work, but that appeared to be just a fake, trying to save his strength. He escaped, and went to the finish alone.
General classification:
Points classification:
Mountains classification:
Finally the mountains were reached, and the work started for the riders who went for the general classification. Only one normal Alps stage this year, plus a climbing time trial (stage 11).
Laurent Roux, Eladio Jimenez and Toni Tauler were the early attackers this stage, and by the time the riders reached the first of three 'hors category' climbs, the Madeleine, they were 13'35 ahead of a peloton of about 45 riders. The Telekom team of Jan Ullrich led this peloton, hoping to make it a tough race. On the second climb, the Glandon, only one man was still up front, Roux, and he was 7 minutes before the peloton. In that peloton, Armstrong seemed to be in problems. Where usually he would climb in the front of the group, he was now in the back, and his facial expressions were also not that positive. Furthermore, only two riders from his team (Roberto Heras and Jose Luis Rubiera) were with him.
But when the final mountain, the famous Alpe d'Huez was reached, things were shown to be very different. Rubiera attacked on the start of the climb, Armstrong followed, but only a few other riders did - in the end it is just Armstrong and Ullrich. When Rubiera has to drop off, Armstrong attacks again, and now loses Ullrich too, and climbs the Alpe alone. He overtakes Roux, and climbs up the Alpe d'Huez in 38'01" - only 26 seconds short of Marco Pantani's record from 1995, scored after a much lighter stage. Kivilev (12th at 4.39) keeps up well, and seems likely to take the yellow jersey in the Pyrenees. For now, it is on the shoulders of Francois Simon, who scored a creditable 29th place (10.20 behind Armstrong). Stuart O'Grady ends way in the back. After having worn it six days, he says goodbye to the yellow jersey. He is now concentrating on the green one. Armstrong is now the first of the favourites, at fourth place. He will still have to deal with Simon and Kivilev before getting the yellow.
General classification:
Points classification:
Mountains classification:
After stage 11 there was a rest day, although the amount of rest the riders actually did get was diminished by the fact that they had to make a long transportation. Stage 12 was the first of three stages in the Pyrenees. In the first stages of the race, Italian Paolo Bettini was the great attacker. In groups in a pair with Stuart O'Grady and finally alone, he was ahead for a long time. In the final climb, however, he was caught by two other riders who were better climbers: Spain's David Etxebarria and Colombia's Felix Cardenas. By then, the Tour was already over for Christophe Moreau: He suffered what was probably a case of food poisoning, and abandoned.
Behind the three riders, Armstrong, Ullrich and Kivilev had escaped from the group of favorites. When Ullrich attacked, Kivilev also was unable to follow. At the front, Etxebarria made a few attempts, which dropped Bettini but not Cardenas. When Cardenas himself attacked, Etxebarria was unable to follow. Armstrong and Ullrich were joined by Roberto Laiseka, who soon left the two favourites behind and started chasing Cardenas. Beloki tried to reach the Armstrong-Ullrich duo, but failed. Armstrong managed to get away from Ullrich, but he could not overtake Laiseka and Cardenas any more. Simon lost another 4 minutes to Armstrong, who now has come to within half a minute of Kivilev.
General classification:
Points classification:
Mountains classification:
Probably the least exciting stage of this year's Tour, stage 19 had no major escapes (Jens Voigt attacking more to help team mate Stuart O'Grady by avoiding too many points going to Erik Zabel), and ended in a mass sprint. Deutsche Telekom had worked hard to keep the group together, and was rewarded with Zabel's second stage win. O'Grady, finishing second, did remain ahead of Zabel in the points classification, but the difference is only 2 points now.
General classification:
Points classification:
Mountains classification:
As traditional, the last stage went to the Champs Elysees in Paris, and as traditionally a number of attackers was unable to stay away from a peloton led by the groups of the sprinters. Although Française des Jeux had been working hard for Jimmy Casper, it was Jan Svorada who found himself well ahead about 200 meters from the finish. None of the other sprinters had a chance to overtake him. Erik Zabel was second, and had amassed enough points to take the green jersey from Stuart O'Grady. Zabel now had won the points classification for the sixth year in row. No one else had succeeded in winning the classification six times.
General classification:
Points classification:
Mountains classification:
Best young rider:
Combativity:
Teams (with the top-3 riders of each team):
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