So Long And Thanks For All The Lycra
Created | Updated Aug 3, 2005
| Tour de France 2005 |
Three weeks and almost 4000km later and the Tour de France is over for another year. Seventh and final year in yellow for Lance Armstrong with the rest of the Peloton1 fighting for the crumbs off Discovery Team's table. If you don't like cycling it's best to leave now as we meander through 3 weeks of the world’s best known cycle race
But if the thought of 189 sweaty, Lycra clad cyclists is your thing read on. So come with me dear reader to 2nd July 2005 and the start of Le Tour.
Stage 1 - Fromentine to Noirmoutier-en-I'lle, 19 km Time Trial
American David Zabriski of the Danish CSC team was the surprise winner and first holder of the Yellow Jersey. He set the pace early finishing the course in 20 minutes and 50 seconds. Later, in much tougher conditions, six times winner Lance Armstrong of the newly sponsored Discovery Channel Team finished 2 seconds behind. On a very windy road Armstrong took a minute out of long term rival Jan Ullrich 's2 (T-Mobile) time, who was riding with a heavily bandaged neck after an early practise run accident, it saw his team car breaking to avoid a truck which in turn sent Ullrich through the back windscreen, and last years third place man Ivan Basso (CSC). Third place was taken by Kazakhstan champion Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile). Later in the day Zabriski was quoted as saying "I didn't think I could beat Armstrong"
Stage 2 - Challans to Les Essarts, 181.5km
A day dominated by the sprinters, specifically Tom Boonen (Credit Agricole) who won the stage and the Green Jersey for sprint points collected during the day. David Zabriski managed to keep Lance Armstrong at bay and keep the yellow jersey on his back for another day. A four man break away gave the French people something to cheer about as it contained local hero Thomas Vockler (Bouyges Telecom), who took the points on a small climb to finish the day wearing the Polka dot 'King of the Mountains' jersey.
Stage 3 - La Chataigneraie to Tours, 212.5km
Another day for the sprinters. Tom Boonen pipped Green Jersey favourites Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis) and Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) to the line after a bunch sprint finish, so keeping the Jersey. Robbie McEwen was demoted to the back of the bunch for "Head-Butting" fellow Australian O'Grady on the line, this punishment was to put a severe crimp in McEwen's bid for another Green Jersey.
Stage 4 - Tours to Blois, 67.5km The Team Time Trial
This was the day Lance Armstrong took over the Yellow Jersey. As expected the Discovery Channel team were the winners with CSC coming in second. Zabriski would have kept the Yellow but he fell with 2km to go and trailed in one minute adrift of Armstrong, before that incident CSC looked as if they were going to win. T-Mobile finished third with Spanish team Liberty Segouras coming in a surprise fourth.
Stage 5 - Chambord to Montargis, 183km
The Sprinters were back in the limelight again as Robbie McEwen showed he was still fighting as he beat Tom Boonen to the line in yet another bunch sprint finish. Armstrong hadn't wanted to wear the Yellow Jersey on this stage as he thought it was in bad taste to do so, due to the nature of how he'd inherited it, but in the end he bowed to the pressure put on him by the Tour organisers. David Zabriski limped in 176th. He admitted feeling discomfort after his high speed crash during the Team Time Trial.
Stage 6 - Troyes to Nancy, 199km
An unexpected winner, Lorenzo Bernucci (Fasso Bortolo) took the line after fate, in the guise of a mass pile up 1km from home, robbed the French of their first stage win in this years Tour. Christophe Mengin (Francaise des Jeux) who had led for the last 10km slid on a wet road made more treacherous by diesel residue, to add insult to injury he was left with a black swollen eye after the Peloton rode into and over him.
Stage 7 - Luneville to Karlsruhe, 228.5km
Across the Alsace region, which has changed hands between France and Germany many times over the centuries, and over the German border for a Stage finish won by Robbie McEwen? The Stage had started with a minutes silence for the victims of the London Bombings. This stage had been led for a long time by Germany's Fabien Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), he gathered the King of the Mountains points reaching the days climbs first, but was swallowed up by the Peloton as soon as the terrain flattened out, allowing McEwen to add another stage win to his tally.
Stage 8 - Pforzheim to Gerardmer 231.5km
The first chinks in the Armstrong armour appeared in the first mountain stage. Dutchman Pieter Weening (Rabobank) had taken an early lead, then a strategic attack by Jan Ullrich closely followed by Andreas Kloden (T-Mobile) left Armstrong isolated from his team-mates; he had little choice but to follow his bitterest rival when he made a break from the Peloton. Armstrong looked increasingly lost as the 2 German's kept the pressure up and was soon joined in the attack by their third placed team-mate Alexandre Vinokourov. Armstrong had too much to lose to let the Kazakh go unchallenged, again and again he had to work on his own to stop his rivals gaining any advantage. In the end he had no choice but to stay in Ullrich's shadow and let Kloden go after Weening. It was the best stage of the Race so far and the closest finish, Weening won from Kloden by 6 millimetres. The Polka Dot Jersey changed shoulders on this stage; it was now in the hands of Dane, Mickael Rasmusson (Rabobank) known in the Peloton as "The Chicken" (Because of his long gangly legs). The jersey was to stay on his back for the rest of the Tour.
Stage 9 - Gerardmer to Mulhouse, 171km
The Tour reached the first of mountain ranges as the peloton entered the Alps. New names and faces would come to the front over the next few days, the first being Mickael Rasmusson the second would be Jens Voigt (CSC). 'King of the Mountains' Rasmusson, a former World Mountain Bike champion, led the field after 3 km of racing and won all the climbing points to solidify his grip on the Polka Dot Jersey. After being given a slap in the face by T-Mobile on the previous stage the Discovery Channel Team stuck to Armstrong like glue, and didn't bother chasing down Rasmusson when he broke away, a decision they and T-Mobile would be uncomfortable with in later stages. Another embarrassment for Discovery on Armstrong's final Tour was the ease Jens Voigt snatched the Yellow Jersey away, one minute behind Armstrong's over all time, Voigt and France's Christophe Moreau (Credit Agricole) broke away from the group chasing Rasmusson up the Ballon d'Alsace, which was the first mountain climbed in the Tour in 1905. Moreau finished second and Voigt third which put them both ahead of Lance Armstrong in the over all classification. Later that day Voigt was quoted as saying "I expect to pay a high price in two days time". Many a true word is spoken in jest.
Stage 10 - Grenoble to Courchevel, 192.5km
After a very welcome rest day is was business as usual in the Alps with two mountains to climb, the Cormet-de-Roselend and the Courchevel. After a shaky start to the Alps' stages the Discovery Channel team were back to their usual ruthless selves setting a relentless pace up the final climb to Courchevel leaving many of their rivals in their wake. In the end there were just four to battle it out for the stage win, Armstrong, Rasmusson, Francisco Mancebo and the eventual winner Alejandro Valverde (Both from Illes Balears), who beat Armstrong to the finish line by a split second. Armstrong recovered the Yellow Jersey but admitted he was surprised at not winning the stage. He was quoted as saying "I was hoping for the stage win, but I think today we may have seen the future of cycling". Previous Yellow Jersey holder Jens Voigt was left floundering at the back of the field, Ullrich and Vinokourov also found the pace hard going, both lost time to Armstrong. Mickael Rasmusson's success in the last two stages put him in second place, 38 seconds behind the Yellow Jersey.
Stage 11 - Courchevel to Briancon, 173km
This stage was one of the most gruelling of the Alpine stages, 173km, 2 'Hors catagorie' 3 climbs and heights reaching 2645m above sea level over mountains that are familiar to all Tour Watchers, le Col du Madeleine, le Col du Telegraphe and le Col du Galibier. T-Mobile's Alexander Vinokourov, a little sore after losing so much time on the previous days climb, launched an early attack. By the time he reached the summit of the final mountain, the Col du Galibier, he was on his own. He was soon joined on the decent by Santiago Botero (Phonak), both of them working hard to keep the Peloton at bay. Vinokourov out sprinted Botero at the line to take a well earned stage win. Former Yellow Jersey holder Jens Voigt was eliminated on this stage for finishing outside the time limit, he was the second yellow jersey holder to leave the Tour after David Zabriski retired some days earlier due to injuries sustained during the Team Time Trial
Stage 12 - Briancon to Digne-les-Bains, 187km
Bastille Day and the crowds were baying for a 'home win' which they got thanks to David Moncoutie (Cofidis) with fellow Frenchman Sandy Cassar (Francaise Des Jeux) coming in second. Moncoutie became the fifteenth Frenchman to win A tour de France stage on Bastille Day since the Race was re-instated after WW2. A stage which had five mountains to cross which had its ups and downs, one who hit bottom was Discovery Channel's only specialist mountain climber Manuel Beltran. He crashed on an early climb, got back on his bike but quit on the advice of a Tour Doctor. There was no change in the top ten of the overall classifications on this stage.
Stage 13 - Miramas to Montpellier, 173.5km
Unlucky for some but not for Robbie McEwen as he clinched his third stage win of the Tour. Unlucky for Alejandro Valverde as he pulled out with Tendonitis resulting, from hitting his knee on the handlebars of his bike. The Riders left the Alps for a day on the flat before they hit the Pyrenees. Four riders broke away from the Peloton after 17km and the gap reached 9 minutes at one point before McEwen's team Davitamon Lotto decided to reel them in. Sylvian Chavanel (Cofidis) and Chris Horner (Saunier Duval) made a last ditch effort to get to the line, but with only a 10 second advantage at the 1km flag it was inevitable that they would be caught. As the bunch approached the line McEwen's team-mate Fred Rodreguez led him out and McEwen pipped Stuart O'Grady to the post yet again. McEwen was full of praise for his team and was quoted as saying "What they did was truly incredible; to bring back nine minutes on day 13 of the tour it was an absolutely incredible effort. What they did was self-torture."
Stage 14 - Agde to Ax-3-Domaines, 220.5km
Another 'Hor Catagorie' climb dominated today's stage which was won by Austrian Georg Totchnig (Gerolsteiner). Totchnig led after 7km and kept the pursuing group, which included Armstrong and his main rivals, at bay to cross the line first. Armstrong fell for Ullrich's plan to separate him from his team-mates again by sprinting away from him closely followed by Basso, but this time Armstrong was ready for him. Every time Basso and Ullrich sped away from him Armstrong was just over their shoulders. Ullrich ran out of steam on the final kilometre and finished only 10 seconds behind Armstrong who finished the day 1 minute 41 seconds over second place Rasmusson.
Stage 15 - Lezat-sur-Leze to Saint-Lary Soulan, 205.5km
My reaction to the end of this stage was "Bloody hell, Discovery do let other team members win occasionally".
George Hincapie, Armstrong's 'Lieutenant', claimed his maiden Tour de France victory on this stage after being in his team leaders shadow and doing all the grunt work for so long. He sat at the back of a 14 man break for most of the day, letting everyone else do all the work keeping the peloton at bay, which some people commentated was a lazy man's way to win. A brutal, five mountain stage and the first mountain top finish on top of the hor catagorie St-Lary-Soulain. They mainly Spanish crowd, the largest of the Tour so far, were baying for a winner from Spain and their wish was almost granted in Oscar Pereiro (Phonak). On the final climb to the finish he shook off all of the main escapees except Hincapie, who overtook Pereiro in the last 200m to take the stage. After a bad day in the field Rasmusson slipped to third as an inform Basso leapfrogged the Dane to take second place.
Stage 16 - Mourenx to Pau, 180.5km
After being denied a win on the previous stage Oscar Pereiro was determined to show everyone that he had it in him. But the day belonged to Cadel Evans (Davitamon Lotto) of Australia who was a little shell-shocked, as was the other Australian riders, at the news of the death of Amy Gillett. Gillett had been killed in a training accident in Germany which left 5 of her team-mates in hospital with serious injuries. Before the start of the stage Evans was quoted as saying "The least I can do is to get in a break and try and dedicate the stage win to the entire Australian national team. Words are never enough to express the sadness I felt after hearing the news of the accident". Evans was one of eleven breakaway riders to escape the peloton after 26km; he broke away from them on the final climb in the Pyrenees, the Col d'Aubisque. He was caught by three other riders on the decent and they managed to increase their lead to seven minutes before T-Mobile decided to try and real them in when it looked like Evans might overtake Ullrich in the Overall standings. Evans sacrificed a stage win for placement in the Overall Classification. Pereiro took full advantage of the decision and finally the stage win.
Stage 17 - Pau to Revel, 239.5km
Discovery team wins, other than Lance Armstrong's, are like buses, you wait ages for one then two come along together. Paolo Salvodelli crossed the line first on the longest stage of the Tour. The Italian was part of a seventeen man break that escaped early in the day, that group split in two with 50km to go which in turn fractured into a two man battle for the line; Salvodelli just beat Norway's Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC) to the line.
Armstrong and his main rivals finished twenty two minutes behind the leaders which didn't affect the top half dozen places. The more interesting General Classification battles were taking place lower down the order. Cadel Evans, Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner), Floyd Landis (Phonak) and Alexandre Vinokourov would be waging personal battles for overall placements for the rest of the Tour. Jan Ullrich was battling for personal pride, holding a unique record of having never finished outside the top four he was determined to overtake Mickael Rasmussen and finish this Tour on the Podium, while Rasmusson wanted to grab his first podium place.
Stage 18 - Albi to Mende, 189km
Another day of personal battles saw Jan Ullrich slog up a 10% gradient to the finish line to take thirty seven seconds out of Michael Rasmusson's time, while Cadel Evans pushed himself to the limits to overtake Alexandre Vinokourov. These battles were of no consequence to the break away leaders Sandy Cassar, Marcos Serrano (Liberty Segouras) and Axel Merckx (Davitamon Lotto) who broke away up the steep climb. Merckx ran out of steam with about 2km to go which left Cassar and Serrano seeing who could keep going. Serrano, being a pure climber Powered away from Cassar who was eventually caught by Merckx. Merckx worked hard to get up to the summit of the climb but with Cassar taking it easy and staying in his wheel he nipped out from behind the Belgian and stole second place, much to the disgust of Merckx.
Stage 19 - Issoire to Le Puy-en-Velay, 153.5km
Italian Giuseppe Guerini (T-Mobile) was the surprise winner of this stage as all the main contenders for Jersey's and General Classification places were conserving energy for the next day's Individual Time Trial, which would be make of break for the top four riders. Guerini went out of the peleton with the blessing of his team management, who needed a well placed rider to consolidate their lead in the overall team contest after the two unexpected Discovery Team wins. He came over the line ahead of Sandy Cassar and Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas). A much forgotten battle for the Green Jersey had been taking place for a few days. Norwegian Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) had been wearing the Jersey ever since Tom Boonen retired after a crash in the Pyrenees, but the Australian duo of McEwen and O'Grady were snapping at his heels. Unless something drastic happened in the next two stages the Jersey's would stay on the shoulders they were presently covering.
Stage 20 - Saint-Etienne, 55km, Individual Time Trial
Barring Armstrong falling off his bike and breaking something he would wear the Yellow Jersey into Paris and go into the record books at the winner of seven consecutive Tour de France's. The rest would use the Time Trial to jostle for higher places in the Classifications and consolidate podium places. All the action would happen when Jan Ullrich posted the fastest time over all at 1hr 12m 9sec, Ullrich was hoping for an outright stage win, he knew he couldn't beat Armstrong but he could knock Rasmusson off third spot. Next to go was third placed Mickael Rasmusson, he knew he'd have to ride the best time trial of his career to keep his spot, but fate had a different plan. A crash early on saw him lose precious seconds but that wasn't the end, the fall had left a problem with his back wheel, he stopped so the mechanic's could change it but they didn't have one so they changed the complete bike. Another bike, a puncture and another fall later and Rasmusson's podium dreams were shattered, finishing seven minutes behind Ullrich. Next came Ivan Basso, he set off at a phenomenal pace but paid a heavy price for it later slowing down and seeing Armstrong pass him on the road. Last to go was Lance Armstrong. Not having won a stage this year he wanted to win this one as badly as Ullrich did and no one was going to stop him. He set off and powered around the course, passing Basso and eating into Ullrich's time. He won the final stage of his career in 1hr 11m 46sec to the delight of his children and girlfriend Sheryl Crowe. Other winners were Alexandre Vinokourov, who put himself within 2 seconds of taking Levi Leipheimer's place from him, and Cadel Evans who placed himself in the top ten on his first Tour de France.
Stage 21 - Corbeil-Essonnes to Paris, 144km
Unless he was kidnapped by Aliens, Lance Armstrong would ride into Paris with seven Tour de France win's under his belt. It wouldn't be a complete stroll in the park for the top ten riders, there was still a raging battle between Evans, Leipheimer and Vinokourov who were all within seconds of each other and it was raining, after 3 weeks of warm sunny weather the roads into Paris were very greasy. On the outskirts of Paris the Discovery team 'Train' derailed when George Hincapie's back wheel slid out from under him causing him to hit the deck, taking a couple of his team-mates and almost his leader with him. The Tour organisers invoked a little used rule whereby the finishing time would be entered as they finished the circuit of the Champs Elysees 4 due to the rain. This would be a blow to the eventual stage winner Alexandre Vinokourov who finished in exactly the same time as Levi Leipheimer, Leipheimer would be given the place as he'd been placed higher than Vinokourov on a number of occasions5. Vinokourov powered away from the sprinters, who were usually the winners on the final stage, and took the final stage win with a metaphorical 'nah nah' (And unrepeatable, lip read, verbals as he crossed the line) to T-Mobile, with whom he'd not had a happy season and had announced he was leaving the previous day. But the day and the Tour belonged to Lance Armstrong, during the presentations on the podium he threw down a challenge, of sorts, to Ullrich and Basso "It's up to you two now".
Final Results
Tour de France 2005 - final overall standings :
1 Lance Armstrong (US) Discovery 86 hours 15 minutes two seconds
2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC at four minutes 40 seconds
3 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile at 6:21
4 Francisco Mancebo (Sp) Illes Balears at 9:59
5 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile at 11:01
6 Levi Leipheimer (US) Gerolsteiner at 11:21
7 Mickael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank at 11:33
8 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon at 11:55
9 Floyd Landis (US) Phonak at 12:44
10 Oscar Pereiro (Sp) Phonak at 16:04
Final overall points standings:
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 194 pts
2 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis 182
3 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon 178
4 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile 158
5 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros 130
6 Oscar Pereiro (Sp) Phonak 118
7 Robert Foerster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 101
8 Lance Armstrong (US) Discovery 93
9 Baden Cooke (Aus) Francaise des Jeux 91
10 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Francaises des Jeux 88
Final King of the Mountains standings:
1 Mickael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 185 pts
2 Oscar Pereiro (Sp) Phonak 155
3 Lance Armstrong (US) Discovery 99
4 Christophe Moreau (Fr) Credit Agricole 93
5 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 90
6 Santiago Botero (Col) Phonak 88
7 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile 75
8 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues T 75
9 George Hincapie (US) Discovery 74
10 Pietro Caucchioli (It) Credit Agricole 73
Final young rider standings:
1. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery 86hrs 34mins 04secs
2. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole at 9mins 2secs
3. Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty-Seguros at 44:23
4. Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Domina-Vacanze at 59:24
5. Jerome Pineau (Fra) Bouyges-Telecom at 1:12:36
6. Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Ibanesto at 1:24:43
7. David Arroyo (Spa) Ibanesto at 1:35:10
8. Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quickstep at 1:48.46
9. Thomas Lovkvist (Swe) Francaise des Jeux at 1:48.46
10. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise des Jeux at 2:04.58
Team standings:
1. T-Mobile 256hrs 10mins 29secs
2. Discovery at 14 minutes 57 seconds
3. CSC 25:15
4. Credit Agricole 55:24
5. Illes Balears 1:06:09
6. Phonak 1:09:20
7. Liberty-Seguros 1:47:56
8. Rabobank 2:26:30
9. Saunier Duval 2:48:58
10. AG2R Prevoyance 2:52:04
Post Tour
As Lance cycles off into the sunset to spend time with his family and to decide what to do next (Politics seems to be odds on favourite at the moment) what kind of legacy did he leave behind. A brave man? Yes very, an inspiration to millions of cancer sufferers all over the world, the Lance Armstrong Foundation has raised millions of Dollars and Cancer awareness for many years; it was the first to introduce the charity wristband that is a fashion must these days. A great sportsman? Yes, a phenomenon that will never be seen again in my lifetime. The greatest cyclist ever? The jury is still out on that one. A great Tour de France rider yes but his obsession with Le Tour blinded him to other races. He races the bare minimum in the season to prepare himself for the Tour de France. Although they didn't win as many Tour's as Armstrong, the word Greatest has been used to describe the likes of Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, Miguel Indurain and Eddy Merckx. Merckx still holds the record for the most Yellow Jersey's won and voted the Twentieth Century's greatest cyclist.
So........2006
So who will win next year now that there will be no Armstrong? Will it be his long term rival, five times runner up and perpetual bridesmaid Jan Ullrich, with odds at 7-2? Ullrich's age is against him now as is his dislike of keeping fit during the winter, but on the plus side he's one of the best all-rounder going and his will for one more win before he retires is very strong. Will it be second placed Ivan Basso at odds of 5-2? Basso is probably at his peak now; his team have great faith in him and will pull out all the stops to see him in the yellow Jersey next year. Will it be Cadel Evans with odds of 40-1? Not this year but keep your eye on him for the future, this was his maiden Tour and a finish in the top ten surprised everyone, with a bit of work on his time trialling he's a tip for the future. Will it be Yaroslav Popovitch at odds of 17-1? With many considering him to be the natural successor to Lance at Discovery, his climbing needs a bit more work before he can take on the big boys, maybe in 2007. Will it be Alejandro Valverde at odds of 9-1? The only thing he seems to have against him is his fiery Latin temperament, he seems to have annoyed a few people on his way to the top, once he gets it under control he'll be a sure bet. And finally Alexandre Vinokourov with odds at 7-1. If he gets is attacking aggression under control and works for the team instead of for himself he will be unbeatable.
1A term used in the sport for a large group of cyclists2I was unable to find a translated version, this is in German3 Uncategorised height4The final sixty odd kilometres are ridden on eight laps of the Champs Elysees5There is some confusion on the results posted below and the results given on the day
