1997 Tour de France
Thursday, July 10: Live updates from Stage 5
LA CHATRE, France
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| 261.5km |
11:05 a.m. (local time):
Thursday's fifth stage is long, flat and hot. 192 riders started at 11 a.m. in Chantonnay, with the notable absence of ONCE's Alex Zulle. The Swiss rider didn't start after losing another 31 seconds in a spill late in the fourth stage. Zulle broke his shoulder in the sixth stage of last month's Tour de Suisse and made a gutsty decision to race in the Tour, finishing in the top five in the opening prologue. Zulle, the 1995 runner-up to Indurain, went down in a crash in the first stage and lost time to the leaders. After yesterday's finish in Le Puy-du-Fou, he was 73rd at 4:17 back.
With Zulle and Rominger pulling out early, only Oskar Camenzind (Mapei) and last year's fourth-place finisher Laurent Dufaux (Festina) will be contending for good finishes for Switzerland. Also missing the Tour is a stage-winner last year, Casino's Pascal Richard, who didn’t start the Tour after undergoing surgery to remove a cyst in his groin before the start of
the Tour de Suisse.
12:08 p.m. (local time):
The first hour is slow, and at the 35km mark three riders pull out — ONCE's Aitor Garmendia, TVM's Peter Van Petegem, and Rabobank's Leon Van Bon.
12:15 p.m. (local time):
A short-lived break, the peloton reels them in.
12:21 p.m. (local time):
Several riders pull off the front, and Lotto's D. Abdoujaparaov wins the day's first sprint at the 69km mark, with MSM's Claude Lamour second and Casino's Ralf Jaermann third.
12:46 p.m. (local time):
The break falls back at the 83km mark.
1:23 p.m. (local time):
Gan's Cedric Vasseur pulls off the front, building up a 1:12 lead.
2:01 p.m. (local time):
Gan's Vasseur has a 4:15 lead at the 114km mark, becoming the virtual on-course maillot jaune.
2:35 p.m. (local time):
Gan's Vasseur has pulled way ahead, putting 10:40 ahead of the peloton at the feed zone at the 139km mark, a little more than halfway through the long, flat stage.
3:34 p.m. (local time):
Vasseur could be gone. He just passed the 70km to-go mark and he's 17:15 ahead of the peloton. A group of seven riders has peeled off the front to give chase, but they're 16:42 back. The final 70 kms into the finale are flat, save the category-four climb 20 kms from the finish. Vasseur will easily take the yellow jersey if he can maintain his margin. The peloton seems
content to let him stay away, but if the top teams wait too long Vasseur will hold the first break of the 1997 Tour and take the overall lead.
3:52 p.m. (local time):
The peloton is starting to crank up the volume. Vasseur's lead is down to 13:15 with 47 kms to go. Seven riders are giving chase, with Telekom's Ralf Aldag, Polti's Rossano Brasi, Cofidis's Cyril Saugrain, and Mapei's Wilfried Peeters leading the chase. Gan's Frederic Moncassin is part of the chase group, but he just got a puncture in his rear tire.
4:01 p.m. (local time):
At the 197km mark, the four pursuers are within 12 minutes of Vasseur, with the peloton spinning along at a brisk pace 13:15 back. Who is this Vasseur? He won the French national TT championship as an amateur in 1995. His father was a racer in the late 1970s, and the 26-year-old Frenchman has been a pro fopr three years. He's won two races, but he's trying to enter the
history books today.
4:06 p.m (local time):
Batik and TVM have moved to the front of the peloton, powering the chase.
4:10 p.m. (local time):
With 54 kms to go, Vasseur has 11'35" on the four-man chase group and 12" on the peloton.
4:14 p.m. (local time):
The four-man chase has given up and fallen back to the peloton.
4:17 p.m. (local time):
At the 215km mark, Vasseur's lead stands at 11:20.
4:19 p.m. (local time):
TVM is back at the front of the chase.
4:22 p.m. (local time):
At the 219km mark, Vasseur has just posted the longest break of the 1997 Tour, with his lead dwindling to 10:30.
4:31 p.m. (local time):
Festina's Laurent Brochard, who owns the climber's jersey, topped out first on the category-four climb, Cote d'Argenton, after Vasseur at the 222.5km mark. With less than 60 kms to go, Vasseur is hanging tough at 9:40. Will he hold the break and earn the maillot jaune? The consensus among the 500-plus journalists watching the race: no way.
4:40 p.m. (local time):
Rabobank moves to the front of peloton, still 8:55 behind Vasseur.
4:44 p.m. (local time):
With 25 kms to go, Vasseur is 8:20 ahead of the peloton. It's long and flat into the finish, but Vasseur is still riding strong.
4:49 p.m. (local time):
Seven riders peel off the front to chase Vasseur, including American Bobby Julich (Cofidis), U.S. Postal's Peter Meinert-Nielsen, and Mercatone's Marco Pantani.
4:52 p.m. (local time):
At the day's final points sprint, Zabel edges Cipollini to take the time bonus with about 20 kms to go.
5:03 p.m. (local time):
With 10 kms to go, Vasseur's lead is at 7:05. He just might hang on, especially with the peloton seemingly content to let him ride on.
5:10 p.m. (local time):
With only 3 kms to go, vasseur is hanging on, still an incredible six minutes ahead of the peloton and several minutes ahead of the Julich chase group. If he wins, he takes the yellow.
5:16 p.m. (local time):
As the French would say, "Tres bon."
Cedric Vasseur held the longest break of the 1997 Tour de France, won the fifth stage and moved into the maillot jaune.
Posting the first French victory of this year's Tour, Vasseur broke early in the stage, building up a 17'45" lead at one point. A late chase by 10 riders couldn't reel in the young Gan rider, and crossed the line 2'32" back.
The main group of riders crossed the line at 3'24", with Saeco's Mario Cipollini, who forfeits the lead, crossing the line for the sprint points.
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