Heppner, Voskamp disqualified for finish-line scrum; Ullrich enjoys calm day in mustard country
By Andrew Hood
Outside Online correspondent

The judges ruled against Voskamp (l) and Heppner

As TVM's Bart Voskamp and Telekom's Jens Heppner barrelled headlong to the finish, the two knackered racers bumped shoulders and crossed the tape leaning heavily into each other in a finish-line scrum.

In one of the more bizarre Tour finishes this year, Heppner's head was buried in Voskamp's shoulder and the pair nearly crashed. The only thing stranger would have been Heppner taking a nibble out of unofficial winner Voskamp's ear, à la Mike Tyson.

After reviewing the tape, the race jury relegated both riders and gave the win to a surprised Mario Traversoni (Mercatone Uno), who crossed the line third at 27 seconds back.

"I first heard about the review when I went to anti-doping and they said there's a chance that I might get the win. I was sprinting for third to earn points for the green (sprinter's) jersey," said Traversoni, a two-time Giro d'Italia stage-winner racing in his second Tour.

"This is not like another win when you cross the line with your arms in the air, but it's me they will remember because my name will be in the record book," he said.

Voskamp and Heppner were penalized for this altercation (962k avi)

Voskamp, for one, was enraged that his second career Tour win was taken away.

"It's a joke," Voskamp said. "I deviate from my line for two centimeters and I get disqualified. I'm going to talk to the other racers about protesting this."

Despite appeals from both TVM and Telekom, the decision stuck.

"I've never seen anything like it. I don't understand the decision," said Telekom's director sportif Rudy Pevenage, defending his rider. "If it's the first rider who deviates from his line, then it was Voskamp."

Friday's ruling was the third time in this year's Tour that stage winners have been relegated for dangerous sprinting. Telekom's Erik Zabel was disqualified in the sixth stage for cutting across the field, and Polti's Sergei Outschakov lost his win after judges said he drove Cofidis's Laurent Desbiens dangerously close to the barriers on the Tour's 11th day.

Mario Traversoni seized the moment to win Stage 19 (798k avi)

Content to let the break scramble for the stage win, overall leader Jan Ullrich (Telekom) rode with the main group of riders and crossed the line more than 17 minutes later to retain his maillot jaune. All six Americans racing in the this year's Tour remain in the race and finished with the Ullrich group.

After the race, the peloton piled onto one of France's high-speed trains and motored it 300 kmh to Disneyland Paris for Saturday's final time trial.

With Ullrich solidly in the lead more than six minutes ahead of second-place Richard Virenque (Festina), the high drama that typically surrounds the final race against the clock is gone. For riders looking to defend their overall rankings in the g.c., however, the time trial is more than just a formality.

American Bobby Julich (Cofidis), for example, is looking to post a strong time to maintain his top-20 position in his Tour debut. Several others, namely Spain's Abraham Olano (Banesto), will be looking to the time trial for a chance to salvage a somewhat disappointing Tour.

"I hope to win it. It's good for me and I'm feeling strong, especially over the past few days," said Olano, who could move up to fourth in the overall g.c., passing fifth-place Fernando Escartin (Kelme).

U.S. Postal's Ekimov, who rode with today's break and finished fifth for the U.S. Postal Team's third-straight top-10 finish, said he's eyeing a top-five position Saturday.

"I think that I get a top-five position. It's well-suited for me and I've recovered from the mountains. I held back a little to try to win a stage and do well in the time trial," Ekimov said.

Stage 19 results

Andrew Hood is Outside Online's European cycling correspondent.