Ullrich takes place among the greats, Minali wins final stage
By Andrew Hood
Outside Online correspondent

Jan Ullrich (c), flanked by Richard Virenque (l) and Marco Pantani

The 23-year-old Ullrich is the first German to win the three-week Tour, and despite unrelenting attacks from second-place Richard Virenque's Festina squad, Ullrich never cracked.

"It's incredible. The joy is overwhelming. I was always worrying that I was going to crash or something was going to happen. I was afraid to the very end," said Ullrich, who won two stages and took the lead for good July 15 in Andorra.

Finishing second overall and winning his record fourth-straight climber's jersey is France's Richard Virenque. The 27-year-old Virenque won a stage and challenged Ullrich throughout the second half of the race with relentless attacks in the Alps climbing stages.

"I'm very happy with my Tour. Festina proved it's the strongest team and we never quit the race," Virenque said.

Italy's Marco Pantani (Mercatone Uno) was third overall, followed by Spain's Abraham Olano (Banesto) in fourth. American Bobby Julich (Cofidis) was 17th overall, posting the best finish by a U.S. rider since Andy Hampsten was 17th in 1992.

Defending champion Bjarne Riis (Telekom) faltered in the mountains and finished 7th overall, more than 25 minutes behind Ullrich's winning time.

Minali wins final stage, but Ullrich wears yellow jersey (688k avi)

Remnants of the break were reeled in on the last of 10 passages on the Champs Elysées in front of hundreds of thousands of cheering fans. In a fitting end to the Tour, a frantic field sprint ended the race. Italy's Nicola Minali (Batik) bolted past Germany's Erik Zabel to take his second stage of the Tour. American George Hincapie (U.S. Postal) squirted out to take fifth for his best Tour result.

Later, Ullrich appeared on the podium to don the maillot jaune of the Tour champion. His mother was in tears, all of Germany was cheering. Now maybe the superstitious young man will shave the stubble off his chin, which he's refused to do throughout the race.

The fall of Riis

Bjarne Riis's reign as Tour de France champion was short-lived. Despite repeated declarations of team leadership, many were suspect that the strong Telekom team was solidly behind the 33-year-old Dane who stopped Spain's Miguel Indurain from winning a record sixth Tour in 1996.

The first sign of problems was early in the race when Riis was caught behind a crash that split the peloton and he lost nearly one minute to teammate Jan Ullrich. Later, in the Pyrenees, Ullrich stayed with Riis when he faltered in the ninth. The next day, however, when Ullrich powered his way to a solo win up the beyond-category finish in Andorra, Riis stumbled to fourth place overall and the question of team leadership was over.

Riis remained a solid ally of Ullrich, however, and helped the young German recover time in the Alps. In the final time trial at Disneyland Paris, Riis's Tour became a farce when he had bike troubles and threw it off the course in disgust. With one year remaining at Telekom, Riis remains philosophical: "This wasn't my year but maybe I can come back next year and win the Tour."

The rise of Ullrich

With everybody in cycling calling Ullrich the sport's next superstar, the 23-year-old German remained nonplussed by all the attention during the race.

In the final days, facing unrelenting Festina attacks and even worse pressure from the press, however, Ullrich seemed glad it was all over.

"I'm glad I consolidated my hold on the yellow jersey and tomorrow I can enjoy the day," he said after the Disneyland time trial.

From the start, Ullrich was the strongest. In the Pyrenees, he pulled away the field, and at the first time trial at Saint Etienne he blew away the field. He stumbled in the Alps, but he never lost time as teammates helped reel in Festina's relentless, but often unorganized attacks.

Is Ullrich the next Merckx? "I'm not thinking about the future. I'm only thinking about winning this Tour and then we will see what the future holds."

The frustration of Virenque

This was supposed to be Richard Virenque's year. The 1997 Tour was well suited for last year's third-place finisher. The climbing stages were compressed into a nine days in the middle of the race, and many thought a pure climber could win the 84th Tour de France. Perhaps Virenque believed the Telekom propaganda and thought Riis was the man to beat. On the steeps of the first climbing stage, Virenque pulled away from Riis and Ullrich followed, essentially giving Ullrich the team leadership and eventually the yellow jersey.

Through the Alps and even into the final week, Virenque and Festina refused to bow to Ullrich. But often his attacks were ill-timed, and later in the race, when Ullrich was visibly tired, Virenque called off his Festina soldiers when other teams wouldn't collaborate. Still, Virenque wins his record fourth-straight climber's jersey and finishes second overall.

"I'm very happy with my Tour. Festina proved it's the strongest team and we never quit the race."

The return of Pantani

Welcome back The Pirate. Italy's Marco Pantani won two stages in the Tour de France and finished third overall, matching his best Tour finish of 1994. Pantani made a remarkable recovery following two serious spills, the first in 1995, then again in this year's Giro d'Italia.

The flamboyant, featherweight Italian used the Tour de Suisse to prepare for the 84th Tour and rode like the Pantani of before, despite a lingering cough. Next year Pantani thinks he can challenge for the overall.

"And for next year, if (I) can improve my time trialing, I think I can challenge for the overall victory."

The revelation of Julich

By the end of the three-week Tour, one of the strongest riders in the peloton was none other than American Bobby Julich.

The 25-year-old Cofidis rider posted four top-10s in the final week, including fourth at the final time trial and finished 17th overall, the best U.S. result since Andy Hampsten was fourth in 1992.

Julich lost more than 20 minutes in the first Pyrenees climbing stage, but showed his resilience to bounce back strong in the Alps. At Morzine, he rode with the lead group of riders and finished sixth. Later, he was in the hunt for a stage win and finished with breakaways, twice more in the top-10.

Julich is looking for a new team and after such a strong ride, his stock is sky-high.

"The sky's the limit. This Tour showed me that I can ride with the best. I want to set high goals. There's no reason I can't go for the yellow jersey some day."

The return of the Americans

Six fresh-faced Americans were among the peloton crossing the finish line of cycling's most prestigious race. Represented on two teams, the six racers survived to arrive in Paris for the ride of their life down the Champs Elysées. Marty Jemison, Tyler Hamilton, and George Hincapie on U.S. Postal, and Bobby Julich, Frankie Andreu, and Kevin Livingston on Cofidis proved Americans can ride with the best. Each had their good days as well as bad days in the grueling, three-week race, but all were committed to finishing and making a point: The Americans are back.

Stage 21 results

Andrew Hood is Outside Online's European cycling correspondent.