1997 Tour de France
Zabel bests rising star Vandenbroucke; Rominger breaks collarbone; Cipo still in yellow
By Andrew Hood
Outside Online correspondent
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Erik Zabel sprints past Franck Vandenbroucke at the line
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Veteran sprinter Erik Zabel (Telekom) sprung past rising star Franck Vandenbroucke (Mapei) on Tuesday's short, steep sprint finish to win the third stage of the 84th Tour de France.
Two-stage winner Mario Cipollini (Saeco) lost time but retained the overall lead, while Cofidis's Tony Rominger broke his right clavicle in a crash late in the 224-kilometer (134-mile) stage from Vire to Plumelec in western France.
The 36-year-old Rominger, in his last year of racing, was transported to a local hospital for x-rays and is out of the only “grand tour” he never won.
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Erik Zabel wins the stage with a great finishing sprint
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Several riders went sprawling to the ground 9 kilometers from the finish as Telekom and Mapei powered the peloton to reel in attacking Francois Simon (Gan). MG's Michele Bartoli suffered serious cuts and limped in nearly 11 minutes later. FDJ's Andrea Peron crashed for the second time, injuring his left knee.
With several riders held up by the spill, including Mapei's Tom Steels and ONCE's Alex Zulle, Telekom charged ahead to set up Zabel, looking to avenge his second-place finish to Cipollini in Monday's sprint at Vire.
With Simon caught 5 kilometers from the finish and a solo attack by Cofidis's Nicolas Jalabert falling 1 km short, Telekom's Jan Ullrich went to set up Zabel. Before Zabel could make his move, the 22-year-old Vandenbroucke made a charge in the final 500 yards of the 2km, 6-percent grade climb to the finish line.
"When I saw Ullrich with Zabel, I knew my only chance was to attack early," said Vandenbroucke, one of cycling's rising stars who won the Paris-Brussels race in 1995. "I had a good attack, but Zabel was too strong. He's a strong sprinter, but I thought with the steep finish I might be able to hold him off."
But Zabel, 27, had promises to keep and last year's points jersey winner powered past Tour rookie Vandenbroucke to win his fifth career Tour stage.
"My family is here for the first four or five days and I told my son he could come on the podium with me if I won," said Zabel, who kept his promise, appearing on the podium with his 3-year-old boy.
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Francois Simon being caught after a solo breakaway
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"I was really motivated to win today," said Zabel, who takes over the green points jersey and moves into second overall at 14 seconds back. "Cipollini is very strong, but I wanted to prove that I could beat him. Last year, it was easier for me to win."
ONCE's Laurent Jalabert crossed the line fourth and FDJ's Davide Rebellin was fifth, while 1996 winner Bjarne Riis (Telekom) charged late to cross the line third, an affirmation the Dane is hungry to defend his Tour title.
"It's going really well. I'm happy with third; it's a good result. I know I'm in good form. I've got good morale for everything to come," said Riis, who lost nearly one minute to rivals in a spill in the Tour's opening stage. "I've always been confident. I lost one minute, but that's nothing to worry about."
With the second-place stage finish, Vandenbroucke moves to fifth overall behind Jan Ullrich in fourth and Chris Boardman in third. Spain's Abraham Olano (Banesto) finished sixth in the stage and moves into sixth overall at 37 seconds back.
"There's a lot of pressure for me this year because the public remembers (Miguel) Indurain," said Olano, referring to the retired Spaniard who won the Tour five times with Banesto. "We were working today for (Orlando) Rodrigues, one of the strongest climbers on the team," the 1995 world champion said. "For me, I'm taking it day by day."
After a slow start out of Vire, a town completely destroyed by bombing in World War II, Festina's Laurent Brochard won two category-four climbs early in the stage to keep the climber's jersey.
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Tony Rominger is helped onto
a stretcher after crashing
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Hundreds of thousands of fans lined the rolling course as the Tour entered into the lush Brittany region of western France. Clear skies and calm winds have welcomed the peloton in the Tour's opening days.
Festina's Gianluca Bortolami broke 84 kilometers into the stage, with Rodrigues, Simon, and Rabobank's Danny Nelissen pulling out with him. The quartet built up a three-minute lead when Simon pulled out with 15 miles to go.
For Rominger, the 1997 Tour ends in disaster. The Swiss veteran started the day in fourth overall at 41 seconds back. While never a likely threat for the overall, Rominger said he wanted to try to win a stage in the race he never won.
Rominger, whose attempt to regain the hour record later this year could be in jeopardy, finished second in 1993 behind Indurain. He won three straight Vueltas España and the 1995 Giro d'Italia, but he always had bad luck in the Tour.
Not as bad as Tuesday's, though. Examination confirmed a compound fracture in his right shoulder, and Rominger will travel to Paris on Wednesday for surgery.
Wednesday's fourth stage goes 223 kilometers (134 miles) from Plumelec to Le Puy du Fou, passing along the Bay of Biscayne with three points sprints and a category-four climb 6 kilometers from the finish.
Stage 3 results
Andrew Hood is Outside Online's European cycling correspondent.
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