1997 Tour de France
Minali nips Moncassin in photo finish; Cipo still in yellow — barely
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Minali (l) edges Moncassin (c)
and Zabel (r) to win Stage 4
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Italy’s Nicola Minali (Batik) outstretched France’s Frederic Moncassin (Gan) in a photo finish field sprint victory Wednesday in the fourth stage of the Tour de France.
Germany’s Erik Zabel (Telekom) crossed the line third, but failed to earn enough time bonuses in the long, flat 223km (134-mile) stage to take the overall leader’s jersey away from Italy’s Mario Cipollini (Saeco).
Just as every stage so far in the 84th Tour has ended in a sprint, so too have these early stages been marred by spills. Riders went down in yet another late-stage crash, splitting the peloton into several groups. Several riders lost time on a front group of 71 riders as they got caught up behind the melee, including ONCE’s Alex Zulle and Saeco’s Ivan Gotti,
who finished with a group of 65 riders at 31 seconds back.
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It was a close call between Minali and Moncassin
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Earlier in the stage at the 90km mark, as Cofidis’s Philippe Gaumont was initiating an unsuccessful solo break from the left side of the peloton, MG’s Fabiano Fontanelli started to attack from the right side when he struck a spectator. Fontanelli and Banesto’s Vicente Garcia Acosta were injured and both abandoned the race. The woman also was
seriously injured and taken to a local hospital.
Looking to set up Tuesday’s winner Erik Zabel for a charge at the 20-second, first-place time bonus that could put him in the yellow jersey, Telekom pulled the peloton over the final 10 kilometers.
The pace was frantic over the final kilometer as the world’s best sprinters surged to the finish at Le Puy-de-Foy, with its 13th-century chateau in this lush grape-growing region of western France.
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Erik Zabel and Mario Cipollini battle it out at a sprint
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With Cipollini and Zabel so far hogging the podium, Moncassin and Minali attacked just as Zabel was preparing to make his run while “Super Mario” was caught in a bad position.
Minali and Moncassin crossed the line wheel-to-wheel in a race too close to call while Zabel was third, one-half bike length ahead of fourth-place finisher Cipollini.
Two-time Tour stage winner TVM’s Jeroen Blijlevens finished fourth with MG’s Fabio Baldato, who won the final stage in Paris last year, crossing fifth.
"It was hard to get in position because the teams were working for Cipollini and Zabel," said Minali, a Tour stage-winner in 1994. "In the final kilometer, Zabel attacked on the right and I went left."
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Philippe Gaumont leads the peloton around an obstacle
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The U.S. Postal Team had two riders in the top 20, with Adriano Baffi finishing 13th and Vjatceslav Ekimov 16th. So far, the team is looking good to meet its goal of placing a rider in the final top 15 when the Tour ends in Paris on July 27. Jean-Cyril Robin, a strong climber, is sitting in 14th at 1:16 back, sprinter Baffi in 19th at 1:35 back, and all-arounder
Ekimov at 27th at 1:58 back.
Cofidis’s Frankie Andreu finished with the lead group of riders for the top American finish at 24th and remains the top American overall in 15th at 1:19 back. Teammate Bobby Julich, racing in his first Tour, is in 57th at 3:35 and could become Cofidis’s new team captain after veteran Tony Rominger abandoned the Tour after breaking his right clavicle in
Tuesday’s stage.
The stage started very tranquilo, covering less than 40 miles in the first two hours. The course rode through some of the oldest inhabited areas of Europe. The Druids lived near the start at Plumelec thousands of years ago, followed later by the Celts and Romans.
Gaumont rode 90 kms in a solo break, building up a 13-minute lead before being reeled in.
Thursday’s fifth stage goes 261 kilometers (157 miles) from Chantonnay to La Chatre through the flat, rolling farm country of western France. There are three points sprints and a small, category-four climb 40 kms from the finish.
Stage 4 results
Andrew Hood is Outside Online's European cycling correspondent.
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