Tour de France
July 1-23, 2000
Stage 18 Lausanne—Freiburg (252 kms)
July 20
"Little Mario" Wins in a Sprint Finish as Lance and the Peloton Play it Cool
By James Raia
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| Graham Watson |
The long road to Paris: tiring riders push on to Sunday's finish
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FREIBURG, Germany—Salavatore Commesso, the flamboyant reigning Italian road champion of the Saeco team, out-sprinted Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan (Telekom) to claim the windy 18th stage Thursday as the Tour de France progressed into Germany for the first time since 1992. There were no changes in the general classification.
Commesso, who is sometimes called "Little Mario" because of his resemblance to his famed teammate Mario Cipollini, rode with Vinokourov and three others for much of the day after forming a break three kilometers after the start of the 246.5 kilometer Lausanne to Freiburg-en Brisgau stage. His winning time was 6 hours, 8 minutes and 15 seconds. Jacky
Durand (Lotto) of France was third, 1:08 behind the winner.
Race leader Lance Armstrong (USPS) finished in 34th place with the main field, nearly 16 minutes behind the winner. But with the stage winner and other top stage finishers not in contention for the overall title, the top riders were content to let the break extend to more than 27 minutes.
Armstrong, who has held the leader's jersey for eight days, still holds a 5:37 margin over Jan Ullrich (Telekom) of Germany, whose hometown is five kilometers away from Thursday's stage finish. Joseba Beloki (Festina) of Spain is third, trailing the defending champion by 6:38.
"It was 250 kilometers and that's never easy." said Armstrong, who questioned the need for two long stages in the final four days of the race. "It doesn't make for aggressive riding, especially with a headwind. But I don't want to be critical. It's our job to ride the course they set-up."
With the race finishing in Germany, a partisan crowd, estimated at more than 500,000, lined to course, wildly cheering German riders.
Commesso and Vinokourov, who rode more than 240 kilometers at the front of the pack and left the other escapees with 40 kilometers to go, began to stage a masterful challenge in the last two kilometers. While trying to outmaneuver each other as they neared the finish, the duo changed tactics several times; at one point, they almost came to a standstill
on the course.
The race's likely final stage in which riders can greatly change the overall standings will occur Friday in the 58.5-kilometer Freiburg-en-Brisgau to Mulhouse individual time trial.
On Saturday, the field will ride the 254.4-kilometer Belfort to Troyes 20th stage—the longest of the race—followed by the race's finale Sunday, a 138-kilometer ride from the Eifel Tower to Champs Elysees.
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