Tour de France
July 1-23, 2000
Stage Five; Vannes to Vitre
July 5, 2000
Wust Wins the Day
By James Raia
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| Graham Watson |
In a last minute sprint, star climber Marcel Wust wins a tour stage for the very first time
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VITRE, France—Marcel Wust of Germany claimed his first Tour de France stage victory in unique fashion Wednesday, wearing the red polka dot jersey that designates the event's best climber.
Wust (Festina) swung to the left of renowned sprinting specialist and compatriot Erik Zabel (Telekom) within the last 20 meters en route to claiming the 202-kilometer (126-mile) Vannes to Vitre fifth stage in four hours, 19 minutes and five seconds. Zabel was second and Stefano Zanini (Mapei) of Italy was third. Laurent Jalabert of France, who assumed
the race lead Tuesday after his ONCE team claimed the team time trial, maintained his leader's jersey and still leads Spanish teammate David Canada by 12 seconds. But Jalabert, the world's No. 1-ranked rider, finished in a group 10 seconds behind the lead 30-rider pack and watched his margin over defending race champion Lance Armstrong (U.S. Postal Service)
who finished in the lead group, decrease to 14 seconds.
Wust, competing in his 12th professional season, was content to spend much of the stage in the main group as the field encountered intermittent rain. In front of him, a group of five built nearly a four-minute lead. German Jens Voight (Credit Agricole) and Erik Dekker (Rabobank) of the Netherlands remained from a lead group of five cyclists as they
approached Vitre, an ancient fortress. The tired duo rode furiously but watched their cushion drop to 40 seconds with six kilometers left. The pack caught the two leaders with an estimated 400 meters left in the stage and after the two had ridden in front for 150 kilometers.
Wust, who won four stages last fall in the Tour of Spain, held the race's leading climber's jersey after switching bikes during the opening-day time trial. He claimed the fastest time in the stage's only climb while purposely using his road bike. When Wust reached the top of the climb, he switched to his time trial bike and eventually finished 142nd of
the 177-rider field.
The peloton of the 87th Tour de France will race four more relatively flat stages before facing the first mountain stage in the 10th stage. It includes a category 1 climb and two uncategorized climbs, including to the finish at Lourdes-Hautacam.
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