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Veteran trio carry French hopes Posted: Wednesday July 03, 2002 6:08 AMPARIS (Reuters) -- An ageing trio of riders start the Tour de France on Saturday hoping to keep the leader's yellow jersey in France for the first time in 17 years. The last French winner of cycling's biggest race was Bernard Hinault when he won the last of his five victories in 1985. Since then, Richard Virenque, Laurent Jalabert and Christophe Moreau have all come close to winning but failed. This year looks no easier for them. Since finishing fourth in 1995, Jalabert has won the Tour of Spain and collected more victories than any other active rider. But he has also realized that he does not belong to the elite class of potential Tour winners and had to be content with unexpectedly winning the King of the Mountains classification last year after twice finishing top of the points standings, in 1992 and 1995. "2001 is a great memory and I don't want people to say that it will be hard for me to do as well because I have nothing left to prove," said Jalabert. "After 14 years, I have nothing new to offer. And I silenced my critics last year by showing I could make it in the mountains with a little bit of heart," he added. The 33-year-old Frenchman has had a season plagued by injuries and looks too off-form to be a real threat this year. Virenque was second in 1997 and since then has been through the ups and downs of a career marred by the 1998 Tour doping scandal. He was kicked out of the race that year on doping charges and also missed the Tour last year because of the ban imposed on him after he belatedly admitted drug-taking before 1998. Crowned King of the Mountains five times, he last won the polka dot jersey as best climber in 1999. Out for revenge Virenque has always made the Tour his priority and Domo Farm Frites team chief Patrick Lefevere has let him concentrate on preparations for the race this season. Virenque looks more likely to fight to equal Belgian Lucien Van Impe's record of six polka dot jerseys than to seek overall victory. Moreau has arguably been the best French rider in big stage races in recent years and his fourth place in 2000 showed he could probably make it on to the podium. The 31-year-old Credit Agricole team leader won the prologue last year and held the yellow jersey before being forced to give up in the Pyrenees. "I'm out for revenge. It will be easier for me to finish the Tour, whatever my result, than to leave it like I did last year," he said. "It was too hard and I'm not ready to go through that again." A gifted time trial specialist, Moreau showed real improvement in the mountains in last month's Dauphine Libere race, when he finished third behind Americans Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis. But it would take a lot of good luck for Moreau to beat Tour favorite Armstrong in France and the nation is likely to watch the overall title go abroad once again.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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