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Bertogliati surges Swiss rider wins first stage to take over yellow jerseyPosted: Sunday July 07, 2002 9:18 AMUpdated: Tuesday July 09, 2002 8:24 AM LUXEMBOURG (AP) - Switzerland's Rubens Bertogliati won a hilly first stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, taking the leader's yellow jersey from three-time champion Lance Armstrong. Bertogliati, of the Lampre-Daikin team, sprinted across the finish line just ahead of the main pack, which included Armstrong. The Swiss rider clocked 4 hours, 49 minutes and 16 seconds, after breaking away with just 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) to go. "When there is a chance like this to take, you have to go for it," Bertogliati told reporters following his first ever stage win at the world's premier cycling event. Taking the yellow jersey, he said, "is a dream that has now come true." Armstrong, who began the stage in the yellow jersey after winning Saturday's prologue, finished in the same time as Bertogliati. But the Swiss rider had 20 bonus seconds taken off his overall time for placing first, and overtook Armstrong in the race standings. The 30-year-old Texan, who rides with the U.S. Postal Service team, is the overwhelming favorite to win a fourth straight Tour title. He was three seconds behind Bertogliati in the overall rankings after placing 30th in Sunday's stage. The 121-man pack finished with the same time as Bertogliati. German sprint specialist Erik Zabel, of the Telekom team, finished second while Australian Robbie McEwen, of Lotto, was third. In the overall standings, Frenchman Laurent Jalabert of CSC-Tiscali, sat in second place, just ahead of Armstrong. Jalabert finished with the same time as Bertogliati but won bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint. Thousands of fans lined the route to cheer riders for the stage, a 192.5-kilometer (119.35-mile) circuit through the countryside and medieval towns of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, one of Europe's smallest countries. The weather was cool and overcast, but the sun poked through the clouds toward the end of the race. Johan Bruyneel, leader of the USPS team, said before the stage that Armstrong wasn't putting a high priority on keeping the leader's jersey this early in the 21-day race. The Tour ends July 28 in Paris. "We won't defend the yellow jersey if it's too hard," Bruyneel said in an interview shortly after racers started the stage, which began and ended in the capital, Luxembourg. "We'll just let the race go and see what happens." Armstrong isn't expected to make a bid for a commanding lead until the grueling mountain stages.
Monday's second stage was to take riders on a 181-kilometer
(112.22 mile) course from Luxembourg to Sarrbruecken, Germany
through an industrialized, forest-rich region. Weather service
Meteo France projected patchy morning fog followed by sunny, warm
conditions.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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