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Zabel is going for green Posted: Monday July 22, 2002 11:28 AM
Its picture isn't splashed across the front of L'Equipe every day. It doesn't have a cool nickname like "the golden fleece." Replicas of it are not being clamored for at the little Tour boutique-on-wheels that rolls from one town to another ahead of every stage. But the maillot vert, or green jersey, awarded to the Tour rider who accumulates the most points by sprinting past designated spots on the course, deserves our attention, especially this year. While Lance Armstrong is getting comfy in yellow for the fourth year in a row and living under the glare of the constant media attention that goes with that honor, Team Telekom's Erik Zabel , a German sprinter, is quietly trying to win the green jersey -- and the 22,867 euros that go with it -- for the seventh year in a row. To put that in perspective, between 1953 -- when the new rider incentive/promotional gimmick was introduced to the Tour -- and 1995, the green jersey was dominated by Belgian and French riders, and no single rider won it more than twice in a row. (Ireland's Sean Kelly won a total of four in the '80s.) Another special jersey, the red-polka-dotted jersey awarded to the best climber, has been won six times by two different riders, both Spaniards. The race winner's yellow jersey has been taken five times by four different riders, and only Miguel Indurain was able to pull off his quintet consecutively. So no Tour rider of any stripe, dot or monochromatic swatch has won anything seven times. To help Zabel become the first to do so, Telekom built its team around him this year. In the absence of team leader Jan Ullrich , the '97 Tour champion and four-time runner-up who is out of the 2002 race following a positive drug test, Telekom has loaded its team with sprinters, bringing in three powerful riders -- Rolf Aldag , Gian Matteo Fagnini and Danilo Hondo , the German national champion -- who can help lead Zabel out in the flats. But winning -- and holding onto -- the green still hasn't been easy this year. After winning the jersey, then losing it to Australian Robbie McEwan of Team Lotto-Adecco and then winning it back again, Zabel surrendered it yet again to McEwan on Saturday following a faintly controversial rules interpretation. After Stage 13, featuring one difficult hill and 100 km of flat between Lavelanet and Beziers, McEwan and Zabel were tied in points and stage wins, with one each. The rules, as stated in French, say that in the case of a tie in points and stages the green jersey should go to the rider with the highest number of wins in the Tour's daily intermediate sprints (McEwan). In English, the rule says it goes to the highest number of "second-places gained" (Zabel). When a reporter from The Australian, risking the wrath of his nation and the 305 euros that McEwan would get for a day in green, pointed this discrepancy out to the rules chairman, he was told -- after much frowning and puzzled murmuring -- that the English version was "last year's" rule. Even though the rules aren't working in Zabel's favor, Tour scuttlebutt has it that the U.S. Postal Service team is. But not having the strongest team in the Tour on his side doesn't seem to bother McEwan, who is determined to stop Zabel's streak at six. "At the moment, I'm the fastest man in the peleton," he said. "The green jersey is my objective." Sports Illustrated senior writer Kelli Anderson is covering the Tour de France for the magazine and will check in this week with reports for CNNSI.com.
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