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Colombian climber Botero wins stage 15 of Tour de FrancePosted: Tuesday July 23, 2002 9:44 AMUpdated: Tuesday July 23, 2002 1:03 PM
LES DEUX ALPES, France (Reuters) -- Colombian Santiago Botero, punished by American Lance Armstrong in the Pyrenees and the Mont Ventoux, earned a consolation win in the first Tour de France stage held in the Alps on Tuesday. The Kelme team leader, who had handed defending champion Armstrong his first defeat in a long time trial a week ago over 55 kilometers in Brittany, won his second stage this year between Vaison-la-Romaine and Les Deux Alpes. Belgians Mario Aerts and Axel Merckx finished second and third. Armstrong, irked in the last kilometer by his leading rivals Joseba Beloki and Raimondas Rumsas, finished six minuets 41 seconds behind the Colombian and comfortably retained his overall leader's yellow jersey. A disappointing 18th at the start, 18 minutes and 53 seconds behind Armstrong, Botero chose the longest stage of the Tour, over 226.5 kms, to make amends. "Two days ago in the Ventoux, I had a very bad day but today I felt fine and I decided to go for a stage win," said Botero, who climbed back to seventh in the overall standings, 11:31 behind Armstrong. "I had mechanical problems in the Ventoux and dehydration. This is a good revenge," he added. "I had never lost hope of winning a stage despite losing ground in the Ventoux.
"After the Ventoux, I was obsessed with winning this stage and when I saw there was a breakaway, I went. I was so disappointed about my race two days ago. You have a bad day and eight months of hard work vanish. "But it's better to win a stage than to be fourth in the final standings." Crowned king of the mountains in 2000, Botero had since specialized more in time trials but he showed in the long ride to the first Alpine passes that he had kept some of his climber's abilities. Classic climbs He broke away in the first bump of the day, the category three Premol pass, with Belgian Mario Aerts. The two were quickly joined by five other riders -- Frenchmen Emmanuel Magnien and Sandy Casar, Spaniard Vicente Garcia Acosta, Slovenia's Martin Hvastija and Belgian Axel Merckx. The main bunch, including Armstrong and all the other Tour contenders did not react and the seven held a maximum lead of 13 minutes. In the last climb, the favorites, sticking together until the red flame indicating the last kilometer, made up for some lost time. Beloki and Lithuanian Raimondas Rumsas, third overall, tried to attack in the last five hundred meters to catch Armstrong off guard. But the move came too late, the American easily reacted and the Tour leading trio finished in the same time, 6:41 behind Botero. "Today was a bit long, but we had no problems," Armstrong said. "Les Deux Alpes is not a very hard climb, it's not a climb on which you can break away. "Tomorrow is much harder, it's the classic climbs of the Tour," the American added. Botero may have beaten Lance Armstrong twice during this year's Tour but the Colombian rider has no illusions about where he stands compared with the three times champion. "Lance Armstrong is simply the best cyclist in the world," said Botero. "He has incredible mental strength and it is very hard to beat him," he said. Asked which of the two stage victories had made him happier, he said: "They were both great. When I won the time trial, we celebrated late into the night and shouted as if Colombia had scored a goal in the (soccer) World Cup final." With three stage wins in the Tour -- he had won in Briancon, near Les Deux Alpes, in 2000 -- Botero has now joined Lucho Herrera as his country's most successful rider in the Tour. But he would not be compared to the first great Colombian rider. "You can't make comparisons from one period to the other. I'm a very different rider. Lucho was climber, one of the best ever. "I'm more of an all-rounder," he said. Wednesday's stage is much shorter, only 179.5 kms, but includes three super category climbs, the Galibier, Madeleine and La Plagne climbs. Credit Agricole leader Christophe Moreau of France, who was fourth overall two years ago, ended his nightmare Tour when he gave up 60 kilometers into the stage. The Frenchman, who had crashed three times previously, fell on his face and was forced out with deep cuts to his lips. It was Moreau's fourth crash in this year's Tour -- he fell twice in the first stage. The Credit Agricole leader was also given a two-minute penalty and fined after fighting with Spain's Carlos Sastre during the 12th stage.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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