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Super Dario Frigo wins stage as Tour sets off for ParisPosted: Thursday July 25, 2002 11:16 AMUpdated: Thursday July 25, 2002 12:56 PM
CLUSES, France (Reuters) -- Dario Frigo avenged a year in oblivion when he won the last mountain stage of the Tour de France over 142 kms between Aime and Cluses on Thursday. The Tacconi Sport leader outsprinted his two breakaway companions, Belgian Mario Aerts and fellow-Italian Giuseppe Guerini, to give Italy its first Tour stage win in two years. For the Italian, winner of last year's Paris-Nice and the Tour of Romandy, the victory was all the more significant as he had been one of the big names caught up in last year's Giro police blitz. Holder of the leader's pink jersey for nine days, he was kicked out of the Tour of Italy after drugs were found in his hotel room and was banned for nine months on doping charges. He returned to cycling in March and finished 10th in the Giro. "It's the most important race in the world and to win a stage is a big satisfaction, especially a mountain stage," he said after stage 17 of the race, his first Tour de France.
"Last year in Paris-Nice and in the Tour of Romandy, I had proved I was one of the best and then I had misfortunes. "Today, I showed that when it's not too hot, I can win a stage," Frigo said. Quiet day Frigo, Aerts and Guerini had broken away in the second of the day's four climbs, the first category pass of Les Saisies and were never to be seen again. In the last stretch, each one attacked in turn, but Frigo had the final say, surging ahead in the last 200 meters and just avoiding a camera waved in front of him by a spectator in the finish area. American Lance Armstrong was content to watch from a distance as the also-rans battled it out for the stage win. The three times Tour champion finished with all his main rivals, 4:36 behind the leading trio after another quiet day. With three more stages to go, his fourth successive Tour victory seems to be a formality. The Texan still leads Spaniard Joseba Beloki by 5:06, with Lithuanian Raimondas Rumsas third, 7:24 behind Armstrong. Colombian Santiago Botero, who lost the Tour in Mont Ventoux despite winning two crucial stages, attacked in the last climb to recover to fourth overall, 10:59 adrift of the leader. Frenchman Laurent Jalabert looks certain to win the King of the mountains polka-dot jersey for the second straight year. "Unless I crash and some rider wins all the last climbs. It should be alright," said the Frenchman, who plans to retire at the end of the season. But the riders should beware of Friday's 18th stage from Cluses to Bourg-en-Bresse which includes seven more climbs, even though they look less demanding than those in the three previous stages.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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