Robbie green at last

McEwen beats Zabel in showdown for points jersey

The final stage saw Robbie McEwen end Erik Zabel’s glorious points jersey reign, while Lance Armstrong showed his yellow victory march is set to run and run, says Cycling Weekly magazine

THE ferocious duel between Australian Robbie McEwen (Lotto) and Erik Zabel (Telekom) for the points competition, coupled with two last-minute attacks by third-placed Raimondas Rumsas (Lampre), gave an added edge to the final stage of this year’s Tour.

At the end of the 140-kilometer run-in from the suburb of Melun to the centre of Paris, McEwen managed to take both the prestigious stage win on the Champs-Elysées as well as the points competition. But it was only when Zabel miscalculated on the final corner, and got blocked in, that the Australian national champion knew the green jersey was his for keeps.

What it meant ACCORDING to five-times winner Bernard Hinault, Armstrong can win two or three more Tours de France, according to Miguel Indurain and Eddy Merckx, another two. Some of his closest teammates, such as Jose Luis Rubiera, say another three. For now, it’s a guessing game, but with no real challengers in the 2002 Tour, provided there are no injuries or illnesses, Lance Armstrong is sure to be favorite in at least 2003. Even if the inconceivable happens and the Texan loses fairly and squarely, in 2004 he would still be a huge factor in the race. The reason is that not only has Armstrong looked stronger than ever this year, his team has taken a huge stride forward, inviting comparisons to Merckx’s Molteni or Hinault’s La Vie Claire. Then there have been other changes: two years ago Armstrong was 10 minutes behind the yellow jersey at the foot of the first mountains; last year, after the break to Pontarlier, he was 35 minutes back. This time, before the Pyrenees he was just 26 seconds adrift of Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, so his rise into power and into yellow, even after the first week of crashes and the Lorient hiccup, was faster than any year since 1999. Furthermore, fewer and fewer top riders from before the Armstrong era remain in place. The end to Erik Zabel’s six-year reign in green came this year thanks to Australia’s Robbie McEwen, and Laurent Jalabert, twice King of the Mountains and France’s new most popular rider, is retiring. As for Jan Ullrich and Marco Pantani, they were not even seen at this year’s race, although the German may come back. So if it’s logical to ask if Armstrong will ever be beaten, there is another strong possibility: with so little opposition, perhaps he will retire before that actually happens.

The Brisbane-born sprinter was delighted about becoming the first Australian to stand on the final podium of the Tour since Phil Anderson won the best young rider’s competition in 1982. His Lotto team were equally pleased: this was the first time they had managed to put one of their riders on the Tour podium in 20 years of sponsorship.

The pressure had been high for McEwen. He hardly needed reminding that his Australian sprinting rival, Stuart O’Grady (Crédit Agricole), had lost the green jersey to Zabel last year on the final day, and if O’Grady’s advantage of two points before that stage had been slender, McEwen’s was even smaller -- he was just one point ahead.

However, the day started well for the Australian. While most of the riders were busy having the odd glass of Champagne or three in the saddle in the first hour, the 30-year-old was keeping a clear head, close to Zabel.

At the first intermediate sprint at kilometer 54, after Telekom’s Bobby Julich had kept the pink train well to the fore, McEwen suddenly burst through on the left to move a further two points ahead of the German. But the second prime at the entrance to the Champs-Elysées simply saw three US Postals trundle across the line, with neither McEwen nor Zabel apparently interested.

“That was because Lance Armstrong advised Zabel not to go for it,” McEwen said afterwards. “I could hear him telling Erik that it was better to wait for the final sprint, because otherwise if I got another two points it would be impossible to beat me.”

McEwen, preferring to save his energy for the bunch sprint as well, did not move ahead either, and he kept his Lotto team out of the chase on the numerous breaks that formed on the Champs-Elysées too.

Instead it was up to Telekom to do most of the work reeling in the moves, although they had some unlikely allies, such as ONCE.

The Spanish team initially had had no objections to Laurent Jalabert (CSC) breaking away on the fourth lap to show the mountains jersey one more time to his fans. Alongside the French star were Britain’s David Millar (Cofidis), Andrea Tafi (Mapei) and two others.

But when a counter-attack of 12, containing Rumsas, tried to bridge across, it was another story. With the third-placed Rumsas still threatening ONCE’s Joseba Beloki overall, ONCE and Telekom quickly formed an alliance and brought them back.

Rumsas had time to try another sneak attack just before the final kilometer, this time alongside last year’s stage winner at Aix-les-Bains,Serguei Ivanov (Fassa Bortolo).

Not since 1994, though, when Eddy Seigneur won on the Champs-Elysées, has a breakaway succeeded on the last stage of the Tour, and before they knew it the pair were back in the peloton once more. T he final sprint looked nicely set up for Zabel, with Telekom leading the pack close to the finish, but suddenly the German went off his line and found himself blocked in.

It was too late for Zabel to regain any ground so barring disaster, with 100 meters to go, McEwen was going to stay in green. But there was the still the question of a second stage after his first-week victory at Reims.

Young Australian Baden Cooke (fdjeux.com) and the Lotto rider tore past French sprinter Damien Nazon (Bonjour), and clear of the pack, and after some brief body contact, McEwen crossed the line a wheel length ahead of his 24-year-old rival.

Zabel took a very disappointed eighth place. “This double victory is going to change a lot of things for me,” said McEwen, whose next objectives are the HEW-Cyclassics Cup this weekend and the Worlds in October.

“Apart from anything else, it confirms that I’m one of the best sprinters in the world right now.And if you journalists want to write the best sprinter full stop, I don’t mind!”

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