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Sprint king Cooke edges out McEwen for Tour green jerseyPosted: Sunday July 27, 2003 2:03 PM
PARIS (Reuters) -- Australia's Baden Cooke won the Tour de France points competition Sunday after race judges turned down an appeal from runner-up Robbie McEwen. The pair bumped shoulders as they battled it out for second place on the final stage and McEwen claimed that Cooke moved into his path. But the judges at the finish said there was no problem with the sprint and Cooke took the green jersey by two points from his compatriot McEwen. "It's great to have won it," said Cooke, who first wore the green jersey after stage seven. "It was a stressful stage with everything being decided in the final sprint but I knew it was just as stressful for McEwen and so stayed cool." McEwen, winner of the points competition last year, started the stage with the green jersey, which he had taken off Cooke on Friday. Cooke won the first of the stage's two intermediate sprints on the Champs-Elysees to level the score but McEwen retook the lead on the second. "I gained confidence that I could win after I won the first sprint and the team did a great job sprint," Cooke, winner of stage two, said. "The second sprint wasn't very good and McEwen beat me but I tried to forget about it and wait for the final sprint." Cooke was led out by FDJeux.com teammate Bradley McGee for the final sprint, with McEwen tucked on his rear wheel. France's Jean-Patrick Nazon came through from behind to win the stage with a powerful sprint and Cooke edged out McEwen by a fraction of a wheel. "The racing was very fast after that and so I stayed well protected behind my teammates and waited for the final sprint," said Cooke. "It was very fast and very hard but my teammates were superb."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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