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German fans get Freire-fest instead of hoped-for Zabel win

Published: Jul. 8, 2002
This is why he has those stripes on his jersey. Freire takes Stage 2
This is why he has those stripes on his jersey. Freire takes Stage 2
Photo: Graham Watson

Monday’s 181km stage 2 of the 2002 Tour de France was supposed tobe an Erik Zabel homecoming party. The script was already written:Zabel, already resplendent in the green jersey, would win the stage afterhard work by his Telekom team to bring the race to a bunch sprint and takethe yellow jersey, all in front of a rowdy German crowd lining the roadsestimated to top one million.

As it happens so often in the Tour, though, it didn’t quite turn outthat way. Not only did the Telekom man not win the field sprint, he finishedonly third and he left the yellow jersey in the hands of Lampre's Swissphenom' Rubens Bertogliati.

No Zabel-fest tonight in Saarbrücken.

Instead, world champion Oscar Freire (Mapei) took the sprintafter a hard, hot day in the saddle when temperatures soared into the 90s.Three-time defending champion Lance Armstrong stayed out of trouble toremain three seconds out of the lead in fourth place.

Huge crowds for German stage
Massive crowds lined the course as soon as the peloton crossed theMoselle River and entered Germany, and bright skies pushed the thermometerupwards after a cool start in Luxembourg.

The man they were all hoping to see.
The man they were all hoping to see.
Photo: Graham Watson

Crowds were 10-deep, even on minor, unrated climbs where it seemed morelike a stage in the Pyrenees than the Hunsrück. At St. Wendel, a smalltown that has hosted mountain bike World Cup races and will stage the 2005world cyclo-cross championships, had upwards of  20,000 people jammedinto grandstands on both sides of the road in what looked a finishing straight.

That old-fashioned enthusiasm was just what the Tour needed -- unlessyou were one of the 189 racers trying to squeeze through the crowds.

“They were unbelievable, but I wish they wouldn’t stand on the roadsso much,” said Lotto-Adecco’s Robbie McEwen. “Guys were hittingspectators. They were taking photographs and they were not paying attention to what they were doing. It was getting quite dangerous.”

Rowdy German fans rang bells, waved flags and cheered uproariously asthe peloton plowed through the Saar region of southwestern Germany. Theypushed down onto the roads, causing jitters among the already-nervous peloton.

“I saw anything from kids in the road, to tripods laying down on theroad like a log that you had to bunny-hop. It was crazy. Unfortunately,it caused some crashes and I cannot tell you how many near misses therewere,” said Tyler Hamilton, who was relieved that he didn’t crashMonday despite reports that said he did. “But what are you going to do,”he added, “fence off the whole course?”

A 17-strong group went off in the first kilometer, but peloton soonreacted. Then Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel (Bonjour) attacked at 11km.He was joined by Norwegian Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole)and Frenchman Stéphane Bergès (AG2R), and the trio opened up a gap of 1:25 by 30 km. With 98 km to go, the break had a margin of 5:05 and gobbled up most of the day’s point sprints and mountain points, with Bergès scoring the best climber’s polka-dot jersey for his efforts.

World champ Freire wins stage
With 30 km to go, Hushovd’s legs began cramping so bad he was forcedto pedal with one leg. He rode alongside the second Crédit Agricoleteam car and finished last on the stage, almost 20 minutes back. Bergèsand Chavanel were also gobbled up by a fast-charging peloton hungry toset up the Tour’s first field sprint> The two leaders were first passedby Crédit Agricole’s ambitious German racer Jens Voigt, awinner of a Tour stage last year, who then shot away on his own with hopesof winning in his own country.

Voigt held a 53-second lead with 27km to go. but there was no way Telekomwas going to let him stay out there, and Voigt was reeled in with 11kmto go. Yet another Crédit Agricole rider – this time SébastienHinault – gave it a run, which didn’t last long either.

Telekom controlled the peloton until 500 meters to go. Sitting righton Zabel’s wheel was Australian national champion Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Adecco) and just behind him was world champion Freire (Mapei-Quick Step).

“I was on Zabel’s wheel but the Telekoms were really sitting in so Iwent for it with 200 meters to go. It turned out to be a perfect sprint-- for Freire. He came around my right wheel,” said McEwen, who added thathis ailing back was feeling much better. “I was too far from the barriersto close it down.”

Freire was on McEwen’s wheel and came around his right to pip the Aussieat the line. Zabel didn’t have the legs to snatch the win and the two-timeworld champion scored his first Tour stage of his career just three daysinto his first Tour start.

“I didn’t want to come to the Tour because I was racing so hard in thespring classics, but my team insisted I come. I am glad I did now,” Freiresaid. “The most important thing was to be at the front. My team did goodwork for me, which wasn’t the case yesterday.”

Zabel found it hard to smile at the end of the stage. By finishing third,he took an eight-second time bonus, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Bertogliatiin the overall standings. He promises to keep fighting in Tuesday’s stage,which enters France for the first time in this Tour de France.

“What can I say? The others were simply stronger than me today,” saidthe six-time winner of the green jersey. “It’s great to race here in frontof so many wonderful German fans. I would have liked to have won the yellowjersey for my fans today, but I will fight for it tomorrow.”

Armstrong mellow not in yellow
It was another easy day in the saddle for three-time defending championLance Armstrong, if there is such a thing in the Tour de France.

Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service team flanked the Texan and kept himout of the numerous spills during the stage. Benoît Joachimcrashed early, but was not seriously injured.

“It was nervous, but quite easy for us,” said Armstrong, who finished61st with the same time as Freire. “The team rode well. I was surprisedby the huge crowds. I was impressed.”

Postal’s directeur sportif Johan Bruyneel said the team will ride aseasy as possible Tuesday to save strength for Wednesday’s team time trial.Armstrong, sitting in fourth overall three seconds back, could bounce backinto the yellow jersey if the team rides strong.

“We haven’t practiced the team time trial, of course, because we couldnot until the team selection was made. We’ve been practicing a little bitduring some of these stages, taking pulls at the front to practice thetechnique,” he said.

Landis and Ekimov
Landis and Ekimov
Photo: Graham Watson

Stage 2, 181 km, Luxembourg to Saarbrücken, Germany
Weather: Sunny and warm, highs in the low 90s, brisk southwestwinds.
Stage winner: Oscar Freire (Sp), Mapei, 4 hours, 19 minutes,51 seconds, 41.793 kph.
Overall leader: Rubens Bertogliati (Swi), Lampre-Daikin, retainedthe yellow jersey he won on stage 1.
Points jersey: Erik Zabel (G), Telekom, retained the green jerseyhe took on stage 1.
Climber’s jersey: Stéphane Bergès (France, AG2R)
Best young rider: Bertogliati retained the white jersey he tookon stage 1
Best team: CSC-Tiscali has stayed atop the team standings sincethe prologue.
Peloton: All 189 riders remain.

UCI jury decisions
No jury decisions.

Injury report
Several crashes resulting in injuries: Benoît Joachim (Lux),U.S. Postal Service, superficial cuts to left knee and hand; GianlucaBortolami (I), Tacconi, lower back pain; David Millar (GB), Cofidis, head cuts; Samuel Sanchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskad,contusions to right knee and elbow, transferred to the hospital after finishingMonday’s stage; David Etxebarria (Sp), Euskaltel, cuts to rightknee; Daniel Nazon (F), Bonjour, scrapes to the left hand; ThorHushovd (N), Crédit Agricole, severe leg cramps; Bram DeGroot (Nl), Rabobank, cuts to left knee.

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