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Stage 16 - Wednesday, July 24: Les Deux-Alpes - La Plagne

Published: Jul. 24, 2002

PRELIMINARY RESULTS

1. Michael Boogerd (Nl), RAB, 179.5km in 5:48:29. (30.905 kph)
 2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CST, at 1:25.
 3. Lance Armstrong (USA), USP, at 01:25.
 4. Joseba Beloki (Sp), ONE, at 02:02.
 5. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit), LAM, at 02:02.
 6. Levy Leipheimer (USA), RAB, at 02:10.
 7. Ivan Basso (Ita), FAS, at 02:14.
 8. Jose Azevedo (Por), ONE, at 02:14.
 9. Santiago Botero (Col), KEL, at 02:23.
 10. Roberto Heras (Sp), USP, at 02:25.
 11. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), BAN, at 02:51.
 12. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Sp), ONE, at 04:39.
 13. David Moncoutie (Fra), COF, at 05:04.
 14. Jose Luis Rubiera (Sp), USP, at 05:24.
 15. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita), COF, at 05:54.
 16. Nicolas Vogondy (Fra), FDJ, at 05:54.
 17. Richard Virenque (Fra), DFF, at 05:54.
 18. Roberto Laiseka (Sp), EUS, at 05:54.OVERALL AFTER 16 Stages
 1. Lance Armstrong (USA), USP, at 68 h 43:22.
 2. Joseba Beloki (Sp), ONE, at ˆ 05:06.
 3. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit), LAM, at 07:24.
 4. Jose Azevedo (Por), ONE, at 12:08.
 5. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Sp), ONE, at 12:12.
 6. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), BAN, at 12:28.
 7. Santiago Botero (Col), KEL, at 12:37.
 8. Roberto Heras (Sp), USP, at 12:54.
 9. Levy Leipheimer (USA), RAB, at 13:58.
 10. Ivan Basso (Ita), FAS, at 15:04.
 11. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CST, at 16:27.
 12. Michael Boogerd (Nl), RAB, at 17:32.
 13. David Moncoutie (Fra), COF, at 18:53.
 14. Richard Virenque (Fra), DFF, at 20:35.

5:35 p.m. Boogerd wins and almost falls after the line.

Armstrong and Sastre come in at 1:26.

Beloki comes in just ahead of Rumsas at 2:02.

5:32 p.m. Boogerd has it!

Armstrong is closing in fast, though and his margin won't be huge.

5:31 p.m. Boogerd is going to win the stage.

Armstrong, meanwhile is locking up the Tour, he has put some serious distance on the competion.

5:30 p.m. Armstrong has caught Sastre and is closing in on Boogerd.

Sastre is trying to hang on to the American. Boogerd is just 1:30 ahead, with 1km to go.

5:29 p.m. Armstrong is within threee seconds of Sastre.

5:28 p.m. With three kilometers to go, Armstrong is closing in on Sastre. Boogerd is 2:03 ahead of the two chasers.

5:26 p.m. Armstrong is already closing in on Sastre and putting serious distance on Beloki and Rumsas.

5:25 p.m. Now Armstrong has attacked out of his group.

He is flying and no one is chasing.

5:24 p.m. With 3.9km remaining, Boogerd leads Sastre by 2:23.

The Armstrong group is down to seven riders -- Armstrong, Heras, Beloki, Azevedo, Basso, Leipheimer and Rumsas.They are at 3:12.

5:22 p.m. Boogerd is 4.25 km from the finish. He leads Sastre by 2:20 and the field by 3:10.

Behind, Botero has fallen off of the pace of the yellow jersey group.

5:21 p.m. Rubiera has pulled off and now Heras is taking over the pace-setting duties.

Rubiera is off the back and Mancebo is now off, too.

5:19 p.m. With five kilometers to go, Boogerd is 2:37 ahead of Sastre.

The yellow jersey group is 3:40 back.

5:17 p.m. With 6.0km remaining, we may just see another heart breaker in the making. Poor Boogerd, who has been on the attack since km 40, is now just 2:55 ahead of Sastre and 3:52 ahead of the field.

The Armstrong group is about to shed Moncebo.

5:15 p.m. Rubiera is still setting pace at the front of the Armstrong group. Heras is sitting in third spot, just off of Armstrong's wheel.

Beloki, Azevedo, Botero, Basso Leipheimer, Mancebo and Rumsas are also there.

5:14 p.m. Boogerd is under 7km to go. Heis 3:39 ahead of Sastre and 4:41 ahead of the Armstrong group, which has just shed Moncoutie.

5:12 p.m. Boogerd is 7.25km from the finish. He is now 3:54 ahead of Sastre and 4:50 ahead of the Armstrong group.

5:10 p.m. Boogerd is still climbing, but he looks really tired. Sastre is still clipping along at a good pace. The Armstrong group is down to 12, as they drop Goubert.

5:09 p.m. The yellow jesey group is down to 13, having dropped Unai Osa (iBanseto.com).

Boogerd is 8.25km from the finish and 4:20 ahead of Sastre and 5:10 of the field.

5:06 p.m. With 9km to go, Sastre is 4:41 behind Boogerd. The yellow jersey group of 14 riders -- Armstrong, Heras, Rubiera, Beloki, Azevedo, Botero, Moncoutie, O'Grady(!!!!), Basso, Leipheimer, Mancebo, Osa, Rumsas and Goubert -- are another 30 seconds behind Sastre.

5:04 p.m. The Armstrong group has caught and passed Mayo.

Boogerd has a lead of 5:18 over Sastre. The yellow jersey group -- which includes Beloki, Leipehimer and Rumsas -- is still about one minute back.

5:02 p.m. Sastre has caught and pssed Iban Mayo.

Boogerd, meanwhile, is 10km from the top and still has a five-minute lead. He is looking tired, but may just hold his lead over the fast-moving Sastre.

5:00 p.m. The yellow jersey group -- with Rubiera and Armstrong in the front -- has passed Merckx.

4:59 p.m. The Armstrong group has dropped Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano.

Sastre has cruised past Merckx and is chasing Mayo.

4:56 p.m. Merckx has now left Sastre. They have all caught and passed O'Grady. Turpin, meanwhile has drifted off the back of the chase group.

Sastre continues to motor up the climb ahead of the main field. Armstrong and the ONCE team have caught and passed Jalabert and Martinez.

4:54 p.m. Sastre is now well off the front of the main group.

And at the back, great climbers like Frigo and Virenque are already losing contact with the field again.

4:52 p.m. Iban Mayo has scooted off the front of the Jalabert group and has passed O'Grady.

Boogerd is beginning to tire, but he is still more than 5:00 ahead.

In the main field CSC's Carlos Sastre is scampering off of the front.

4:50 p.m. Boogerd is now 14km from the finish. He leads O'Grady by 5:15, the Jalabert group by 5:25 and the peloton by 7:16.

4:46 p.m. Mmmmmmm....O'Grady has moved off the front of the Jalabert group. He's aiming for more points and at this point, he's racking up climber's points at a rate better than, say, Richard Virenque... who just barely re-joined the main group.

4:44 p.m. The peloton is now 20km from the finish. Boogerd is 4km up the road.

His advantage is 5:15 over the chase group and 7:15 on the main field.

4:41 p.m. Boogerd is now on the lower slopes of the final climb. He faces a 17km climb that averages 6.9 percent. He has a five-minute lead over the chase group and 7:08 on the main field.

4:37 p.m. Boogerd is nearing the lower slopes of the final climb. He has upped his lead to 4:57.

4:34 p.m. Boogerd is continuing to put time on the chase group is now 4:45. While the chase group is losing time on Boogerd, the yellow jersey group is closing in slightly. The main field is about two minutes behind the chasers.

4:29 p.m. Boogerd is now 4:30 ahead of a the chase group of Laurent Jalabert, Stuart O'Grady, Axel Merckx, Miguel Martinez, Ludovic Turpin and Iban Mayo. The peloton is at 6:44.

4:26 p.m. The peloton has just caught ONCE's Serrano. The gap between Boogerd and the main field is down to 6:40.

4:26 p.m. The peloton is picking up its pace. The Postal team is driving the front of the group.

Boogerd is actually adding to his lead over Jalabert and company. He is now 4:05 ahead of the chase.

4:24 p.m. Boogerd is now 28 km from the finish. Boogerd is within 9km of the base of the final climb to La Plagne.

4:18 p.m. The O'Grady/Jalabert group is now 3:25 behind Boogerd.

Serrano is another minute behind the chase and the peloton is at 6:55.

4:15 p.m. O'Grady gets his 4 points. Boogerd is still about 3:15 ahead of the O'Grady/Jalabert group.

4:11 p.m. Boogerd has now crossed through the sprint at Bellecombe (at 142km). Remarkably O'Grady is in a position to take the 4 points awarded to second.

4:08 p.m. Axel Merckx has no joined the Jalabert/O'Grady chase group.

They are now 3:19 behind Boogerd. The yellow jersey group is at 7:24.

4:03 p.m. The yellow jersey group is still about 7:20 behind Boogerd. Boogerd is now 3:19 ahead of the chase group of O'Grady, Jalabert, Martinez, Mayo and Turpin.

3:57 p.m. Boogerd is now at km 129, 50km from the finish.

He is 3:05 ahead of O'Grady and company.

The peloton is 7:35 back.

3:54 p.m. Boogerd is comfortably cruising down the Col de la Madeleine. He remains 3:10 ahead of the O'Grady/Jalabert group.

3:49 p.m. The yellow jersey group is coming down the Col de la Madeleine. This has to be one of the most technically challenging descents of the Tour. The time gap between Boogerd and the Armstrong group is 7:44.

3:47 p.m. The peloton came over the Col de la Madeleine 7:43 behind Boogerd.

3:45 p.m. The peloton is approaching the top of the climb. It looks like there will be a good group cresting the climb. Oddly enough, George Hincapie is still with the main yellow jersey group... which means that we are seeing a day with Stuart O'Grady and George Hincapie climbing better than Richard Virenque.

3:42 p.m. Boogerd is descending on his own and remains about 3:00 ahead of the four chasers... no... it's five. Stuart O'Grady, who had been caught in no-man's land between the chase and the peloton has joined them.

3:37 p.m. Jalabert takes the 35 points for second, leading the group of four chasers across the top of the Col de la Madeleine 3:18 behind Boogerd. Martinez takes third.

At the very back of the race, the Laterene Rouge Jimmy Casper is now out of the Tour.

3:36 p.m. Boogerd takes the climb and still leads the Jalaber group by about two minutes and thirty seconds.

3:33 p.m. Boogerd is now 3:13 ahead of the Jalabert group. The peloton is now at 8:03.

Boogerd will snag 40 points at the top of the climb. The second-place rider will get 35.

3:28 p.m. Boogerd continues to climb nicely on the Madelaine. He has upped his lead over the Jalabert group to 3:03.

The yellow jersey group is at 8:15. They have, by the way, spit off Richard Virenque.

3:25 p.m. Miguel Martinez has joined the Jalabert group. They are now 2:55 behind Boogerd.

Armstrong's group is at 8:20.

3:19 p.m. Boogerd is at the halfway point of the climb. He is 2:45 ahead of Jalabert, Mayo and Turpin.

3:16 p.m. The iBanesto team has moved to the front of the peloton and is now setting a much quicker pace, hoping to shed much of the Postal team, perhaps.

Boogerd is now 9:00 ahead of the main field and 2:50 ahead of Jalabert, Mayo and Turpin.

3:13 p.m. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Alessio has pulled out of the Tour, also citing stomach difficulties.

3:10 p.m. Boogerd is 2:50 ahead of Jalabert, Mayo and Turpin. There are stragglers in between and the peloton is at 8:43.

3:08 p.m. Jalabert, Mayo and Turpin have moved ahead of the sprinters.

In the peloton, the Postal team is still setting tempo at the front. Right now, Landis and Hincapie are driving the front of the group.

3:05 p.m. Boogerd is now 8:43 ahead of the peloton.

Behind him, Jalabert, Ludovic Turpin and Mayo have moved up on Fagnini, O'Grady and Hunter. They are now 2:15 off of Boogerd's pace. The remnants of the Jalabert group, including Martinez and Merckx are another minute back.

2:56 p.m. Boogerd is still cruising well ahead of the Jalabert group, with Fagnini, O'Grady and Hunter in between.

Meanwhile, the peloton is at 8:18.

The attacks have begun in the Jalabert group. First Turpin accelerates and as Jalabert picks up the pace to chase down the Ag2R rider, Iban Mayo charges off on his own.

Word on Sevilla is that he is suffering from gastro-intestinal difficulties and could not continue.

2:51 p.m. Boogerd remains off the front. on the Col de La Madeleine.

Behind him, Fagnini is climbing some 45 seconds behind the Dutchman. O'Grady and Hunter are still about 15 seconds back.

The big news is that Kelme's Oscar Sevilla has pulled out of the Tour.

We'll try to get more information.

2:46 p.m. Boogered is now about 50 seconds ahead of Fagnini. O'Grady is with Hunter and drifting back to Jalabert's group. The peloton, according to our last time check, is 7:15 behind Boogerd.

2:44 p.m. Boogerd is still on his own at the front, his former lead-group partners are drifting back to the Jalabert?merckx group.

Meanwhile the peloton is hitting the lower slopes of the climb.

2:39 p.m. The peloton cruises through the sprint mark at 7:11 behind the lead group.

After the sprint, the sprinters have faded back and Boogered is now venturing off on his own on the lower slopes of Col de la Madeleine, the steep (8-percent) 19.4km climb.

2:31 p.m. The leaders are charging for the sprint.

Fagnini jumps a little early and O'Grady plays it brilliantly and nips him at the line. Robbie Hunter is third and Boogerd... well, he is more worried about the killer climb ahead.

2:28 p.m. The leaders are now 4:53 ahead of the peloton and 1:15 ahead of the chase group.

O'Grady is eyeing the six points at the sprint mark coming up in 3km.

2:25 p.m. The leaders are at km 86. The O'Grady/Fagnini group is 1:15 ahead of the chase group and 3:40 ahead of the peloton.

2:23 p.m. The leaders are maintaining the gap over the chase group. The peloton is now 3:40 back.

2:18 p.m. At 82km, the O'Grady group is 50 seconds ahead of the Merckx/Jalabert group. The three chasers, including Martinez, joined up with Jalabert.

The peloton is at 2:15. It is led by the Postal team at a moderate pace.

2:13 p.m. O'Grady, Hunter, Fagnini and Boogerd are about 30 seconds ahead of the Jalabert/Merckx group. Slightly, behind them three riders -- Ludo Diercksens, Miguel Martinez and Marcos A. Serrano.

The yellow jersey group -- which continues to grow as the stragglers from the climb rejoin -- is about 1:25 back.

We are at 80km and 10km from the sprint.

2:05 p.m. O'Grady has now been joined by Fagnini, Boogerd and Hunter. Behind them Jose Enrique Gutierrez, Jalabert, Merckx, Iban Mayo and Ludovic Turpin is 25 seconds back. The peloton is about 35 seconds behind the chase group. They are not chasing very hard.

1:59 p.m. The Telekom rider that had joined O'Grady is Gian Matteo Fagnini. He and Mapei's Robbie Hunter have now caught and passed Boogered.

Fagnini is clearly out to protect Zabel's interests by trying to beat O'Grady at the Saint Avre sprint. That is 20km ahead, much of it slightly downhill from here.

1:58 p.m. Man, this Aussie' is fearless!

He is long off the front and leaving Boogerd in his wake.

1:57 p.m. O'Grady has cruised through the lead group and O'Grady has now caught and passed Boogerd.

1:53 p.m. Boogerd is still at the front of the breakaway group. He is 10 seconds ahead of the other nine.

Meanwhile, O'Grady is screming down the descent, catching and passing officials' motorcycles. He has been joined by a Telekom rider, who will undoubtedly try to minimize the Aussie's points score.

1:48 p.m. The leaders are still about 25 seconds ahead of the field as they crest the Col du Telegraph.

Stuart O'Grady has attacked off the front of the yellow jersey group. He's after sprint points at km 90. If he catches the leaders, he'll snag 6 sprint points, because McEwen and Zabel are no where near the front.

1:48 p.m. On the Col du Telegraph Michael Boogerd has attacked off the front. The leaders are about 28 seconds ahead of the yellow jersey group. Virenque is about 1:00 back.

1:45 p.m. The ten men up front still have an advantage of around 25 seconds. They are likely to be pulled in by the yellow jersey group, which is of course being led by the Postal squad, which is largely intact.

Meanwhile, word is that Virenque was in trouble on the Galibier and crossed almost 2:00 behind the yellow jersey group.

1:41 p.m. The ten men in front have passed through Valloire, with a slight advantage over a chase group of 40. They are now on the unrated Col du Telegraph, a climb that would probably be Cat. 2 anywhere else.

1:39 p.m. The ten leaders have 30 seconds on the main field. We are at 50km.1:36 p.m. The leaders are flying down the back side of the Galibier, already at km 47.

1:26 p.m. Botero wins the 40 points at the top of the Galibier and along with that 3000 Euros for taking the "Souvenir Henri Desgrange," for reaching the Tour's highest climb first - nice 'souvenir,' eh?

Behind him, Bruseghin takes second and then Jalabert comes through at 15seconds to take 30 points for third (no cash). He is followed by Boogerd, Azevado, Nozal, Sevilla, Pradera. Then the peloton at 1:00, led by Mazzoleni, Hincapie, Padrnos, Rubiera, Armstrong and Beloki.

1:25 p.m. Botero has jumped out of the chase group and has joined Marzio Bruseghin. The two are approaching the top of the climb.

1:19 p.m. Those nine riders in pursuit are José Azevedo (Por) ONCE
Isidro Nozal (Sp) ONCE
Mikel Pradera (Sp) ONCE
Oscar Sevilla (Sp) Kelme-Costa Blanca
Santiago Botero (Col) Kelme-Costa Blanca
Jalabert
Michael Boogerd (Rabobank)
Santiago Blanco (Sp) iBanesto.com
Unai Osa (Sp) iBanesto.com

Behind them, Tyler Hamilton is chasing, too.

It looks as though Robbie McEwen has been driopped by the main field.1:18 p.m.Now we have some action.

Bruseghin is still off the front and now nine riders are in pursuit, including Laurent Jalabert. There are 40 points and some serious cash awaiting the rider to hit the top of the Galibier first.

1:12 p.m.Of course, just as we were writing that last bit of brilliant analysis, someone was charging off the front.

Marzio Bruseghin (I) iBanesto.com has a 12-second lead on the field. A couple of attempts to bring him back have failed.

1:07 p.m.We are 28km and still the peloton is riding as one. We haven't heard of anyone simply being spit off the back yet and all the sprinter types are actually up front on this climb.

12:57 p.m.Just a reminder to American cycling fans. Live coverage of the 16th stage kicks in two hours early (according to OLN's published schedule), meaning that you get four hours of broadcast today.

12:53 p.m. We are 8km from the top of the Galibier, making the turn off of the Col du Lautaret. The peloton is still together.

The average for the first hour is right around 23.5kph.

12:40 p.m. We've reached the 20km mark and the peloton is continuing its collective meander up the Galibier. We should see a moderate 22 or 23kph for this opening hour of racing.

12:28 p.m. At kilometer 15, the peloton is reaching the beginning of the step part of the climb, but everyone is still together.

José Enrique Gutierrez (Sp) Kelme-Costa Blanca flatted and has rejoined the field.

Our John Wilcockson spoke with Tyler Hamilton this morning, who said he just wasn't "feeling so hot," today. We wish him well on these climbs.

12:28 p.m. The peoloton is at 16km, only 22km to go before the summit of the Galibier.

Still, the field is together on this climb. The details of the Galibier, by the way, put it at 33.8km of 4.7-percent grade.

12:24 p.m. There have been three stage finishes at La Plagne, a ski resort on the south side of the Isère valley. In 1984, a day after he took the yellow jersey at L’Alpe d’Huez, Laurent Fignon won stage 16 at La Plagne by 1:04 over Switzerland’s Jean-Marie Grezet, with LeMond, riding his first Tour, in third. In 1987, Fignon won again, outsprinting Spaniard Anselmo Fuerte — but behind them a dramatic battle was being played between the riders first and second in GC, Delgado and Stephen Roche. Delgado, in yellow, rode away from Roche early in the climb and seemed to be on his way to winning the Tour. But he faltered, and Roche surged, with the Irishman needing oxygen after collapsing on the line. In 1995, this was the first mountain stage, won by Zülle after a long breakaway; behind him Induráin made one of the fastest climbs of his career to take second, at 2:02, while Pavel Tonkov was in third, at 4:11.

12:19 p.m. We are now 13km into the climb. The field is all together. It's unlikely we will see major attacks on this first climb, despite its feared reputation. Being so early in the stage no one really has an incentive to blow the field apart and risk losing teammates at the end of the day due to the time-cut.

There will, of course, be a scramble to the top for mountain points and the prize for reaching the top of the Tour's highest climb first.

12:14 p.m. The peloton is at 12 kilometers, which means they are 11.5 km into today's first climb, the long 33.8km haul up the Col du Galibier.

It should be an interesting day. Other than Armstrong, one of the few men still with some fight left in him is the Lithuanian surprise Raimondas Rumsas. On Tuesday’s finale, Rumsas had no trouble in chasing down Armstrong after runner-up Joseba Beloki made a sharp attack in the final kilometer.

If anyone is likely to make a move in the latter stages Wednesday, Rumsas looks to be the strongest candidate. He still has to make up more than two minutes to take second place from Beloki, and gaining a minute at La Plagne would be a big part of that. Remarkably, this is the 30-year-oild Rumsas’s first Tour, and he has not ridden any of the high mountain passes before. He’s obviously a fast learner, and he seems ready to make another good impression.

12:07 p.m. It's a beautiful, beautiful Alpine day here. It's almost enough to make one forget the difficulty of the ride ahead.


CLIMBS: Three above-category mountains, the Col du Galibier(from 0.2km to 34km), Col de la Madeleine (92,6km to 112km)and La Plagne (161.8km to 179.5km).
WEATHER FORECAST: The day will start in sunshine with coolertemperatures (70 degrees in the valleys, 50 degrees at the summit of theGalibier). Clouds, bringing the chance of light rain, will build up throughthe afternoon, with temperatures in the high 50s at the finish. Variablelight winds.

There also tow intermediate sprints -- at 90 and 142km.

12:02 The peloton is still together at 7km.

If you haven't seen today'scourse profile, you really need to. It's going to be a tough day inthe saddle.

<11:59 a.m. Good Morning and welcome to VeloNews.com's coverage of the 16th stage of the Tour de France.

The situation as we speak: 162 riders hit the flying start marker 15 minutes ago and we are now 6km into today's stage.

The peloton is together and there have been no attacks.