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TOUR
DE
FRANCE
2002
PREVIEW
ANALYSIS
By
Peter
Cossins
25
October
2002
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Last
month
Jean-Marie
Leblanc,
the
head
of
the
Societe
du
Tour
de
France,
spent
a
couple
of
days
at
the
Tour
of
Spain,
and
it
would
seem
that
after
seeing
what
was
widely
regarded
as
the
most
exciting
stage
race
of
the
season
that
he
went
home
with
a
Vuelta
guide
to
stage
race
planning.
In
fact,
an
initial
glance
at
the
route
of
the
2002
Tour
de
France,
which
was
unveiled
in
Paris
this
morning,
suggests
that
Leblanc
has
simply
taken
the
basic
plan
for
the
2001
Vuelta
and
laid
it
over
a
map
of
France.
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Take
away
the
team
time
trial
and
add
in
more
flat
stages
to
suit
the
sprinters,
and
the
2002
Tour
looks
like
a
Vuelta
route
in
disguise
-
there
are
even
a
similar
number
of
summit
finishes.
At
3,282
kilometres,
it
will
be
the
shortest
Tour
in
the
modern
era,
although
the
races
of
1988
and
1989
were
just
a
handful
of
kilometres
longer.
Interestingly,
the
89
race
was
one
of
the
Tour's
greatest,
with
Greg
LeMond
beating
Laurent
Fignon
on
the
very
last
day
in
Paris.
Perhaps
Leblanc
looked
at
the
finish
of
this
year's
Vuelta
and
harked
back
to
that.
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Over
the
last
couple
of
seasons
Spain's
biggest
race
has
cut
its
total
distance
significantly
and
been
rewarded
with
an
event
that
has
never
been
predictable
and
this
year
was
in
doubt
until
the
very
last
rider
crossed
the
finish
line
in
Madrid.
In
addition,
with
doping
still
a
major
issue
in
the
sport,
the
reduced
distances
should
enable
riders
to
recover
quicker
and
stay
fresher
for
longer.
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Leblanc
recognized
this
after
unveiling
the
race
route,
telling
the
audience
in
Paris,
'It
does
not
make
sense
to
outlaw
the
taking
of
illegal
drugs
and
at
the
same
time
making
it
tougher
and
tougher
for
the
cyclists.'
Consequently,
there
are
stages
over
230km
and
there
are
important
rest
days
before
the
stages
in
the
Pyrenees
and
the
Alps.
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As
most
of
the
route
was
leaked
last
week,
there
are
very
few
surprises.
The
biggest
of
them
is
the
decision
to
host
the
finish
of
the
second
stage
in
Germany
at
Saarbrucken
after
the
opening
prologue
and
stage
have
taken
place
in
Luxembourg.
Leblanc
admitted
that
the
STDF
had
wanted
to
take
the
race
back
to
Germany
as
quickly
as
possible
following
the
incredible
reception
they
got
on
the
stage
to
Fribourg
last
year.
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Over
the
opening
days
the
Tour
follows
what
has
become
an
almost
standard
format.
The
time
triallists
and
overall
contenders
dispute
the
yellow
jersey
in
the
prologue,
then
the
sprinters
spend
the
next
few
stages
battling
to
take
it
off
them
as
they
try
to
rack
up
stage
wins
and
vital
green
jersey
points.
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Assuming
nothing
unforeseen
occurs
on
these
flat
stages,
the
first
major
test
for
the
overall
contenders
will
be
a
68km
team
time
trial
to
Chateau
Thierry
in
Champagne
country.
This
is
almost
exactly
the
same
distance
as
the
TTT
this
year
won
by
Credit
Agricole
in
wet
and
windy
conditions.
Gaps
between
the
leading
teams
weren't
huge,
and
if
next
year's
team
stage
is
as
competitive
it
could
be
that
we
won't
see
the
first
major
moves
in
the
overall
standings
until
the
individual
time
trial
at
Lorient
on
stage
nine.
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Brittany
isn't
a
mountainous
area,
but
it's
hilly
and
the
roads
have
a
reputation
for
being
heavy.
Expect
powerful
riders
such
as
Santiago
Botero
and
Jan
Ullrich
to
perform
well
here,
not
forgetting
Lance
Armstrong
of
course.
The
race
then
transfers
south
on
a
rest
day
and
gets
straight
into
the
meaty
business
of
the
mountains.
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There
are
five
summit
finishes
(though
no
mountain
time
trial
as
widely
predicted),
and
three
of
them
come
in
four
very
hard
days.
After
a
chance
to
unwind
on
the
road
to
Pau,
the
race
tackles
the
Aubisque
and
the
Soulor
en
route
to
La
Mongie,
which
stands
just
off
the
Tourmalet
and
has
hosted
a
Tour
finish
just
once
before
in
1970
when
Bernard
Thevenet
prevailed
after
two
trips
up
the
Tourmalet.
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| But
this
is
very
much
a
starter
for
the
main
Pyrenean
course
that
comes
the
day
after.
On
a
stage
of
just
under
200km,
the
riders
will
face
climbs
over
the
Col
de
Mente,
the
Portet
d'Aspet,
the
Col
de
la
Core,
and
the
Col
de
Port
before
finishing
on
the
16km
drag
up
to
the
Plateau
de
Beille,
where
Marco
Pantani
won
in
1998
on
the
only
previous
visit. |
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| The
Core
and
the
Port
aren't
particularly
tough,
but
after
what
has
come
before
the
peloton
should
be
very
well
spread
by
the
lower
slopes
of
the
very
difficult
Plateau
de
Beille
ascent.
There's
then
the
chance
for
the
climbers
to
inflict
even
more
damage
as
the
second
of
two
transition
stages
across
to
the
Pyrenees
finishes
on
the
white-hot
summit
of
the
Ventoux. |
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| After
the
second
rest
day
come
the
final
two
summit
finishes,
making
three
in
a
row
with
the
Ventoux
as
the
first.
Stage
15
to
Les
Deux
Alpes
is
the
longest
of
the
race
at
226km,
but
the
following
day's
stage
to
La
Plagne
looks
harder
even
though
it's
the
best
part
of
50km
shorter.
The
day
begins
by
going
up
to
the
'roof
of
the
Tour'
at
2645
metres
on
the
Galibier,
continues
on
the
Madeleine
and
the
Telegraphe,
and
ends
at
the
ski
station
at
La
Plagne. |
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| What
makes
these
particular
climbs
so
tough
is
not
the
gradient
so
much
as
their
length.
The
33km
of
the
Galibier
will
probably
be
taken
at
a
relatively
easy
pace
by
most
of
the
peloton,
but
after
that
there
are
still
another
42km
of
climbing
to
complete
and
the
speed
of
the
lead
group
will
jump
a
significant
notch
as
it
heads
from
one
climb
to
the
next. |
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| Compared
to
the
day
before
stage
17
looks
fairly
innocuous.
There's
no
summit
finish
and
it's
'only'
141km,
but
there
are
still
58km
of
climbing
on
the
road
to
Cluses
and
by
this
point
the
cumulative
effect
of
so
many
days
in
the
mountains
will
be
considerable.
Think
back
to
how
riders'
fortunes
fluctuated
on
a
similar
run
of
days
through
the
Pyrenees
in
the
Vuelta
last
month
when
several
riders
were
in
contention
heading
in,
and
just
two
were
really
in
contention
heading
out. |
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| There
are
then
just
two
more
flat
stages
either
side
of
a
time
trial
which
should
offer
a
flatter
track
than
the
first. |
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| Leblanc
said
at
the
presentation
that
he
wanted
to
offer
a
well-rounded
Tour,
one
that
offered
something
to
everyone,
and
he's
achieved
that
aim.
But
although
there
are
more
than
100km
of
time
trialling,
the
sprinters
and
climbers
will
be
happier
with
this
route
than
most.
The
obvious
favourites
will
be
Armstrong
and
Ullrich,
but
the
Spanish
Kelme
and
iBanesto.com
teams
will
be
a
huge
threat,
as
will
Gilberto
Simoni
at
Saeco.
And
let's
not
forget
Pantani
either.
He
has
very
good
memories
of
a
lot
of
these
climbs
and
at
31
he's
still
too
young
to
be
written
off
totally. |
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