| | Associated Press
VITRE, France -- Germany's Marcel Wust won the fifth stage
of the Tour de France on Wednesday, sprinting to the finish line in
this medieval town in Brittany.
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Marcel Wust is considered the best climber in the race. |
France's Laurent Jalabert held the overall leader's yellow
jersey. Defending champion Lance Armstrong finished 25th and
trimmed 10 seconds off Jalabert's lead. But he remained in third
place, 14 seconds behind the Frenchman.
Wust, who rides for Festina, beat countryman Erick Zabel of the
Deutsche Telekom by inches. He was timed in 4 hours, 19 minutes, 5
seconds. Italy's Stefano Zanini of the Mapei team was third.
The riders, tired from Tuesday's punishing time trial, covered
125 miles from Vannes on the Atlantic coast in a stage in which
rain and wind accompanied the cyclists most of the way. Most of the
course was flat except for four climbs.
Jalabert, wearing the yellow jersey for the first time in five
years, finished in 59th place.
Wust is the best climber in the race, and to win a stage in a
sprint demonstrated his versatility.
"I'm the happiest man in the world," said Wust, competing in
only his second Tour de France. "This is proof I can win
anywhere."
In the overall standings, Spain's David Canada of Once is
second.
With a few hundred yards to go, it looked as though another
German, Jens Voigts of Credit Agricole, might win the stage as he
tried to hold onto his early breakaway lead. But he was overtaken
just before the line.
"They only just caught me - but that was enough," Voigts said.
Jalabert enjoyed some family assistance. His younger brother and
Once teammate, Nicolas, rode on his front wheel much of the time.
The Once team led the chasing pack behind some early breakaway
leaders for much of the race.
Jalabert sees no reason why he should lose the leader's jersey.
"It's been a good year for the French," Jalabert said after
his Once team won Tuesday's important team time trial. "Mary
Pierce won the French Open, France won Euro 2000. Why not think
about a Frenchman winning the Tour?"
Germany's Jan Ullrich, Italy's Marco Pantani and Switzerland's
Alex Zülle are widely considered the most likely threats to
Armstrong's title.
But so far only Ullrich has managed to stay within sight of the
American.
Jalabert's lead over Armstrong could have been greater.
Race officials on Tuesday deducted 20 seconds off each of his
Once team's riders after its manager, Manolo Saiz, was judged to
have given them an unfair advantage by purposefully driving
alongside them to protect them from an energy-sapping headwind.
Jalabert saw his victory as a new beginning. He pulled out of
the 1998 race at the height of its drug scandal to protest at how
police were searching through the cyclists' hotels for banned
substances.
He then clashed with French authorities after refusing to
undergo mandatory health checks. He was excluded from the national
team in 1999 and missed last year's Tour de France.
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ALSO SEE
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Rodriguez diary #3
Stage Five results
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Festina's Marcel Wust edges past Erick Zabel to win Stage 5.
avi: 1150 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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