| | By Andrew Hood
ABC Sports Online
FREIBURG, Germany -- It was all brats and beers Thursday in the Tour de France as an estimated 500,000 avid cycling fans welcomed the Tour back to Germany for the first time since 1992. Crowds were 10 deep on the finish line approach and every village along the route turned out to watch cycling's biggest spectacle roll by.
Homegrown hero Jan Ullrich will have the chance to shine in Friday's individual time trial, but his German-based Deutsche Telekom team wanted a stage win during Thursday's long 152-mile 18th stage.
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The peloton rides through the streets of Freiburg, Germany en route to France. |
Tired racers, burned out from nearly three weeks of racing, hoped to save something for Friday's race against the clock. It allowed race leader Lance Armstrong to easily retain his yellow jersey, but Armstrong criticized the length of the stage as well as Saturday's monster 150-mile stage.
"No one wants to have such long stages this late in the Tour," said Armstrong. "These long stages aren't good for the drama of the racing. Like today, one break went and there was a headwind the whole day. You're never going to see a dramatic race."
It was like a slow-speed autobahn on a perfectly sunny day when the race eased away from the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. And it was a perfect day for a breakaway.
Riders didn't wait long to go on the offensive. At the third kilometer of the stage, five riders went out and never looked back. Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom), Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole), Salvatore Commesso (Saeco), Jean-Cyril Robin (Bonjour) and Jacky Durand (Lotto) attacked hard and the peloton was content to let them go.
And away they went, building up a huge 27-minute lead midway through the stage. Vinokourov was the highest-placed rider in the break at more than 40 minutes back, so no one gave chase.
With 40k to go in the stage, Vinokourov and Commesso pulled off the front of the break as the two workhorses hit the accelerator and took their margin all the way to the finish into Freiburg, a university town at the edge of the Black Forest.
Coming into the finish, Vinokourov attacked hard, but Commesso reeled him in with about 3k to go. The two then started a cat and mouse game, warily watching each other. They rode slowly, weaving back and forth across the course, waiting for the other to make the first move. Coming into the final bend, the pair almost came to a complete stop.
Commesso, a former national Italian champion, made the first charge to the line. Vinokourov powered up next to him, but the burly Italian turned on the afterburners to earn the win by a tire length.
"It's great to win another stage at the Tour. Our team has had some problems this year, but this will be nice for everyone," Commesso said. "It was very dangerous with Vinokourov. I know he is strong and we played with each other. I was stronger, but just barely."
Commesso is a nice replacement for Italian sprinting star Mario Cipollini, the most dangerous sprinter in the game. SuperMario crashed during training and wasn't in the Tour lineup this year. While the burly Commesso might lack some of the style and grace of the Lion King, he doesn't lack the hunger for stage-wins.
While Commesso ruled on Thursday, it will be Ullrich's day on Friday.
If Armstrong is big in the United States, Ullrich is just as big -- if not bigger -- in Germany. After winning the 1997 Tour, Jan-mania spread through Germany, Europe's largest nation. A child from the former East Germany, Ullrich is the perfect symbol for the revitalized modern Germany.
Ullrich and his Telekom teammates appeared on the post-Tour chat show and thousands of fans cheered their every word. Ullrich lives just five kilometers from Freiburg and trains on the steep hills of the Black Forest.
"I'm really happy the Tour is here in Freiburg. This is my hometown and I hope to win tomorrow," Ullrich said.
Friday's time trial stage should be an exciting showdown between Armstrong and Ullrich, the two best time trialists in cycling. Neither has won a stage in this year's Tour and they stand 1-2 in the overall standings. Both want to win.
"Of course I want to win," Armstrong said after Thursday's stage. "I start tomorrow's stage planning on winning. Jan will be the favorite because it's his hometown."
Armstrong's lead of 5:37 is untouchable. Barring disaster, he is only three stages away from becoming the first man to repeat in the Tour since Miguel Indurain won five straight from 1991-95. | |
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Notes from Freiburg
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Stage 18 course map
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