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| | Thursday, July 13 Notebook: Texan McRae crashes out of Tour | |||||
| By Andrew Hood ABC Sports Online MONT VENTOUX, France -- The 2000 Tour de France is over for Austin's Chann McRae. McRae crashed in the opening 15 miles of Thursday's stage to the top of Mont Ventoux. McRae's bike was damaged when he got caught up in a crash involving more than 15 riders early in the race and it took him more than three minutes to get a new back tire. When he was chasing to catch the main bunch, he clipped tires with another rider and landed hard on his backside. "There's a huge hematoma on my glut. It was total bad luck and I couldn't even sit in the saddle and pedal," McRae said from his hotel room. McRae said his first Tour de France has been a frustrating experience. He has been racing hard since March 1 and competed in the grueling, three-week Giro d'Italia in May, finishing strong in the top 20 overall. He came to the Tour tired and less than 100 percent. "This whole race hasn't been going my way. I haven't had the form that I wanted. I really wanted to have a good Tour, but I haven't been in the groups that I needed to be in," said McRae, who started the day in 97th overall more than 40 minutes behind fellow Texan Lance Armstrong. "I had personal goals a lot higher than I was riding," said McRae, racing in his second season in Europe with the Italian Mapei team. "It was a frustrating race, but I still wanted to get to Paris." McRae was looking forward to Thursday's stage. His wife Jen, a former pro racer, was camping along the course waiting for McRae to roll past. When he crashed, McRae had to sit in the voiture balai, or broom wagon, which collects injured and struggling riders at the back of the race and carries them to the finish. "That was miserable in there. We were like going 10 mph up the whole Ventoux with these horrible diesel fumes. It took forever. I saw my wife and told her to go because I'm out of the race," McRae said. McRae said he's not sure what he's going to do next. He's a finalist for the road race Olympic team for Sydney, but doesn't expect to be selected when the five-man team is announced in August. Instead, McRae plans to return to Texas later this month and begin preparing for the world championships, which will be held in northern France in October. It's at the worlds last year where McRae announced himself to the world, finishing fifth in the most important race in cycling after the Tour de France. Armstrong not new 'patron' Lance Armstrong insists he's not the new "boss" of the peloton. One of European cycling's longest traditions is the boss, or "patron," a rider who would police the going's on during the race. Some of the big patrons from year's past include Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault, both five-time winners of the Tour. Hinault was infamous for keeping the unruly riders in check. If an upstart rider would go on an attack when the top stars weren't ready, Hinault would yell at the rider and tell him to keep in his place. Armstrong insists those days are long over. "I am not the new patron of the peloton," Armstrong says. "I think the days of the patron are long over. That is from the old days of cycling. There are no more Bernard Hinaults." 151 riders remain in Tour Eight riders abandoned Thursday's stage and one rider, sprinter Marcel Wust, didn't start, leaving 151 riders in the 2000 Tour de France. It was a tough day for the Mapei team, as two riders from the team abandoned. McRae and Tom Steels, a winner of two stages so far, both crashed hard early in the stage and pulled out. Mapei's Paolo Bettini was vomiting at the back of the bunch but managed to finish the stage. Jaan Kirsipuu, the only rider in last year's Tour to hold the yellow jersey besides Lance Armstrong, also abandoned. Tour standings How the Tour favorites finished in Thursday's stage and where they stand in the overall classification: Lance Armstrong: Finished second with the same time as stage-winner Marco Pantani; 1st overall. (Earned a 12-second time bonus.) Jan Ullrich: Finished fourth, 29 seconds behind; 2nd overall, 4:55 behind Richard Virenque: Finished 7th, 1:17 behind; 6th overall, 8:28 behind Laurent Jalabert: Finished 12th, 2:01 behind; 11th overall, 10:14 behind Marco Pantani: Won the stage; 12th overall, 10:26 behind Alex Zülle: Finished 18th, 3:12 behind; 13th overall,10:46 behind Bobby Julich: Finished 29th, 6:45 behind; 31st overall, 21:08 behind The jerseys Lance Armstrong retained the overall leader's yellow jersey for the third day. German Erik Zabel retained the green points jersey. Spain's Javier Otxoa retained the polka-dot climber's jersey. Spain's Francisco Mancebo retained the under-25 young rider's white jersey. Banesto leads the team competition. | ALSO SEE Armstrong sends message in Tour's toughest stage Armstrong conquers Mont Ventoux AUDIO/VIDEO   Stage 12 course mapRealVideo: 28.8 | |||||
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