| | Associated Press
DAX, France, July 9 -- Italian Paolo Bettini, the
surprise winner of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege World Cup classic
this season, confirmed his rising status when he won the 181-kilometer
ninth stage of the Tour de France on Sunday.
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The pack rides through sunflower fields during the ninth stage on Sunday. |
For long in the shadow of classic specialist Michele
Bartoli, Bettini, nicknamed "Paolino" by his teammates, has
made a name for himself this season by playing his own game.
On Sunday, the 26-year-old from Tuscany joined forces with
underdogs Geert Verheyen of Belgium, Jose Angel Vidal of Spain
and Didier Rous of France and the four managed to keep the main
bunch at bay until the finish line.
Bettini just edged out Verheyen and Vidal after 4 hours, 29 minutes, 6 seconds in the saddle just as the pack was
catching the four breakaways.
They had parted company with the rest of the bunch in one of
the rare climbs of the day, the Montaut bump, 38k
before the finish, and held a maximum lead of about a minute.
Theirs was the last of a number of vain attempts by
also-rans to shine in this last ride before the first mountain
stage of the Tour over 205k between Dax and Lourdes-Hautacam
on Monday.
"The Tour starts for good tomorrow," said overall leader
Alberto Elli, who will sport the yellow jersey in the first real
climbs of this year's race.
"From now on, I'm helping Jan Ullrich win the Tour," Elli
added.
Ullrich, the 1997 winner, Italian Marco Pantani, the 1998
champion, defending champion Lance Armstrong and other
favorites will be tested at last on the three classic climbs on
the menu -- Marie-Blanque, Aubisque/Soulor and Hautacam.
But Sunday belonged to Bettini, who will also return to his
traditional role of helping Bartoli in the next few days.
"In the morning I thought about it. I needed to try my luck
before the mountains. I joined the breakaway to see how it went
and it went all the way.
"From tomorrow, our leaders in the mountains will be Manuel
Beltran and Daniele Nardello, but we must also play the Bartoli
card. If he does well tomorrow, he could improve day after
day," he added.
Asked which victory was the most important in his career, he
said: "Liege-Bastogne-Liege was the race I used to dream about
as a kid and winning it was a fantastic emotion. But the Tour is
the Tour." | |
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Stage Nine results
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Paolo Bettini wins his first career Tour de France stage.
avi: 1426 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Stage 9 course map
RealVideo: 28.8
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