2000 Tour de France

Tour de France standings
year = 2000
gc1 = Lance Armstrong
gc1time = 92h 33'08"
gc2 = Jan Ullrich
gc2time = +6'02"
gc3 = Joseba Beloki
gc3time = +10'04"
pc1 = Erik Zabel
pc1points = 321 points
pc2 = Robbie McEwen
pc2points = 203 points
pc3 = Romāns Vainšteins
pc3points = 184 points
kom1 = Santiago Botero
kom1points = 347 points
kom2 = Javier Otxoa
kom2points = 283 points
kom3 = Richard Virenque
kom3points = 267 points
youth1 = Francisco Mancebo
youth1time = 92h 51'17"
youth2 = Guido Trentin
youth2time = +17'48"
youth3 = Grischa Niermann
youth3time = +33'57"
team1 = Kelme-Costa Blanca
team1time = 278h 10'47"
team2 = Festina
team2time = +13'42"
team3 = Banesto
team3time = +18'21"

The 2000 Tour de France was the 87th Tour de France, and took place from July 1 to July 23, 2000. It was won by American cyclist Lance Armstrong. The Tour started with an individual time trial in Futuroscope (not an official prologue because it was longer than 8km) [ [http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-3085.html Tour de France for dummies: Time Trials, Mountains Stages, Prologues, and More] ] and ended traditionally in Paris. The distance travelled was 3630 km (counter-clockwise around France). The Tour passed through Switzerland and Germany.

Before the race started, there were a few favourites for the victory. [ [http://www.nrc.nl/W2/Lab/Tour2000/favorieten.html Tour de France 2000 favorieten nl icon] , NRC] . Lance Armstrong was of course one of the favourites, after his 1999 Tour de France victory. Jan Ullrich was also one of the favourites, having won the 1997 Tour de France, finishing second in the 1996 and 1998 tours, and not entering the 1999 Tour due to an injury. 1998 Tour winner Marco Pantani was also considered a favourite. Richard Virenque finished 8th place in the 1999 Tour despite a bad preparation, and for the 2000 year he was considered an important player. Also Fernando Escartin, Bobby Julich, Alexander Vinokourov and Alex Zülle were considered contenders.

Results

The first stage was won by British cyclist David Millar, with Lance Armstrong only 2 seconds behind in second place. Of the other pre-race favorites, Laurent Jalabert, Jan Ullrich and Alex Zülle all lost less than 20 seconds. Virenque, Vinokourov and Escartin lost around 1:30 on Armstrong, while Marco Pantani lost more than 2 minutes. The next two stages were sprinter stages, both won by Tom Steels, not changing much in the overall classification. Stage 4, a team time trial, was won by the ONCE cycling team, and after that stage the top 10 included 8 ONCE cyclists, including leader Laurent Jalabert.

In stage 6, 12 cyclists broke away and kept a 7:49 minute lead, which shook up the classification. Alberto Elli, one of the breakaways, took over the yellow jersey.

In stage 10, the Tour entered the mountains. The stage, which finished at Hautacam, was won by Spaniard Javier Otxoa, but Lance Armstrong finished second and took the yellow jersey, with Ullrich in second place, more than 4 minutes behind. The 12th stage, finishing on Mont Ventoux, was won by Marco Pantani, but Lance Armstrong finished second with the same time, so Armstrong increased his lead. Stage 15 was also won by Pantani, but again Armstrong gained time on second-place Ullrich, who was 7:26 behind. On the 16th stage, Armstrong had a bad day and lost time after not eating enough. Ullrich's gap shrunk to 5:37.

On stage 17, Erik Dekker won his third stage of the Tour. Stage 19, an individual time trial, was the last chance to change the general classification, although it was very unlikely that time trial specialist Armstrong would lose his 5:37 lead. Armstrong eventually went on to win the stage, and secured his Tour win. He maintained his lead in the final two stages.

tages

=King of the Mountains classification=

ee also

* List of doping cases in cycling

References

External links

* [http://www.cyclingnews.com/results/2000/jul00/tdfrance00/stages/tdfrance00st21r.shtml#results 2000 Tour de France comprehensive results]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/in_depth/2000/tour_de_france/843598.stm BBC - 2000 Tour de France results]