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Stage 17
Steels
wins Bordeaux sprint classic
By
Francois Thomazeau
Tom Steels of
Belgium (C) raises his arms to win a sprint to the finish of
the 200km 17th stage of the Tour de France cycling race from
Mourenx to Bordeaux, south western France, July 22. Erik Zabel
of Germany (L) arrived third and Robbie McEwen (R) of
Australia was second. The tour ends in Paris on July 25.
cp/Photo by Jean-Paul Pelissier REUTERS
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BORDEAUX, France, July 22
- Tom Steels put past disappointments in the Tour de France behind
him on Thursday to win the most coveted stage victory for sprinters
in Bordeaux.
The Belgian, disqualified
after sprinting to victory in the sixth stage to Maubeuge earlier in
this Tour, outclassed Australian Robbie McEwen and German Erik Zabel
to claim his third stage win this year.
Steels won the second
sprint finish in this Tour in St Nazaire and the third in Laval, but
then had to bow four times in succession to Italian Mario Cipollini.
"Last year we did not
come to Bordeaux, which is a classic finish for sprinters,"
said the Mapei rider.
"I had already won in
Paris (last year), now I won here, it's perfect," the Belgian
added.
Steels, who has now won
seven stages in the Tour, having won four in 1998, had been unable
to stop Cipollini from making history by winning four successive
stages earlier in the race.
But he again prevented
Zabel from achieving one of his dreams.
The German sprinter,
winner in Bordeaux in 1995 and 1997, was looking for a treble only
Eddy Merckx and Walter Godefroot -- now his team director -- had
achieved in the past.
His Telekom team mates
worked hard for him, leading the sprint for nearly two kilometres to
place him in the best position before the line.
But when left on his own,
200 metres from the line, the German was unable to resist Steels'
assault, while McEwen surged at the last minute to claim second
place.
Should he fail to win a
stage in the three days left before the finish in Paris, Zabel could
make history as the only rider to twice win the points
classification without a stage win.
On the other hand, the
German's bid to become the first rider to win the points leader's
green jersey four times consecutively was boosted by the bad crash
suffered by Australian Stuart O'Grady.
The Credit Agricole rider
fell heavily about a mile before the finish and was lucky not to be
hurt as dozens of riders at full speed were following him.
O'Grady was second in the
points standings behind Zabel and is now 14 points adrift.
The German will have a
rare opportunity to put an end to his two years drought in Friday's
187-kms 18th stage to the Futuroscope theme park, as Steels said he
would save strength for the Paris finish.
"The team worked
really hard today and I think they deserve a rest tomorrow,"
the Belgian said.
"I want them to be
strong Sunday in Paris for the most beautiful stage finish in the
world," he added.
Steels' victory was also a
tribute to his Mapei team leader Pavel Tonkov of Russia, who did not
start the stage from Mourenx in the morning because of a death in
his family.
The stage was halted for
one kilometre at the start by a peaceful demonstration by firemen.
Tour de
France 17th stage placings/overall standings
BORDEAUX,
France, July 22 - Leading placings in the 17th stage of the Tour de
France over 199 kms from Mourenx on Thursday:
1. Tom Steels (Belgium) Mapei 4 hours
22 minutes 29 seconds
2. Robbie McEwen (Australia) Rabobank
3. Erik Zabel (Germany) Telekom
4. George Hincapie (U.S.) U.S. Postal
5. Silvio Martinello (Italy) Polti
6. Lars Michaelsen (Denmark) La
Francaise de Jeux
7. Pascal Chanteur (France) Casino
8. Gianpaolo Mondini (Italy) Cantina Tollo
9. Christophe Capelle (France) Big Mat
10. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kazakhstan) Casino
11. Elio Aggiano (Italy) Vitalicio
Seguros
12. Jacky Durand (France) Lotto
13. Laurent Brochard (France) Festina
14. Francois Simon (France) Credit Agricole
15. Frederic Guesdon (France) La Francaise de Jeux
16. Fabio Sacchi (Italy) Polti
17. Peter Wuyts (Belgium) Lotto
18. Christophe Moreau (France) Festina
19. Ludovic Auger (France) Big Mat
20. Jens Voigt (Germany) Credit Agricole all same time as
winner
Leading overall standings:
1. Lance Armstrong (U.S.) U.S. Postal
82 hours 25 minutes 30 seconds
2. Fernando Escartin (Spain) Kelme 6 minutes 15 seconds behind
3. Alex Zuelle (Switzerland) Banesto 7:28
4. Laurent Dufaux (Switzerland) Saeco 10:30
5. Richard Virenque (France) Polti 11:40
6. Daniele Nardello (Italy) Mapei
13:27
7. Angel Casero (Spain) Vitalicio Seguros 13:34
8. Abraham Olano (Spain) ONCE 14:29
9. Wladimir Belli (Italy) Festina 15:14
10. Kurt van de Wouwer (Belgium) Lotto 18:35
11. David Etxebarria (Spain) ONCE
19:31
12. Andrea Peron (Italy) ONCE 20:17
13. Benoit Salmon (France) Casino 22:55
14. Roland Meier (Switzerland) Cofidis 23:37
15. Stephane Heulot (France) La Francaise de Jeux 24:15
16. Tyler Hamilton (France) U.S.
Postal 25:24
17. Paolo Lanfranchi (Italy) Mapei 26:03
18. Carlos Contreras (Colombia) Kelme 26:46
19. Alberto Elli (Italy) Telekom 28:06
20. George Totschnig (Austria) Telekom 31:58
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