Lance Armstrong himself called it “the year of the team,” a team who would let him ride into Paris wearing the coveted “maillot jaune” for a fourth consecutive year. A hand-picked group of international riders, each with individual talents and attributes that combined, could take care of anything thrown at their leader. Armstrong added “I need protection on the flats, in the mountains, and throughout, and I get it. People are calling these guys the best team in the history of cycling.”
Indeed, Armstrong and his U.S Postal team (USPS) arrived at the tour as the perennial favourites, but opportunists loomed on every team, waiting for the first arrow to draw blood. With this in mind, Armstrong, the 189th rider off the prologue ramp, was certainly eager to showcase his form and stamp his authority on the 2002 Tour de France. Cruising at a 45-kph average, Armstrong bested French darling Laurent Jalabert (CSC) by 1.73 seconds to don his favourite colour, yellow.
The first 10 stages are reserved for breakaways and sprints, as the terrain is predominately flat to rolling. In these stages, the job of the USPS team was to take care of Armstrong by sheltering him from the wind and keeping him at the front of the peleton. The inevitable crash happened on stage 7, when Armstrong and teammate Roberto Heras were taken down from behind near the end of the stage. Armstrong ultimately lost 27 seconds, dropping him from third to eighth overall.
This year's fast men included world champion Oscar Freire (Mapei), six-time green-jersey winner Germany's Erik Zabel (Telekom), Lithuanian Jan Kirsipuu (AG2R), and Aussies Robbie McEwen (Lotto) and Brad McGee (FDjeux). All of these men took at least one stage win in the first week, with McEwen winning enough points to don the green sprinter's jersey.
The eagerly anticipated team time trial reared its head on stage 4 as the teams battled a 67.5K course. The ONCE-Eroski team of Joseba Beloki (who placed third overall), Abraham Olano, and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano ripped through with an average speed of 50.74 kph, beating the USPS boys by 16 seconds and Jalabert and Tyler Hamilton's CSC team by 46 seconds. More importantly, this put Gonzalez de Galdeano in yellow and the ONCE-Eroski team in charge now that all of their men were in the top-10 overall.
The next important test came on stage 9, where the riders faced a 53K individual time trial. A rare loss by Armstrong to Columbian Santiago Botero of Kelme breathed some life into a race that Armstrong seemed destined to dominate. Botero announced post-stage, “Sure, I knew Armstrong was strong, but I'm a good rider too.” The yellow jersey of Gonzalez de Galdeano was only eight seconds down and thus still safe with the Spanish ONCE boys.
In stage 11, the riders traveled from Pau to La Mongie in the Pyrenees mountains, where the true test began. Encompassing the feared Col de Aubisque and the Col de Tourmalet, the USPS team set a fast tempo up these climbs, trying to distance Armstrong from his rivals. With only 200 metres to go, Spaniard super domestique Heras of USPS had shed all but the talented Spaniard Beloki, so Armstrong attacked violently for his 13th career TDF stage win and in doing so deposed the ONCE-Eroski team of their yellow jersey as Gonzalez de Galdeano dropped to third. The USPS plan also put time into Kelme threat Botero, who lost two minutes and dropped to fifth overall.
Stage 12 offered more of the same as Armstrong had great help up the 18K Plateau de Beille climb while he attacked and left everyone, including Beloki, to notch up another stage win. Residing nearby in Gerona, Armstrong knew the climb very well and orchestrated his move with the patented two-to-three-kilometre-to-go launch.
The final day in the Pyrenees included the famed and feared Mont Ventoux climb, where more than a quarter-million people awaited the riders on the mountain. A 21K test, Armstrong passed in 58 minutes, behind the peoples' choice Richard Virenque of Domo Farm Frites. Virenque was part of an early breakaway that disintegrated on the slopes of Ventoux, leaving Virenque to win by two minutes. Again, Armstrong put time into all his challengers, despite his powerful USPS team running out of gas by chasing early breaks all day and leaving him alone on the mountain. At this point, Armstrong now led by 4:21 over Beloki and Lithuanian Raimondas Rumsas of the Lampre team, who surprised more than a few with his climbing prowess.
After a much-deserved rest day, the riders faced yet another mountain stage from Vaison to Les Deux Alpes. Playing it safe, the yellow jersey and USPS team came in more than six minutes down, as they let Botero (who had lost 15 minutes on Ventoux) and other low-placed riders battle it out. Botero took the win, and Armstrong waited for more attacks.
Stage 16 included three “hors categorie” climbs, a title reserved for giant mountain passes. The stage had many protagonists, but none who were battling for the overall. Michael Boogerd, the talented Dutchman riding for Rabobank, solo'ed for the final 90 kilometres, outlasting Armstrong, who again left his rivals on the slopes as he chased after Boogerd, finishing 1:25 back in third, behind CSC's Carlos Sastre. How punishing was the stage? Seventy-three riders were pardoned as they were outside the time limit. Talented Spaniard and 2001 Best Young Rider Oscar Sevilla of Kelme abandoned with stomach problems, leaving one less rider to challenge USPS. With only four days left in the race, the next two mountain stages had many riders looking for an opportunity to steal the spotlight. Dario Frigo, the Italian who gained prominence by being thrown out for drug use while leading in last year's Giro, went on the attack. Leaving behind former Alpe d'Huez stage winner Giuseppe Guerinni of Telekom, Frigo was the first to race the 142 kilometres from Aime to Cluses. Other notables included Botero, who snuck away near the end to gain a minute and move back to fourth behind Rumsas.
Stage 18 was the final mountain stage, where an ominous 18K climb hurt already-tired legs. Only four kilometres into the 176K stage, a group of 10 riders rode away, never to be challenged between Cluses and Bourg en Bresse. Credit Agricoles strongman Norwegian Thor Hushovd claimed the win, with Armstrong's group cruising in 11 minutes in the rear. Interestingly enough, Hushovd was granted leniency in the first stage after heat cramps put him outside the time limit.
The Tour unofficially ended with a 50K time trial raced in Beaujolais through the famed vineyards of Burgundy. Averaging 47 kph, Armstrong seemed set for redemption, as the press had made the most of his earlier time- trial loss. Beating Rumsas by 52 seconds, Armstrong won his fourth stage and extended his overall by 7:17 over Beloki and 8:17 over Rumsas. The “finale” in Paris up the Champs Elysées is usually a parade of sorts, with all of the jersey winners leading a tired bunch of exceptional athletes up the famous boulevard. But as happened last year, the green sprinter's jersey was still up for grabs. In the same scenario as 2001, Zabel was poised to take his seventh straight title from an Australian rider. But this time, the Aussie was quicker, a lot quicker, as McEwen, the “McPocket Rocket,” kept the jersey, winning the coveted last stage on the Champs Elysées.
On numerous occasions, Armstrong reiterated that “there's always something to worry about in the Tour,” referring to the many obstacles that can arise within such a race. Now that he's won his fourth Tour de France perhaps he can borrow a line of advice from the Aussies' race bible-“No worries”-because to the rest of us, Armstrong looks unstoppable.
Tour de France 2002
July 6-28, 2002
1. Lance Armstrong (USA/US Postal Service) 82.05.12 (39.88 kph average); 2. Joseba Beloki (SPA/ONCE-Eroski) 7.17; 3. Raimondas Rumsas (LTU/Lampre Daikin) 8.17; 4. Santiago Botero (COL/Kelme-Costa Blanca) 13.10; 5. Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (SPA/ONCE-Eroski) 13.54; 6. José Azevedo (POR/ONCE-Eroski) 15.44; 7. Francisco Mancebo (SPA/iBanesto.com) 16.05; 8. Levi Leipheimer (USA/Rabobank) 17.11; 9. Roberto Heras Hernandez (SPA/US Postal Service) 17.12; 10. Carlos Sastre (SPA/CSC-Tiscali) 19.05.
Final Jersey Winners
Green – Points classification: Robbie McEwen (AUS/Lotto-Adecco); Polka Dot – Mountains classification: Laurent Jalabert (FRA/CSC-Tiscali); Red Number – Most combative rider: Laurent Jalabert (FRA/CSC-Tiscali); White Jersey – Best young rider: Ivan Basso (ITA/Fassa Bortolo)
Teams
1. ONCE-Eroski 246.36.14; 2. USPS 22.49; 3. CSC 30.17; 4. Banesto 34.06; 5. Cofidis 36.19.