July 25, 2002 (Cluses, France) – After a scandal-scarred Tour of Italy and a
depressing Soccer World Cup, Italians have something to cheer about today.
It seems like ages ago since Marco Pantani or Gianni Bugno graced the hills
of France. With Mario Cippollini (Acqua e Sapone) absent from the tour,
Italy did not have a stage win until today. Dario Frigo, (Tacconi Sport)
capitalized on a breakaway from the USPS controlled field.

Lance Armstrong (USPS) still leads the race by a comfortable margin, and
Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali) has a comfortable lead for the Climbers
jersey – but look out for Mario Aerts (Lotto-Adecco) who stole a slew of
mountain points today. He is second in the Polka Dot Jersey competition,
but likely
too far behind to take the jersey from Jalabert. The Green Jersey is still
deadlocked between Robbie McEwan ( Lotto-Adecco) and Erik Zabel. Certainly
the points competition is one that will not be decided until Paris, by the
looks of it.

Stage 17 – Aime – Cluses, 142 km

1. Dario Frigo (Ita) Tacconi Sport 4.02.27
(35.14km/h)
2. Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto-Adecco

3. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) Team Deutsche Telekom 0.02

4. David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis 2.55

5. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 2.58

6. Laurent Lefèvre (Fra) Jean Delatour

7. Unai Osa (Spa) iBanesto.com

8. Marcos A.Serrano (Spa) ONCE-Eroski

9. Jörg Jaksche (Ger) ONCE-Eroski

10. Carlos Sastre (Spa) CSC-Tiscali

Overall:

1. Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service 72.50.25 (39.91km/h)

2. Joseba Beloki (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 5.06

3. Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Lampre Daikin 7.24

4. Santiago Botero (Col) Kelme-Costa Blanca 10.59

5. José Azevedo (Por) ONCE-Eroski 12.08

6. Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 12.12

7. Francisco Mancebo (Spa) iBanesto.com 12.28

8. Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) US Postal Service 12.54

9. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 13.58

10. Carlos Sastre (Spa) CSC-Tiscali 14.49