McEwen wins mad scramble at Tour; Hushovd in yellow: Interview with Lance.

By Rupert Guinness
Special to VeloNews
This report filed July 5, 2004


by AFP

Tour de France archivists found themselves blowing dust off the history books and writing a new chapter after Thor Hushovd became the first Norwegian to claim the yellow leader's jersey at the end of Monday's second stage to Namur.

In a crash-filled 197km stage that began in Charleroi, Hushovd's second place behind Australian Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo) was all he needed to take over leadership in the green-jersey points competition, too.

Hushovd (Crédit Agricole), 26, will start Tuesday's third stage from Waterloo to Wasquehal with an eight-second lead over Swiss Fabian Cancellara (Fassa Bortolo), who lost the yellow jersey. McEwen moved into in third overall at 17 seconds.

Though Hushovd has a narrow lead over McEwen in the green-jersey competition, with 68 points to the Australian's 65, he said he won't set out Tuesday with the aim of bagging points and time bonuses at intermediate sprints in a bid to defend his lead in both categories.

Instead, after placing fifth, third and second respectively in the prologue and first two stages, he wants to win Tuesday's leg, which will see the peloton tackle two sectors of Paris-Roubaix pavé.

"I will go 100 percent for the (stage) victory," he said. "After fifth, third and second places I would like to have that first place."

Win or not on Tuesday, Hushovd said that his stint in the yellow jersey will be a point of reference for him wherever his career takes him.

"Today I've become a big rider," Hushovd said after donning the prized jersey

Landis leads the Postal train

Like any racing cyclist before him, Hushovd has dreamed of leading the Tour de France for a long time. "Since I understood what the Tour was," he said. "So how many years have I been thinking about it? I don't know ...15?"

Hushovd certainly earned his newfound fame. His placings so far merit it alone. But fighting his way back into contention for the stage win, and then taking the yellow jersey to boot, after being caught up in a crash and forced to change bikes in the final 20km was an award-winning effort on its own.

Hushovd praised his Crédit Agricole teammates, who dropped off the peloton to bring him back to the main pack, which was then finally racing at full tilt after a labored start.


by Graham Watson

McEwen rockets to the front for the victory
"I want to thank the team for their confidence in me since becoming a professional (in 2000)," said Hushovd, who has been enjoying his best-ever season, which includes two stage wins in the Languedoc-Roussilion stage race in France and a couple of French Cup victories.

"I want to thank my team for today. They were there for me. When I got back into the bunch I felt very tired and it would be very hard for me to have go in the sprint. But then, about five minutes before the finish, I felt good again and thought I'd go."

While Hushovd will start Tuesday's stage in yellow, his main objective is to step up onto the podium in Paris on July 25 to accept the green jersey that McEwen will wear in his place in the third stage to Wasquehal.


by Graham Watson

Hushovd dons the maillot jaune
He listed as his fellow favorites for the green as McEwen, Belgian Tom Boonen (Quick Step), Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) and Australians Baden Cooke (Fdjeux.com) and Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis), his teammate (and rival) last year.

Hushovd said it was difficult last year, being on a team with two riders vying for one jersey, but added that there is pressure this year, too, as his team's sole contender for the green jersey.

"We are both the same type of riders. So sometimes it was hard," said Hushovd. "But when he went to Cofidis I had more pressure on me. I had to ride well. And what happened today showed that the whole team can work 100 percent for one guy."

For McEwen, Monday's win confirmed his belief, after finishing second to Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) in Charleroi, that his form is as good as it has been for a Tour.

Break, escape, catch, sprint

The stage itself was something of a procession until the real racing began in the last 40km. It was then that the peloton started to chase a six-man break that escaped after 10km and got a maximum lead of five minutes at the first sprint in Mons at 53km.

In the break were Jerome Pineau (La Boulangere), Jakob Piil (CSC), Sebastian Lange (Gerolsteiner), Christophe Edeleine (Cofidis), Mark Scanlon (AG2R) and Christophe Mengin (Fdjeux.com).


by Graham Watson

The obligatory early break
They were caught with about 23km to go, after which the tightly packed peloton continued to suffer more crashes that again left Tour doctor Gerard Porte with a long list of riders needing attention.

The worst injured among nine riders he treated from four falls was Italian Gian Matteo Fagini (Domina Vacanze), who came a cropper with 39km to go. Fagnini was taken to the hospital by ambulance with a probable fracture of the left collarbone.

However, the most spectacular crash came in the last 150 meters, just as the speeding pack negotiated a sweeping, 300-meter-long, left-hand bend that started with 450 meters to go.

by Graham Watson

Fagnini is out of the Tour
The riders to fall 300 meters from the line were Kurt Arveson (CSC) and Jimmy Casper (Cofidis), who both still managed to finish the stage.

However, it was a perfect finish for McEwen. A former BMX rider, McEwen had briefed himself on all the details of any hazardous stage finish in the Tour - this being one of them.

McEwen let loose with his final burst with 200 meters to go, just as the finish line came into his sights.

He burst from the middle of the pack led by Hushovd and charged past every rival to cross the line with arms aloft, nearly six lengths clear of the Norwegian.

McEwen's fourth Tour stage win carried heavy emotional importance. He dedicated it to former Lotto rider Belgian Stive Vermaut, who died last week of a heart attack after suffering from an arrythymia that halted his career.

"He was buried today," said McEwen, who shared his dedication with Australian teammate Nick Gates, who injured his knee in a crash on Sunday and was eliminated from the Tour after finishing outside the time limit.

McEwen also passed on his dedication to "all my supporters who will be out on the road tomorrow" at Geraardsbergen, near his Belgian home. "There will be hundreds and thousands of them watching," he said.

One special fan from Belgium was there to congratulate McEwen Monday - King Albert II.

The king received a kangaroo pin from former Australian sprinter John Trevorrow, whose claim to fame was to have beaten another famous Belgian, Eddy Merckx, in the bunch sprint for 17th place in the Grand Prix des Moules classic in the early 1970s.

A beaming King Albert told McEwen he kept the pin in his pocket and maybe it was a good sign for what was soon to come.

Interview with Lance after Stage 2

July 4, 2004

You did surprisingly well at the prologue. Now there is a long period of flat stages ahead, before the Tour gets to the Massif Central. What are you expecting from those stages?

This is always the part of the Tour that I like least. There's a lot of stress, especially this year with the stages in Belgium, with a lot of cobblestones and wind and rain. There is a great risk of crashes, so we have to be twice as careful as usual. You can't win the Tour here but you can certain loose it.

Loosing the Tour! Does that thought even cross your mind?

Hey, it's easy to loose the Tour. One tactical mistake, a mechanical problem, eat the wrong thing. You can loose this race every day.

Is loosing the worst thing that can happen to you?

Worse things can happen in life, but professionally speaking, yes. If you blow an entire year's work because of one mistake, the damage is huge. It's a personal defeat, the feeling that all of your sacrifices were for nothing.

Has the picture ever come to your mind of another rider in the Yellow Jersey on the Champs Elysees?

Of course, I have imagined the day when an other rider will win, another team. I'm a realist: it can happen any time, maybe even this year. But the thought just motivates me to do everything I can that such a scenario will never occur.

If you win a sixth Tour, you will be singular in the history of cycling. Do you think of your place in history?

It would be an incredible feeling. It's already very special to be in the club of five-time winners with Hinault, Indurain, Merckx and Anquetil. When I see them at the Tour I think about what they represent. They are so much a part of this race and its tradition and I am really honored to think that when I pay a visit to the Tour in 2020 I will be welcomed and treated like them. If I rise above them by one victory it will not change much. I will always see these great riders in a different light. It's not up to me to call me their equal. Of course, everyone dreams of making history. But before thinking about that, I have to win this Tour.

What are your greatest memories of the five past Tours?

The things that meant most to me - where the first time I took the Yellow Jersey at Puy du Fou in 1999, the time trial victory in Metz that year, L'Alpe d'Huez in 2001 and Luz Ardiden last year. These moments were rare.

What does it mean to you to wear the Yellow Jersey?

Not much. The satisfaction is in achieving what you work for every day of your life. Whether the jersey is yellow or blue or green makes no difference. It's only because it's a century old tradition that it is meaningful, like a Grand Slam in Golf or a Heavyweight World Championship-Belt in Boxing.

What do you regret about the past five years?

The consequences of winning: that my life is too busy. My life is much more complicated than five years ago, even than a year ago. In the beginning you have a simple passion - a kid that starts kicking a ball, gets on a bike or picks up a tennis racket. You play with your friends and then you get better then them. And before you know it it's a global business and a heavy burden on your family, your friends, your teammates.

Do you regret sacrifices you have to make?

No, no regrets. I always look ahead. And I am very excited when I think of the day when all this will be over. I have been a professional for twelve years and I have two or three left. It's good to know that the end is in sight.

Your reconnaissance trips to the Pyrenees and Alps were extremely tough this year. Don't you ever get tired of suffering on the bike for seven or eight out somewhere in the mountains?

This year we did more long rides in the French mountains than any other year. And I love it! I truely cherish these moments, especially when I'm riding with my closest friends like George and Eki. Those are very special moments when we are alone with eachother, all focussed on our common goal. I would miss it a lot, if that would be taken away from me.

How many times did you climb L'Alpe d'Huez?
Maybe ten times.

So you are ready for a big day on July 21?

I have a pretty good idea of the place now and we have worked out a strategy on how to attack that mountain.

Will the Tour be won there?

I don't think so. On the other hand, if no one manages to put in a decisive advance over the others in the Pyrenees it will be a great battle. The fans and the media will love it.