Meanwhile, the Tour’s main contenders looked set to survive a difficult and sunny day of tough climbs and sharp descents without incident until Swiss star Tony Rominger, third overall, fell heavily on the final descent of the Col des Limouches.
Rominger remounted and finished the stage with the main field, his right side scarred and bleeding. "Maybe it’s the last time I’ll have bad luck like this," he said after crossing the line. The 35-year-old had spent a hectic day chasing back after suffering two punctures, the first in the feed zone and the second on the final climb.
According to Mapei/GB personnel, Rominger will have his injuries iced and treated with anti-inflammatory drugs, although whether he will be able to recuperate well overnight for tomorrow’s stage to Le Puy-en-Velay remains to be seen.
In warm summer sunshine, the field rolled out of Gap shortly after mid-day to begin the five crucial stages crossing France towards the Pyrenees. While Telekom’s Erik Zabel won the day’s first sprint bonus to further increase his lead on Frederic Moncassin, Festina’s Richard Virenque took the points at the top of the opening climb, the Col de Cabre. It was on the descent that the first attack of the day came from Paolo Salvodelli of Roslotto, Rolf Jaermann of MG/Technogym, Festina’s Laurent Brochard, and Thierry Bourgignon of Aubervilliers. But that brought about a dangerous counter, as race leader Bjarne Riis and fifth-placed Jan Ullrich of Telekom, together with Rominger and his teammate Abraham Olano, joined forces and set off in pursuit on the Col du Rousset.
For a while, it looked as if the break might stay clear, but Miguel Indurain drove the chase, and at the summit of the Rousset, the peloton was back together, with Jaermann, Brochard, Salvodelli and Bourgignon ahead of the field by 2:10. By the top of the Col de la Bataille, after 152 km, the group had swelled to 11 riders, although the succession of sharp climbs soon saw the number dwindle to eight. Still ahead of the field in the break were TVM’s Laurent Roux, Mapei’s Spanish champion Manuel Fernandez Gines, Laurent Madouas of Motorola, Alberto Elli of MG, Roslotto pairing Marco Fincato and Stefano Cattai, and Gonzales himself, who, for a Tour debutante, was riding in experienced company.
With the peloton three minutes behind at the summit of the final climb, the Col des Limouches, just 36 km from the finish, it looked as if the break would decide the day’s honors among themselves. But Riis, looking commanding in yellow, told his team to lead the descent, and on the way down, as Telekom forced the pace, Rominger came to grief.
Whether the 32-year-old Dane had spotted Rominger’s apparent fluster and known that the descent might worry him further was unclear. But just why was Telekom chasing a break that was, essentially, long gone and that posed absolutely no threat to Riis’ grip on yellow? Ahead of them, the eight-man break was entering the streets of Valence, with Elli, Roux and Cattai trying to jump clear. But it was the unexpected attack from Gonzalez in the final kilometer that proved decisive. The tiny South American sprinted ahead on the uphill drag of the avenue Gambetta, and even though his chasers rallied in the final 300 meters, the Colombian, whose performance had been openly criticized by team manager Alvaro Pino on the rest day, freewheeled joyfully across the line to take his nation’s first Tour victory since 1994.
"Chepe’s" unconfined joy was matched by that of Colombian radio and television reporters behind the finish line, who immediately mobbed the double Tour of Colombia winner. "When we were riding in the break I knew that they thought that I couldn’t win," he said afterwards. "Thanks to the will of God, they were wrong."
RESULTS
1. Chepe Gonzalez (Col), Kelme 202 km in 5:09:12
2. Manuel Fernandez Gines (Sp), Mapei/GB at 0:01
3. Alberto Elli (Ita), MG/Technogym
4. Laurent Brochard (Fr), Festina
5. Marco Fincato (It), Roslotto all s.t.
9. Erik Zabel (Ger), Telekom and peloton at 2:51
Abandons: Nicola Minali (It), Gewiss; Max Sciandri (GB), Motorola; Dirk Baldinger (Ger), Polti; Zbigniew Spruch (Pol), Panaria; Oleg Kozlitine (Kaz), Lotto
Points classification: Erik Zabel (Ger), Telekom
Mountains classification: Richard Virenque (Fr), Festina
Overall Classification:
1. Bjarne Riis (Den), Telekom in 53:11:26
2. Evgeni Berzin (Rus), Gewiss at 0:40
3. Tony Rominger (Switz), Mapei/GB 0:53
4. Abraham Olano (Sp), Mapei/GB 0:56
5. Jan Ullrich (Ger), Telekom 1:38
6. Peter Luttenberger (Aus), Carrera 2:38
7. Richard Virenque (Fr), Festina 3:39
8. Miguel Indurain (Sp), Banesto 4:38
9. Fernando Escartin (Sp), Kelme 4:49
10. Laurent Dufaux (Fr), Festina 5:03