2003 Tour de France

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2003 final standings
Overall	Lance Armstrong	83h 41' 12"
Second	Jan Ullrich	+1' 01"
Third	Alexander Vinokourov	+4' 14"
Points	Baden Cooke	216 points
Second	Robbie McEwen	214 points
Third	Erik Zabel	188 points
Climber	Richard Virenque	324 points
Second	Laurent Dufaux	187 points
Third	Lance Armstrong	168 points
Youth	Denis Menchov	84h 00' 56"
Second	Mikel Astarloza	+42' 29"
Third	Juan Miguel Mercado	+1h 02' 48"
Teams	Team CSC	248h 18' 18"
Second	Ibanesto.com	+21' 46"
Third	Euskaltel-Euskadi	+44' 59"

The Tour de France of 2003 started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,350 km (2081.58 mi), proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages. Due to the centennial celebration, this edition of the tour was raced entirely in France and did not enter neighboring countries.

In the centenary year of the race the route recreated, in part, that of 1903. There was a special Centenaire Classement prize for the best-placed in each of the six stage finishes which match the 1903 tour - Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and Paris. It was won by Stuart O'Grady, with Thor Hushovd in second place. The 2003 Tour was honored with the Prince of Asturias Award for Sport.

Of the 198 riders the favorite was again Lance Armstrong, aiming for a record equalling fifth win. Before the race, it was believed that his main rivals would include Iban Mayo, Aitor González, Tyler Hamilton, Ivan Basso, Gilberto Simoni, Jan Ullrich, and Joseba Beloki but Armstrong was odds-on favorite.

1 Overview
2 Stages
- 2.1 Jersey progress
3 Results
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Overview

Laiseka, Basso, Hamilton, Armstrong, Beloki and Zubeldia riding up to Alpe d'Huez

The Tour proved to be one more hotly contested than the previous years, but in the end it was indeed Armstrong who won. Tyler Hamilton and Levi Leipheimer were involved in a crash early in the Tour. Leipheimer dropped out, Hamilton continued and got fourth place in the end while riding with a broken collarbone.

In the Alps, Gilberto Simoni and Stefano Garzelli, first and second in the Giro d'Italia earlier the same year, could not keep up with Lance Armstrong and the other favorites. The same held for last year's number 4, Santiago Botero. Joseba Beloki could, and was in second-place overall (just 40 seconds behind Armstrong) when he crashed on a fast descent as a result of a blown tire caused by melting tar in the road. Beloki broke his right femur and had to leave the Tour. Armstrong made a daring detour through the field beside the road to avoid the fallen Beloki. If Armstrong could ever be defeated in his seven Tour de France victories, Beloki had most potential of doing so in 2003. Armstrong was in yellow, but Jan Ullrich won the first time trial by one minute and 36 seconds. He and Alexander Vinokourov were both within very short distance from Armstrong.

Armstrong did however withstand the attacks in the end, and took his fifth Tour de France in row, thereby equalling the record of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. Before him, only Indurain had won in five consecutive years. Lance Armstrong had never won a tour by less than six minutes, so this was the first time it really went down to the wire.

[edit] Stages

Stages

For detailed results, see: Prologue to Stage 9 and Stage 10 to Stage 20.

Stage	Route	Distance	Type	Date
Prologue	Paris - Paris	6.5 km	Individual time trial	Saturday, July 5
1	Saint-Denis/Montgeron - Meaux	168 km		Sunday, July 6
2	La Ferté-sous-Jouarre - Sedan	204.5 km		Monday, July 7
3	Charleville-Mézières - Saint-Dizier	167.5 km		Tuesday, July 8
4	Joinville - Saint-Dizier	69 km	Team time trial	Wednesday, July 9
5	Troyes - Nevers	196.5 km		Thursday, July 10
6	Nevers - Lyon	230 km		Friday, July 11
7	Lyon - Morzine	230.5 km	Mountain stage	Saturday, July 12
8	Sallanches - L'Alpe d'Huez	219 km	Mountain stage	Sunday, July 13
9	Le Bourg-d'Oisans - Gap	184.5 km	Mountain stage	Monday, July 14
10	Gap - Marseille	219.5 km		Tuesday, July 15
-	Rest day			Wednesday, July 16
11	Narbonne - Toulouse	153.5 km		Thursday, July 17
12	Gaillac - Cap' Découverte	47 km	Individual time trial	Friday, July 18
13	Toulouse (Cité de l'Espace) - Plateau de Bonascre	197.5 km	Mountain stage	Saturday, July 19
14	Saint-Girons - Loudenvielle	191.5 km	Mountain stage	Sunday, July 20
15	Bagnères-de-Bigorre - Luz-Ardiden	159.5 km	Mountain stage	Monday, July 21
-	Rest day			Tuesday, July 22
16	Pau - Bayonne	197.5 km	Mountain stage	Wednesday, July 23
17	Dax - Bordeaux	181 km		Thursday, July 24
18	Bordeaux - Saint-Maixent-l'École	203.5 km		Friday, July 25
19	Pornic - Nantes	49 km	Individual time trial	Saturday, July 26
20	Ville-d'Avray - Paris Champs-Élysées	152 km		Sunday, July 27

3268 kl total

[edit] Jersey progress

notes

(1)=In stage 1, Bradley McGee (winner of the prologue) wore the yellow jersey, and David Millar wore the green jersey.
(2)=In stage 7, Richard Virenque wore the yellow jersey, and Rolf Aldag wore the polka-dot jersey.

[edit] Results

[edit] General classification

Rank	Name	Country	Team	Time Ave. Speed
1	Lance Armstrong	United States	U.S. Postal Service	83h 41' 12" (40.94 km/h)
2	Jan Ullrich	Germany	Team Bianchi	1' 01"
3	Alexander Vinokourov	Kazakhstan	Team Telekom	4' 14"
4	Tyler Hamilton	United States	Team CSC	6' 17"
5	Haimar Zubeldia	Spain	Euskaltel-Euskadi	6' 51"
6	Iban Mayo	Spain	Euskaltel-Euskadi	7' 06"
7	Ivan Basso	Italy	Fassa Bortolo	10' 12"
8	Christophe Moreau	France	Crédit Agricole	12' 28"
9	Carlos Sastre	Spain	Team CSC	18' 49"
10	Francisco Mancebo	Spain	Ibanesto.com	19' 15"

[edit] Points classification

Rank	Name	Country	Team	Points
1	Baden Cooke	Australia	FDjeux.com	216
2	Robbie McEwen	Australia	Lotto	214
3	Erik Zabel	Germany	Team Telekom	188
4	Thor Hushovd	Norway	Crédit Agricole	173
5	Luca Paolini	Italy	Quick Step	156
6	Jean-Patrick Nazon	France	Jean Delatour	154
7	Stuart O'Grady	Australia	Crédit Agricole	153
8	Fabrizio Guidi	Italy	Team Bianchi	122
9	Jan Ullrich	Germany	Team Bianchi	112
10	Damien Nazon	France	Brioches	107

[edit] King of the Mountains classification

Rank	Name	Country	Team	Points
1	Richard Virenque	France	Quick-Step	324
2	Laurent Dufaux	Switzerland	Alessio	187
3	Lance Armstrong	United States	U.S. Postal Service	168
4	Christophe Moreau	France	Crédit Agricole	137
5	Juan Miguel Mercado	Spain	Ibanesto.com	136
6	Iban Mayo	Spain	Euskaltel-Euskadi	130
7	Haimar Zubeldia	Spain	Euskaltel-Euskadi	125
8	Jan Ullrich	Germany	Team Bianchi	124
9	Tyler Hamilton	United States	Team CSC	116
10	Paolo Bettini	Italy	Quick-Step	100

[edit] Team classification

The team classification is based on the combined overall time of the team's top three riders.

Rank	Team	Time
1	Team CSC	248h 18' 18"
2	Ibanesto.com	21' 46"
3	Euskaltel-Euskadi	44' 59"
4	U.S. Postal	45' 53"
5	Team Bianchi	1h 12' 40"

[edit] Combativity classification

Rank	Name	Country	Team
1	Alexander Vinokourov	Kazakhstan	Team Telekom

[edit] Youth classification

The youth classification tracks the best riders under 25 years old in the Tour de France

Rank	Name	Country	Team	Time
1	Denis Menchov	Russia	Ibanesto.com	84h 0' 56"
2	Mikel Astarloza	Spain	AG2R	42' 29"
3	Juan Miguel Mercado	Spain	Ibanesto.com	1h 02' 48"
4	Sylvain Chavanel	France	Brioches	1h 5' 17"
5	Andy Flickinger	France	AG2R	1h 9' 09"

[edit] Centenaire classification

Rank	Name	Country	Team	Points
1	Stuart O'Grady	Australia	Crédit Agricole	82
2	Thor Hushovd	Norway	Crédit Agricole	86
3	Fabrizio Guidi	Italy	Team Bianchi	103
4	Luca Paolini	Italy	Quick-Step	118
5	Gerrit Glomser	Austria	Saeco	123