Additional
Story: A Fateful Day – Tour de France 2000
Drama was the operative word of the day. Richard
Virenque won the stage but the story came from the struggles
of two stars.
In the picture (above left), Lance Armstrong was way off the
back of the lead group. He actually bonked because he did not
eat enough while the lead group was trying to chase down the
solo breakaway of Italian Marco Pantani (picture above right).
Going up Joux-Plane Lance lost about two minutes to Jan Ullrich
(answer to who benefited most that day). Armstrong showed the
maturity of a champion and did manage to hang on to his Yellow
Jersey. The aggressive Pantani won all the earlier climbs on
this stage but self-destructed big time on the Joux-Plane.
Pantani abandoned the Tour during the next stage. This may
have been Pantani’s last shot at glory. He never really
came back to do anything significant again at the top level
of racing. Our photograph (above right) literally captures
the last moments of his storied racing career.
Lance went
over the Joux-Plane again during the Dauphine Libere 2002 and
targeted the climb as an exorcism of the demons that
got him on the last visit. He sailed over majestically. The
events leading up to our ‘big picture challenge’ had
been falling into place for days. The dominant Armstrong and
the proud Pantani were building up to a showdown. Stage 12
had finished atop Mont Ventoux, the ‘Giant of Provence’.
Not Armstrong’s favorite climb but on this stage he was
the last rider to remain with Pantani who was in fine climbing
form. For the final kilometers they raced side by side. The
Mistral wind was blowing strong and cold. At the summit finish
Armstrong
eased slightly to give Pantani the win. When Armstrong explained
his move to the press Pantani reacted violently. He was a great
champion and was simply the best that day. “Pantani does
not need gifts”. True to his
word and to demonstrate his superiority, Pantani won magnificently
and alone at the summit
finish in Courcheval
three days after the Ventoux finish. The situation created
a media frenzy which came to a head next day at the rest day
press
conference in Courcheval. When asked about giving victory away
on Mont Ventoux Armstrong said that it was a mistake to “give
the gift”. Further he stated that Pantani, although a
great champion and great climber, was not the best man on Ventoux.
Instead of referring to Pantani by name he called him ‘Elephantino’.
Back in his hotel Pantani seethed at these comments and swore
revenge.Next day
(stage 16) featured three Category 1 climbs, one Category 2 and one Category
3 climb on the road from Courcheval to Morzine.
On the
descent down from the start in Courcheval Pantani fell but
quickly remounted and regained the peloton. At about 55km
the road started
to climb gradually towards the Category 1 Col de Saises (at 80km).
As has become custom over the past six years USPS was riding
tempo at the front. At 68km Pantani launches a surprise attack,
catches and drops the few riders ahead of him and finally
crests the mountain just over one minute ahead of the Armstrong
group.
At 96km Pantani has allowed three chasers to catch him as
they start climbing the Category 2 Col des Aravis. The bunch is
still
about one minute back. Up and over the climb they hold their
lead while
behind USPS is chasing in earnest. Next the leaders start
their ascent of the Category 1 Col de Colombiere with 1m 15secs
advantage.
On the climb Pantani changes over to a lighter bike. At the
summit Pantani leads with the Armstrong group about one minute
back.
Pantani is not giving any gifts today! Now, just the modest
Category 3 Cote de Chatillon-sur Cluses separates the riders from
the
final showdown up the Category 1 Col de Joux-Plane which comes
at km 176 with just over 20km’s of racing left.The first slopes
of the Joux-Plane are deceptive as the road winds through houses
and mountain pastures. After a very fast
run in along the valley road the steep pitches turn legs into
lead. And it was here that Pantani’s dreams of revenge
came to a spectacular end. About 2km’s into the 12km climb
he faded badly and Armstrong’s group soon caught and then
dropped the little ‘pirate’. Meanwhile and sensing
blood, Heras, Virenque and Ullrich attacked and this time Armstrong
could not respond. CyclingRevealed was at the Joux-Plane summit
1km to go sign to witness the drama. Armstrong, badly bonked,
was about 2mins behind
Virenque who won this very last significant climb of the Tour.
At the same spot a totally spent Pantani accompanied by two
faithful teammates struggled past about 13 minutes later. Jan
Ullrich,
who was with Virenque on the Joux-Plane, was the big winner
of the day taking two minutes out of Armstrong and in the process
almost taking the Yellow Jersey and quite possibly the Tour.
Armstrong
later claimed that due to the intense chase to recapture Pantani
he forgot to eat and paid the price on the Joux-Plane.
Next day Marco Pantani abandoned the race and never rode the
Tour again. Our photograph captures this magnificent little
climber riding the final few Tour meters in his short and tragic
life.
Armstrong of course went on to win the Tour (again and again).
.
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