Tour De France: Stage By Stage

Saturday, July 5. Paris, 4.03 miles.

Winner: Bradley McGee, Australia.

*--* PROLOGUE

*--*

Overall leader: McGee.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong finished seventh, a minor disappointment considering he trailed McGee by only seven seconds after the short stage. Armstrong won the opening stage last year.

Highlights: McGee sprinted through the cobblestoned streets of Paris to win the stage, although his tire went flat in the final kilometer.

*--* STAGE 1

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Sunday, July 6. Saint-Denis to Meaux, 104.33 miles.

Winner: Alessandro Petacchi, Italy.

Overall leader: McGee.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong was caught in a crash in the sprint over the final kilometer and finished the stage 107th. He suffered some bruises and cuts, finished the stage on a U.S. Postal Service teammate’s bike and still trailed overall leader McGee by only 11 seconds.

Highlights: Petacchi outsprinted the pack to win the stage, but 35 riders were involved in the crash near the finish. American Tyler Hamilton suffered a broken collarbone in the pileup, and fellow American Levi Leipheimer broke a bone in his hip, ending his Tour.

*--* STAGE 2

*--*

Monday, July 7. La Ferte-sous-Jouarre to Sedan, 126.99 miles.

Winner: Baden Cooke, Australia.

Overall leader: McGee.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong maintained his overall position by finishing 55th in the stage but lost no time to McGee and remained 10th in the standings.

Highlights: Cooke won a sprint to the finish, but the big surprise was that Hamilton stayed in the race despite the broken collarbone. He finished 100th, but had the same time as Cooke.

*--* STAGE 3

*--*

Tuesday, July 8. Charleville-Mezieres to Saint-Dizier, 104.02 miles.

Winner: Petacchi.

Overall leader: Jean-Patrick Nazon, France.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong was 69th but avoided trouble and finished with the pack in the same time as Petacchi. Armstrong ended the stage 19 seconds behind Nazon for the overall lead.

Highlights: Petacchi won his second stage in three days, winning a sprint to the finish that was also marred by another crash. Hamilton continued to ride and finished 43rd.

*--* STAGE 4

*--*

Wednesday, July 9. Joinville to Saint-Dizier, team time trial, 42.85 miles.

Winner: U.S. Postal Service team.

Overall leader: Victor Hugo Pena, Colombia.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong made his first big push for the yellow jersey as he and Pena were both part of the winning effort for the USPS team. Armstrong moved within one second of the overall lead.

Highlights: It was the first win for Armstrong’s team in this stage. Pena became the first Colombian to earn the leader’s yellow jersey.

*--* STAGE 5

*--*

Thursday, July 10. Troyes to Nevers, 122.03 miles.

Winner: Petacchi.

Overall leader: Pena.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong finished 53rd in the stage, but remained in second overall, only one second behind his USPS teammate, Pena.

Highlights: Petacchi won his third stage of the race, winning again on a sprint in the final kilometer.

*--* STAGE 6

*--*

Friday, July 11. Nevers to Lyon, 142.83 miles.

Winner: Petacchi.

Overall leader: Pena.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong was 39th but he remained in second behind Pena, only one second behind in another flat-terrained stage before the Tour headed into the French Alps.

Highlights: Petacchi won his fourth stage of the tour, which ended with another frenzied sprint to the finish.

*--* STAGE 7

*--*

Saturday, July 12. Lyon to Morzine, 142.9 miles.

Winner: Richard Virenque, France.

Overall leader: Virenque.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong finished 15th in the longest stage of the Tour and was second overall, 2:37 behind Virenque. Armstrong remained within striking distance, especially with the mountains ahead, where he has dominated during past Tours.

Highlights: Petacchi, who won four of the first six stages, was one of seven riders who dropped out on another scorching day as the Tour had its first stage in the French Alps. Virenque, 34, rode a strong race and took a step toward winning his sixth best-climber jersey.

*--* STAGE 8

*--*

Sunday, July 13. Sallanches to L’Alpe d’Huez, 130.82 miles.

Winner: Iban Mayo, Spain.

Overall leader: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong’s third-place finish was good enough to take the overall lead. He led Spain’s Joseba Beloki by 40 seconds.

Highlights: Mayo, a 25-year-old Tour rookie, won the famed L’Alpe d’Huez climb as temperatures reached 93 degrees during the stage. Hamilton continued to ride with a broken collarbone and finished seventh.

*--* STAGE 9

*--*

Monday, July 14. Le Bourg d’Oisans to Gap, 114.4 miles.

Winner: Alexandre Vinokourov, Kazakhstan.

Overall leader: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: Beloki crashed at a turn, right in front of Armstrong with about four miles remaining, but the defending champion avoided the wreck and ended up fourth in the stage, finishing with the pack.

Highlights: Beloki broke his leg, wrist and arm in the dramatic crash that forced Armstrong to swerve off the road and cut through a field, before he dismounted his bike and put it back on the road to begin racing again. Vinokourov pulled to within 21 seconds of Armstrong.

*--* STAGE 10

*--*

Tuesday, July 15. Gap to Marseille, 136.1 miles.

Winner: Jakob Piil, Denmark.

Overall leader: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong finished 45th in the stage but maintained the overall lead by finishing in the pack with his closest rivals.

Highlights: Across the relatively flat route winding through the countryside, Piil won the sprint. A group of protesters caused a two-minute delay for the peloton, making a warm day even longer. “It’s definitely the hottest Tour that most of us can remember,” Armstrong told Associated Press. “We’ve always had hot days but never so many in a row.”

*--* STAGE 11

*--*

Thursday, July 17. Narbonne to Toulouse, 95.32 miles.

Winner: Juan Antonio Flecha, Spain.

Overall leader: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: Arnold Schwarzenegger was on hand to present Armstrong with the yellow jersey after the stage, but the Texan wasn’t close to terminating his competition. He finished 29th in the stage.

Highlights: A five-mile climb in the middle of the stage and the heat took its toll on the riders as four more dropped out. Armstrong’s six closest pursuers (Vinokourov, Ullrich, Hamilton, Mayo and Spain’s Francisco Mancebo) all finished in the same pack, with the same time as Armstrong.

*--* STAGE 12

*--*

Friday, July 18. Gaillac to Cap’Decouverte, individual time trial, 29.19 miles.

Winner: Ullrich.

Overall leader: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong finished in second, but was 1:36 behind Ullrich, who moved into second overall only 34 seconds behind Armstrong. The defending champion struggled, running out of water in the latter stages of the time trial.

Highlights: Ullrich’s convincing victory, during another hot day with temperatures in the 90s, catapulted him past Vinokourov, who was third in the short stage.

*--* STAGE 13

*--*

Saturday, July 19. Toulouse to Plateau de Bonascre, 122.65 miles.

Winner: Carlos Sastre, Spain.

Overall leader: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong’s lead dwindled as Ullrich finished second in the stage to pull within 15 seconds of the defending champion, who finished fourth in the stage. The heat continued to take a toll on Armstrong, who didn’t bounce back strongly after getting dehydrated in Friday’s time trial.

Highlights: Ullrich pulled away from Armstrong on the final 5 1/2-mile climb to finish with a flourish. This stage in the Pyrenees took the riders to an elevation of 6,603 feet.

*--* STAGE 14

*--*

Sunday, July 20. Saint-Girons to Loudenvielle, 118.92 miles.

Winner: Gilberto Simoni, Italy.

Overall leader: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: The four-time defending champion’s overall lead remained slim, finishing 11th in the stage with Ullrich staying only 15 seconds behind.

Highlights: After two weeks of searing heat, the weather started off cool for this stage, which featured six climbs. Vinokourov pulled away from Armstrong and Ullrich in the stage to finish sixth, drawing to within 18 seconds of Armstrong for the overall lead.

*--* STAGE 15

*--*

Monday, July 21. Bagneres-de-Bigorre to Luz-Ardiden, 99.05 miles.

Winner: Armstrong.

Overall leader: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong won his first stage of this Tour and he did it with flair. With about six miles remaining in the stage, he crashed after his handlebars got entangled with a spectator’s bag. But Armstrong recovered, powered past Ullrich and extended his lead.

Highlights: Ullrich, perhaps, could have taken the overall lead by attacking when Armstrong went down, but he followed the sport’s etiquette and waited for the American to recover. The victory for Armstrong, which came on one of the final mountain stages, gave him a 67-second lead.

*--* STAGE 16

*--*

Wednesday, July 23. Pau to Bayonne, 122.5 miles.

Winner: Hamilton.

Overall leader: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: Ullrich (17th) and Armstrong (24th) finished with the pack as the defending champion’s lead held at 1:07 after the final stage in the Pyrenees. After Armstrong had dominated the mountain stages during his four-year run, he failed to take command of this year’s tour, winning only once in the mountains.

Highlights: Hamilton, who broke his collarbone during Stage 1, became only the sixth American to win a Tour stage. Riding with other assorted injuries, Hamilton moved into sixth place overall and helped Team CSC retain its lead in the team competition.

*--* STAGE 17

*--*

Thursday, July 24. Dax to Bordeaux, 112.40 miles.

Winner: Servais Knaven, Netherlands

Overall leader: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong finished 28th, one place behind Ullrich, but both had the same time so the defending champion’s lead remained unchanged. Both riders appeared content to ride with teammates and save their energy before the Stage 19 individual time trial.

Highlights: Knaven wept after he recorded his first Tour stage victory ever. He broke from the peloton with a group of riders in the first kilometer, then sprinted to the lead with 11 miles remaining before holding on.

*--* STAGE 18

*--*

Friday, July 25. Bordeaux to Saint-Maixent-l’Ecole, 126.37 miles.

Winner: Pablo Lastras, Spain.

Overall leader: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: Ullrich (24th) and Armstrong (45th) finished in the main pack again, but the German did manage to take two seconds off the defending champion’s overall lead, making the gap 1:05 heading into the final individual time trial.

Highlights: The flat stage was decided when Lastras outsprinted Carlos Da Cruz of France at the finish. Lastras averaged 30.962 mph to make it the second-fastest road stage in Tour history.

*--* STAGE 19

*--*

Saturday, July 26. Pornic to Nantes, individual time trial, 30.4 miles.

Winner: David Millar, Britain.

Overall leader: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: After hearing about Ullrich’s misfortune, Armstrong rode more conservatively and finished third in the stage behind Hamilton. The defending champion virtually locked up his fifth Tour title by increasing his lead to 1:16 with one stage remaining.

Highlights: Ullrich finished fourth in the stage, thanks in large part to a crash on a curve. Ullrich went down after his tires lost traction, and the rain-soaked slippery course helped end his hopes to stage a comeback against Armstrong.

*--* STAGE 20

*--*

Sunday, July 27. Ville d’Avray to Paris, Champs-Elysees, 94.4 miles.

Winner: Nazon.

Tour de France winner: Armstrong.

Armstrong watch: Armstrong’s final margin of victory -- 61 seconds over five-time bridesmaid Ullrich -- was his smallest by more than five minutes.

Highlights: Hamilton, broken collarbone and all, finished fourth overall.