ULLRICH HANGS ON; DRUG PROBE GROWS.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. They rode alone for 90 minutes with no other cyclists in sight. And when Tuesday's ride through the Alps was finished, Marco Pantani Marco Pantani (January 13, 1970 – February 14, 2004) was an Italian cyclist widely regarded as being one of the best climbers of all times in professional road bicycle racing. The high point of his career was to win the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia in 1998. of Italy still had the leader's yellow jersey and defending champion defending champion n (SPORT) → defensor/a m/f del tÃtulo defending champion n (Sport) → champion(ne) en titre Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (born December 2, 1973, in Rostock, East Germany) is a German professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to achieve five second place finishes, along with a fourth place (2004) and a third place finish (2005). showed there is plenty of tough racing left in him. The stirring ride to the site of the 1992 Olympics came on a day when the drug scandal surrounding the Tour grew wider. A third team was snared after police seized suspect medication in a van driven by the Bigmat team. The top-ranked Festina team already has been expelled from the showcase race and the Dutch TVM TVM Time Value of Money (business, finance, economics) TVM Ticket Vending Machine TVM Thanks Very Much (logging abbreviation) TVM Transmission Voie Machine team is being investigated for supplying banned substances. Two former Festina cyclists, Emmanuel Magnien and Gilles Bouvard, were released by police Tuesday, a day after being held for questioning. Ullrich, rebounding after a poor day, edged Pantani by less than 2 inches to capture the 16th stage. ``I wanted to show I was still here,'' he said. ``It was important for the future.'' Said Pantani: ``I tried to stay with him, but he deserved the victory today.'' Pantani and Ullrch raced the last 37 miles together. They first raced up most of the 13-mile Madelaine peak. Then they covered the last 24 miles downhill at speeds approaching 60 mph. Ullrich had lost nearly nine minutes to Pantani on Monday and wanted to cut into the Italian's advantage on a leg featuring five climbs. Only on the final flat stretch of more than 6 miles did Pantani share the pace-setting with Ullrich. In the closing sprint, Ullrich edged Pantani at the line. ``It was difficult today,'' Pantani said. ``Jan was very strong. After his bad day (Monday), he made a different race today.'' Bobby Julich Robert Julich,[1] most commonly referred to as Bobby Julich, (born on November 18, 1971, in Corpus Christi, Texas) is an American professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for Team CSC in the UCI ProTour racing series. of the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , who was in second entering the day to Pantani, finished 1 minute, 49 seconds behind to hold second place overall, 14 seconds ahead of Ullrich. TOUR DE FRANCE Tour de France World's most prestigious and difficult bicycle race. Staged for three weeks each July—usually in some 20 daylong stages—the Tour typically comprises 20 professional teams of nine riders each and covers some 3,600 km (2,235 miles) of flat and AT A GLANCE A look at Tuesday's stage of the 85th Tour de France. Stage: The 16th stage from Vizille to Albertville, 127 miles, with five climbs but only one close to 6,540 feet. Winner: Defending champion Jan Ullrich by less than 2 inches over Marco Pantani after the two stayed together for the last 90 minutes of the race. Yellow jersey: Marco Pantani, lengthening his lead over American Bobby Julich to 5:42. How others fared: Ullrich moved into third, now at 5:56 back. Fernando Escartin of Spain was fourth, 6:03. Christophe Rinero of France France (frăns, Fr. fräNs), officially French Republic, republic (2005 est. pop. 60,656,000), 211,207 sq mi (547,026 sq km), W Europe. , Julich's Cofidis teammate, was fifth at 8:01 behind. Tour tidbit: Albertville was the center of the 1992 Winter Olympics, but only the figure skating rink is still in use. Quote of the day: ``I wanted to show I was still here.'' - Ullrich, of his long challenge to Pantani to after Monday's bad day when he lost almost nine minutes. The next stage: The 17th stage from Albertville to Aix les Bains, 92.6 miles, with three climbs but ending with a long downhill. - Associated Press CAPTION(S): Box BOX: TOUR DE FRANCE AT A GLANCE (see text) |
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