Stage 1
Rider B: 20:00
Rider A: 20:10
Rider C: 21:00
Rider D: 25:00
Stage 2
Rider C: 20:00
Rider A: 20:10
Rider D: 21:00
Rider B: 25:00
Stage 3
Rider D: 20:00
Rider A: 20:10
Rider C: 21:00
Rider B: 25:00
Cumulative times
Rider A: 60:30
Rider C: 62:00
Rider D: 66:00
Rider B: 70:00
Lance is leading in the Yellow jersey competition. That is for the lowest overall time for the 21 stages.
He has the lowest overall time. On the very first day he was .2 second out of first place. Later on when the winner of the first day’s time trial (Zabriske) dropped out, Lance got the yellow jersey. He lost it and then regained it. Take yesterday’s stage. At the begining of the day, Guiseppe Guerini was in 24th place 33’ 14" behind Lance Armstrong. He won yesterday’s stage by 4’31" over Armstrong, so now he is in 21st place 28’43" behind Armstrong. As far as Lance is concerned, Guerini could have been 10 minutes ahead, it did not matter. If however someone who could make a difference had tried to attack, Lance would have been right on his wheel.
Different riders have different strengths. some guys are monsters in the hills, and lose time on flat stages. Other guys are sprinters and go like hell on the flat, but can’t climb a hill worth a damn. There are a few guys who do well (they may not excel, but they do well under both conditions. These are the guys that compete for the yellow jersey. For the sprinters there is a green jersey race (there are sprints inside each days race) and there is a polka dot jersey for the best climber.
The race to watch this year is for 2nd and third in the yellow jersey. Right now Jan Ulrich is 4th about 2 minutes behind Rasmussen. and about 3 minutes behind Basso. The individual time trial could change that. If Jan does well he might just make 2nd place or 3rd. tomorrow will tell.