Cycling fans across Australia watching the Tour de France must be wondering if it is a coincidence that the race’s main jerseys correspond with the national colours.
The fact probably didn’t escape Lotto sprinter Robbie McEwen, who was inches away from a repeat of Monday’s convincing stage win with a third-place finish that got him an altogether more unexpected prize — the yellow jersey.
Having started the third stage wearing, by default, the green jersey, McEwen’s day of toil over 210km and two tricky sections of cobblestones from Waterloo in Belgium to Wasquenal on the French border left him as the Tour de France leader.
Frenchman Jean-Patrick Nazon took the stage win, the 27-year-old timing his drive in the last 50m to perfection and throwing his front wheel ahead of Germany’s Erik Zabel after McEwen had launched his promising-looking drive too early.
The stage saw the Australians suffer in general, but the biggest loser on a day that changed nothing for five-time champion Lance Armstrong or his main rival, Jan Ullrich, was pre-race contender Iban Mayo of Spain.
The little Basque went virtually out of the running for even a podium place after a crash left him almost four minutes adrift of the main contenders.
”I got hit by someone’s handlebar and I couldn’t avoid it,” said the 26-year-old.
”It’s such a small mistake but it has ended my chances of challenging for the race. I’ve lost too much time to my main rivals.”
Mayo now sits in 101st place, with Armstrong in fifth at 16 seconds and Ullrich in 18th spot at 31 seconds, behind McEwen ahead of Wednesday’s team time trial where a new rule change means that the worst team can only finish two minutes and 30 seconds behind the winner.
The 32-year-old McEwen was all smiles — even if he knows he only has temporary ownership of the maillot jaune (yellow jersey).
”I would have preferred to win the stage, but it’s great to wear the yellow jersey on the tour — it’s the first time for me, so it’s pretty special,” McEwen said.
”I was trying to win the stage, it wasn’t like I was riding for third to try and get the yellow jersey by one second or something!
”In the finish I was a little bit far back. With a kilometre-and-a-half to go it was kind of difficult to move up, but when I found a gap I decided to go and in the end it was just a little bit too far.
”Nazon came well out of the wheels on the right and he was able to pass me — he was very strong today.
”The temptation sometimes is once you get past to sit up and just stop sprinting, but I knew then that even though I’d been beaten for the stage I could still salvage something, and by taking third I was able to get the jersey.”
Frenchman Nazon, meanwhile, picked up his AG2R team’s second win on the race following Jaan Kirsipuu’s close-run victory on stage one.
The 27-year-old sprinter, the winner on the Champs Elysees last year, immediately dedicated his victory to his family, and especially his brother Damien whose recent injury woes meant he was left out of the Credit Agricole’s team for the Tour.
”We’ve been consistent since the start of the Tour, which can only be positive,” said Nazon.
”I spoke with Jaan [Kirsipuu] today before the stage and we agreed that if I was in the best position that it would be me going for the sprint. It was a very physical stage, maybe that’s why I won today.”
Despite the early stage of the race, the battle for the green jersey now looks to be launched.
McEwen, the winner in 2002, had been wearing it before the start of Tuesday’s stage because Hushovd, the points classification leader, was wearing yellow.
At the start of Wednesday’s 65km time trial from Cambrai to Arras, the roles will be reversed. Hushovd, who is second in the points table (85) behind McEwen (93), will wear the green as the Belgium-based Aussie from Brisbane enjoys a brief stint as the leader.
It proved a tough day of riding for Australians on Tuesday.
Veteran Scott Sunderland, with the Alessio team, was next best behind McEwen, at three minutes and 53 seconds adrift as the 37-year-old came in with the main bunch of riders.
Also in that group was Stuart O’Grady, who is still looking for a little bit of luck having come into the race on great form, Michael Rogers, who was involved in the crash that brought down Mayo, and Liberty sprinter Allan Davis.
Aussie champion Matthew Wilson, of Fdjeux.com, came in in that same group next to Kiwi Julian Dean, of Credit Agricole, while Wilson’s teammate Baden Cooke, the green-jersey winner last year, arrived at nine minutes off the winning pace just in front of Bradley McGee. — Sapa-AFP