2000 Tour de France

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Race details
Dates		July 1–July 23, 2000
Stages		21
Distance		3,662 km (2,275 mi)
Winning time		92h 33' 08"[1] (39.556 km/h/24.579 mph)
Palmarès
	Winner	Lance Armstrong	(US Postal)
	Second	Jan Ullrich	(Team Telekom)
	Third	Joseba Beloki	(Festina)
	Points	Erik Zabel	(Team Telekom)
	Mountains	Santiago Botero	(Kelme-Costa Blanca)
	Youth	Francisco Mancebo	(Banesto)
	Team	Kelme-Costa Blanca

The 2000 Tour de France was the 87th Tour de France, and took place from July 1 to July 23, 2000. It was won by American cyclist Lance Armstrong. The Tour started with an individual time trial in Futuroscope (not an official prologue because it was longer than 8 km)^[2] and ended traditionally in Paris. The distance travelled was 3630 km (counter-clockwise around France). The Tour passed through Switzerland and Germany.

Before the race started, there were a few favourites for the victory.^[3]. Lance Armstrong was of course one of the favourites, after his 1999 Tour de France victory. Jan Ullrich was also one of the favourites, having won the 1997 Tour de France, finishing second in the 1996 and 1998 tours, and not entering the 1999 Tour due to an injury. 1998 Tour winner Marco Pantani was also considered a favourite. Richard Virenque finished 8th place in the 1999 Tour despite a bad preparation, and for the 2000 year he was considered an important player. Also Fernando Escartin, Bobby Julich, Alexander Vinokourov and Alex Zülle were considered contenders.

Results

The first stage was won by British cyclist David Millar, with Lance Armstrong only 2 seconds behind in second place. Of the other pre-race favorites, Laurent Jalabert, Jan Ullrich and Alex Zülle all lost less than 20 seconds. Virenque, Vinokourov and Escartin lost around 1:30 on Armstrong, while Marco Pantani lost more than 2 minutes. The next two stages were sprinter stages, both won by Tom Steels, not changing much in the overall classification. Stage 4, a team time trial, was won by the ONCE cycling team, and after that stage the top 10 included 8 ONCE cyclists, including leader Laurent Jalabert.

In stage 6, 12 cyclists broke away and kept a 7:49 minute lead, which shook up the classification. Alberto Elli, one of the breakaways, took over the yellow jersey.

In stage 10, the Tour entered the mountains. The stage, which finished at Hautacam, was won by Spaniard Javier Otxoa, but Lance Armstrong finished second and took the yellow jersey, with Ullrich in second place, more than 4 minutes behind. The 12th stage, finishing on Mont Ventoux, was won by Marco Pantani, but Lance Armstrong finished second with the same time, so Armstrong increased his lead. Stage 15 was also won by Pantani, but again Armstrong gained time on second-place Ullrich, who was 7:26 behind. On the 16th stage, Armstrong had a bad day and lost time after not eating enough. Ullrich's gap shrunk to 5:37.

On stage 17, Erik Dekker won his third stage of the Tour. Stage 19, an individual time trial, was the last chance to change the general classification, although it was very unlikely that time trial specialist Armstrong would lose his 5:37 lead. Armstrong eventually went on to win the stage, and secured his Tour win. He maintained his lead in the final two stages.

Stages

Jersey progress

Jersey wearers when one rider is leading two or more competitions

• In stage 2, Lance Armstrong wore the green jersey.
• In stages 2 through 4, David Cañada wore the white jersey.

Results

General classification

Rank	Name	Country	Team	Time
1	Lance Armstrong	United States	US Postal	92h 33'08"
2	Jan Ullrich	Germany	Team Telekom	6'02"
3	Joseba Beloki	Spain	Festina	10'02"
4	Christophe Moreau	France	Festina	10'34"
5	Roberto Heras	Spain	Kelme – Costa Blanca	11'50"
6	Richard Virenque	France	Team Polti	13'26"
7	Santiago Botero	Colombia	Kelme – Costa Blanca	14'18"
8	Fernando Escartín	Spain	Kelme – Costa Blanca	17'21"
9	Francisco Mancebo	Spain	Banesto	18'09"
10	Daniele Nardello	Italy	Mapei – Quick Step	18'25"

Points classification

Rank	Name	Country	Team	Points
1	Erik Zabel	Germany	Team Telekom	321
2	Robbie McEwen	Australia	Farm Frites	203
3	Romāns Vainšteins	Latvia	Vini Caldirola – Sidermec	184

King of the Mountains classification

Rank	Name	Country	Team	Points
1	Santiago Botero	Colombia	Kelme – Costa Blanca	347
2	Javier Otxoa	Spain	Kelme – Costa Blanca	283
3	Richard Virenque	France	Team Polti	267

Young Riders' Classification

Rank	Name	Country	Team	Time
1	Francisco Mancebo	Spain	Banesto	92h 51'17"
2	Guido Trentin	Italy	Vini Caldirola – Sidermec	17'48"
3	Grischa Niermann	Germany	Rabobank	33'57"

Teams Classification

Rank	Team	Country	Time
1	Kelme – Costa Blanca	Spain	278h 10'47"
2	Festina	France	13'42"
3	Banesto	Spain	18'21"

See also

• List of doping cases in cycling

References

External links

• 2000 Tour de France comprehensive results
• BBC - 2000 Tour de France results