DAY 1
Prologue - Rouen 7.3km
5th July 1997
Chris takes Yellow Jersey!
Course : Flat with wide roads with long sweeping bends
one long cobbled climb after approx 1KM.
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Chris Boardman came up with the goods in the Tour de France
prologue today which everyone had expected him to win!
He breathed a sigh of relief as the weather conditions for the
event were dry & sunny, unlike when he crashed and broke
his ankle in the 1995 Tour prologue!
He was off 4th from last, with Zulle, Virenque and Riis to follow!
Current German National Champion and Tour hopefull, Jan Ullrich, off
early in the field posted the fastest time of 8mins 22 secs.
No one really came close to beating Ullrich's time, even the big guns
Berzin, Olano and Rominger failed to topple the german.
Chris rode his familliar black monocoque frame with the Mavic Zap
electronic gear system. Time checks showed that Chris was up on Ullrich
after 4.8km, but by only one second, but his stength and class shone
through and at the finish he had enough to win by two seconds.
His winning time 8minutes 20secs an average of over 52kmh!
He soaked up the victory on the podium, receiving both the green &
yellow jerseys, relishing every minute. The GAN team were quoted as
being undecided wether to defend the jersey early on in the race,
although some sort of plan must have been preconceived as Chris was
favourite to win the jersey today!
Result 7.3km Rouen prologue
1st Chris Boardman 8mins 20secs 2nd J.Ullrich +2 3rd E.Berzin +5 4th T.Rominger +5 5th A.Zulle +5
Current Chris Status!