July 25/98 11:09 am - Tour Stage 13

Posted by Editor on 07/25/98
 

Nardello Takes Stage 13

An early break of 7 riders (including Andrea Tafi (Mapei), Francois Simon (Gan) and Stephane Heulot (FDJ)), was joined by 5 others (including Nicola Minali (Risso Scotti) and Marty Jemison (US Postal)). The group went over 5 minutes clear on the peleton, but Telekom wasn‚t too worried, since there were no real threats to general classification. As the riders approached the only major climb of the day, the Col de Murs, Tafi began to attack, and eventually split up the front group, with 5 joining him (including Jemison and Heulot). The lead group stayed together during the final kilometres of the descent into Carpentras, maintaining a lead of about 3:10. The best bet coming into the final few kilometres was Mapei, who had two riders in the break - Tafi and Daniele Nardello - and it was justified, with Nardello jumping away to take the win, followed by Garcia Acosta (Banesto), Tafi, Heulot and Jemison. Erik Zabel (Telekom) lead the peleton in at a 2:36 deficit.