Gioia’s 2003 TdF All-Star team

GC men: Lance Armstrong & Tyler Hamilton
Time Trialist: Jan Ullrich
Climber: Iban Mayo & Richard Virenque
Sprinter: Baden Cooke & Robbie McEwen
Domestique: Manuel Beltran & Paolo Bettini

Comments...
Yes, Ullrich is a better GC man than Hamilton, but I can justify this. Ullrich was much better than his peers in the time trial. After the big win in stage 12, he was on pace to set a new TdF record in average speed in the stage 19 time trial until he fell. This is his forte, and it makes room for Hamilton, who deserved to be on the all-star team because he is the best team player in the race. Remember, after breaking his collar bone, he stayed in the race to help Carlos Sastre.

I’ve got two sprinters here, and both deserve it. They were separated by a couple centimeters. They exchanged the green jersey thrice on the final day. I was tempted to include Alessandro Petacchi for his 4 stage wins, but I’d rather honor the two guys who fought hard to the end.

Beltran is the most pivotal domestique in years. Put him on Team Bianchi, and Ullrich probably wears yellow into the final time trial. It may seem odd to call Paolo Bettini, the world’s #1 ranked rider, a domestique, but he did everything his team needed. He paced Virenque in the mountains. He led out Luca Paolini (5th in green jersey) in sprints. He was in breakaways on both flat and mountain stages, finishing 10th in mountain points and 17th in sprinter points. For a guy who didn’t win anything, he was always in the action.

Biggest Dud
It’s Santiago Botero. Gilberto Simoni was a huge flop in this race, but at least he goes home with a stage win. Botero didn’t even finish the race. He wasn’t on the map for either the GC or the King of the Mountains. His greatest moment was pacing Vinokourov for about 25 minutes on stage 15.

Biggest Disappointment
Individual: Eric Zabel didn’t even try to win the green jersey. He even said so.
Team: Rabobank’s TdF ended when Levi Leipheimer crashed in stage 1. Oscar Freire didn’t do diddly squat in the sprints, and Michael Boogerd was dropped early and often in the mountains.

Biggest Surprise
Ok, I’ve got to explain to our readers that Mr. Baker frequently sniffs glue. That’s why he’s surprised that Francisco Mancebo finished 10th. Look, in the previous four TdFs, these are Mancebo’s finishing places: 7, 13, 9, 28. Mancebo is consistently very good. The biggest surprise was that Tyler Hamilton rode 19 stages with a fractured collar bone. Since we’ve talked enough about that, I’ll give another example–FDJeux. They wore each jersey at least once. They won the green jersey, one stage, and the prologue. Even the domestiques Brad McGee and Carlos DaCruz were strong in supporting Cooke to the green jersey. They’ve earned their bid.

Most Improved
Euskaltel. Last year they stunk up the joint. This year they got the win at Alp d’Huez, finished three men in the top 20 (including two in the top 6), and were third in the team competition. Haimar Zubeldia led the way for them, improving from 39th to 5th in one year.

Most Dominant
Alessandro Petacchi won all four of the bunch sprints he contested. He won four stages in the first week–utterly dominant.
Most Cowardly
Alessandro Petacchi quit the race as soon as he saw a mountain. Wearing the green jersey couldn’t even inspire him to try.

Most Aggressive Move
Ullrich’s attack on the Tourmalet before the final climb on Luz-Ardiden.

Funniest Moment
Carlos Sastre won stage 13 with a baby pacifier in his mouth.

Oddest Stat
The top five green jersey finishers had only one stage win among them.