Italian rider Paolo Bettini narrowly captured the ninth stage of the Tour de France today after edging out Dutchman Geert Verheyen at the end of the 113-mile race from Agen to Dax. The pair had led a four-man attack following the Cote de Montaut climb and were nip and tuck before the Mapei rider nosed ahead at the finish.
They were joined by fellow climbers Didier Rous of Bonjour and Jose Vidal of Kelme in finishing ahead of the peloton. 'I've always wanted a stage victory,' Bettini said. 'I saw that this was the last opportunity to get a sprint victory because tomorrow we start climbing mountains.
Alberto Elli held on to the yellow jersey as the race's overall leader but the Italian Telekom rider will be expected to work for his team-mate Jan Ullrich tomorrow when the Tour enters the Pyrenees. The 1997 winner Ullrich, one of the favourites, is likely to start asserting himself in the mountain stages.
There was a close battle for the sprinters' green jersey between Festina's Marcel Wust and Telekom's Erik Zabel throughout the stage. Zabel shadowed Wust's every move and took the jersey from his German compatriot after he led home the peloton a few yards behind Rous. Wust led Zabel by just five points going into the race and the Festina rider extended his lead by taking the first intermediate sprint at Nerac with Zabel finishing outside the points places.
But the Telekom rider came back to win the second at Parleboscq to cut Wust's lead back to five points after the 33-year-old failed to score. Both riders were beaten at the Saint-Sever sprint but Zabel's persistence was rewarded at the finish. Erik Dekker kept the polka-dot jersey despite not claiming any of the climbing points available today. The Dutch rider leads Bettini 29-28.
PA Sports
