The French television commentators continually describe this year's Tour as "une course folle" - a crazy race. Usually they use the term when at their most ecstatic over the dramatic tactics of their national hero, Richard Virenque, but yesterday it was the only way to describe a stage finish, where the first two riders across the line were both disqualified.
Bart Voskamp of Holland and Jens Heppner of Germany are both level-headed journeymen, but yesterday hysteria seemed to grip both as they approached the line some 30 seconds ahead of the rest of a 14-strong raiding party which had been in front since the flag was dropped 107 miles earlier at Montbeliard. Voskamp began the sprint with the German, a team-mate of the race leader Jan Ullrich, tucked in his slipstream. As Heppner drew level on his left at around 30 miles per hour, the Dutchman moved towards him in order to slow him down.
But instead of shying away to the left, Heppner called Voskamp's bluff and moved right on a collision course. Voskamp then used his left elbow in an attempt to hold back the German, and, like a prop-forward trying to prevent a scrum collapsing, Heppner attempted to repel Voskamp first with his upper arm, then with his shoulder and finally the back of his neck, leaning at a seemingly impossible angle.
Twice Heppner came close to losing control of his front wheel, but incredibly both men stayed upright. Eventually Voskamp crossed the line first.
For the third time in 19 stages, the stage result hung on the decision of the race jury, which consists of the chief judge and the commissaires, referees appointed by the International Cycling Union.
After replaying the video of the finish for almost half an hour, they decided that both men were equally at fault, and awarded the stage win to the Italian sprinter Mario Traversoni, who had led in their former companions 26 seconds behind.
The Russian Sergei Outschakov almost came to grief in this gallop, after Voskamp's team-mate Peter Van Petegem moved off his life, and so the referees fined him and relegated him to 12th. Voskamp was awarded 10th, and Heppner 11th.
The last time the first two finishers were disqualified was in 1985, but there is no record of both riders in a two-man sprint, rather than a mass finish, being disqualified before.
This is the third time in this Tour that the first rider over the line has been disqualified for irregular sprinting: on Stage 6 at Marennes, Heppner's team-mate Erik Zabel was relegated to last place, while on Stage 11 at Perpignan the Russian Sergei Outschakov was put back to third.
As if anticipating that the stage's interest would only lie in its final metres, the peloton meandered through the flatlands of Franche Comte and Burgundy to finish almost 20 minutes adrift of Voskamp and Heppner.
