ST. DIZIER, France, 9 July 2003 — It wasn’t exactly revenge, but Jean-Patrick Nazon certainly got one over on his ex-employers after succeeding in his bid to take the yellow jersey from Brad McGee on the third stage of the Tour de France here yesterday.
On the day, 29-year-old Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi bagged his second victory in the race, following his great campaign in the Giro where he claimed six victories, after a 167.5km ride near the French Ardennes.
In second place was Latvia’s 2000 world road race champion Romans Vainsteins, with Spain’s two-time world champion (1999 2001) Oscar Freire sneaking up past Germany’s Erik Zabel to claim third place.
But for Nazon, who started the day with a great incentive to chase down the race lead, it was all about making a point to the team that let him go only a month before the Tour last year.
McGee, the 27-year-old world individual pursuit champion who has held the race lead since winning Saturday’s prologue, rides for Marc Madiot’s fdjeux.com team.
Nazon, who was ejected from the French outfit under a cloud last year and had to watch the Tour on television, said he had been praying as he tackled the final intermediate sprint of the day that pushed McGee down into second.
“I really had nothing left by then,” explained Nazon, who had come second in the first intermediate sprint after 30km and won the second at 74km to claim his first 10 seconds in bonuses and become the virtual race leader.
“I was really tired but knew I had a chance of taking the yellow so I just began praying that I could hold on and crossed my fingers.”
Nazon’s second place in the third sprint 20km before the finish gave him just the room he needed.
McGee, who now sits eights seconds adrift in the overall standings, would have had to be among the first finishers on the stage to have collected some finish line bonus points.
Nazon’s split from the team last year was down to an incident between him and team manager Marc Madiot.
At the French national championships last year, Nazon had insulted Madiot in front of TV cameras, his ire reportedly in relation to his non-selection for the 2002 Tour.
An expected apology was not forthcoming from the rider, and Nazon found himself in a sticky situation throughout last summer before Jean Delatour - who won their Tour place thanks to a wildcard - picked him up.
“When Jean Delatour gave me my chance they believed in me straight away. All sports people at one time or another go through tough periods of doubt - and that happened to me.
“But maybe going through all that is part of the reason why I’m here today,” said Nazon, who is the first Frenchman to wear yellow in this year’s centenary race and the first since compatriot Francois Simon, in 2001.
