The Tour de France is full of stories. Every day we highlight a historical moment that can be linked to the upcoming stage. This time, stage 21: the fight of top sprinter Jeroen Blijlevens on the Champs-Élysées.
In 2000, Blijlevens had been dreaming for years of finally winning on the Champs-Élysées. The sprinter already has four stage wins in the French cycling tour to his name, but on the famous avenue in Paris he has never gotten further than third place.
On the final day of the Tour, Blijlevens feels he has good legs. “I had a good feeling heading towards the Champs-Élysées to win there,” he later reflects. But in the run-up to the mass sprint, he is hindered. “In the final, I came across Bobby Julich. He was blocking me, so I couldn’t sprint for the victory.”
Blijlevens again misses out on his dream victory and is very frustrated. After the finish, he sees Julich standing and doesn’t hesitate for a moment. ‘Jerommeke’ lashes out at Julich a few times, who throws a helmet back with a bloody face. The two push and pull some more and are eventually pulled apart. “I gave him a friendly pat,” the Brabander says shortly after the fight.
The two combatants are not exactly each other’s best friends in the peloton. Blijlevens can’t stand that the American had previously caused his teammate Bart Voskamp to fall and refuses to admit it. “That was a rider I didn’t like. We weren’t friends.”
Blijlevens is punished for the incident: he is removed from the final standings of the Tour. A year later, he rides the French cycling tour for the last time, but this time he doesn’t even reach the Champs-Élysées. Years later, the sprinter offers his apologies. “Sorry Bobby, I shouldn’t have done it and I still regret it very much.”
