It also happened to be run on a day with very heavy rain, making the final kilometers of the course muddy and treacherous.

That was where he left Ullrich behind in the final kilometer.

"I didn't have a good day," Hamilton said, but he had stayed with the leaders until the final few kilometers and finished 10th, 2:32 behind.

Previously, the rule applied only to crashes in the final kilometer.

In the final few kilometers, the six rode alone as the rest of the pack dropped a few hundred yards back.

The time came down on the final uphill two kilometers to the finish, but Armstrong had a clear road behind him.

But when Mann's legs went dead in the final kilometer, he fell back.

Soler's 2008 tour dreams were shattered, after having crashed in the final kilometers of the first stage.

In the final kilometers, several riders broke clear but were caught.

Hampsten was 10th, 4:21 behind Rooks, after he weakened in the final few kilometers at the end of a hot and trying day.