I had either read or heard an announcer say early this AM that Lance was the only rider in this year's Tour who was riding the '95 Tour when Casartelli died, but buddy thought that Hincapie might have been there. George was on Moto then, but apparently was not tapped for the Tour. His own site confirms that his first Tour was '96.
He talked about the accident for a little while. They showed a group of fans at the memorial and he discussed what happened. He said that Casartelli didn’t even go off the road, he just went down on a corner and hit his head on the pavement. I know they talk about it whenever the Tour rides this section but it’s very sad to lose a guy at 25 under those circumstances. I guess it hit Lance very hard. (he has stayed in touch with the family from what I understand)