News for April 15, 1998

Daniel Schamps Reports...

On Saturday and Sunday I was at the PARIS-ROUBAIX (Mountain Bike). It was the 10th edition of this event which is run mainly through the country (fields, forests...the riders even had a coal mine hill to climb twice during the first speciale) and on several pave path of the Paris-Roubaix (World Cup) and ends on the Roubaix track, one hour and a half before Paris-Roubaix (road race).

The race is organized by the VC Roubaix-La Redoute (VTT section). It is organized like a car rally with speciales (5) and liaison parts between the events For the 3rd time the race started from Raismes (ten km north of Valenciennes) on Saturday April 11 and finished at Roubaix on Sunday April 12. This year it was held in cold weather, rain, snow, hail, mud.

The main participators among the 530 starters were Adri van der Poel (Rabobank), Rune Hoydahl (Norway, Giant), Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel, last year's victor, Mountain Dew), Christophe Herisset (Fra, Sunn), Paul Herijgers (Bel, Saxon), David Galle (Bel, Diesel-Bianchi), Lennie Kristensen (Den, Giant), Benny Van Itterbeek (Bel, team Poortland), Erwin Vervecken (Bel, Espace card).

The Norwegian Rune Hoydahl won overall.

Results of the Speciales: 

 Speciale 1, Raismes, 60km, April 11:

 1. Christophe Herisset
 2. Filip Meirhaeghe
 3. Rune Hoydahl

 Speciale 2, Marchiennes-Orchies, 35km,  April 11:

 1. David Galle
 2. Raphael Martinez (Fra, DBR)
 3. Hoydahl

Leader: D. Galle

 Speciale 3, Orchies-Mons-en-Pevèle, 26km,  April 12:

 1. Hoydahl
 2. Adri van der Poel
 3. C. Herisset

Leader: R.Hoydahl

 Speciale 4, Bouvines-Willems, 30km,  April 12:

 1. Paul Herijgers
 2. Hoydahl
 3. Meirhaeghe

Leader : Hoydahl

 Speciale 5, Willems-Roubaix, 10km,  April 12:

 1. A. van der Poel
 2. Karl Platt (German National team)
 3. C. Herisset

Overall classification: 

 1. Rune Hoydhal (Nor) Giant			      4.57.00
 2. David Galle (Bel) Diesel-Bianchi			 3.06
 3. Christophe Herisset (Fra) Sunn			 3.24
 4. Raphael Martinez (Fra) 				 4.17
 5. Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Mountain Dew)		 4.40
 6. David Orcel (Fra) 					 6.35
 7. Lennie Kristensen (Den) Giant			 9.18
 8. Paul Herijgers (Bel) Saxon			     	11.37
 9. Adri van der Poel (Ned) Rabobank			12.00
10. Emmanuel Charreyre (Fra)				13.22
11. Michel Jean (Fra)					15.20
12. Thomas Nicke (Ger)					15.23
13. Bruno Chaudun (Fra)					15.57
14. Alexandre Faure (Fra)				18.54
15. Eric Debou (Fra)					19.06

Today (April 14) I am off to Paris-Camembert, then on Wednesday to the Tour du Vaucluse (near Avignon, south of France). After that I head to Valkenburg (NL) for the formerly Teleflex Toer and Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday.

Rudy Dhaenens funeral

Rudy Dhaenens was buried in Nevele (Belgium) after dying from injuries he received in a car accident while travelling to the finish line of the RVV where he was due to commentate for Eurosport. The centre of Nevele was closed for traffic from 8 am and an audience of more than 2,000 attended the funeral. The coffin bearers were ex-World Champions Merckx, Maertens, Criquielion and Beheydt. Other cyclist were Van Looy, Van Steenbergen and Schotte. Speeches were made by Jo Planckaert and TV commentator Mark Van Lombeek.

Rund in Kreuzberg, Berlin, 63 kms:

Forty women started, twenty finished. Weather: sunny and windy, 15°C. The course was on cobblestones. Each lap was two kms long with a small hill.

The Greenery-Hawk team dominated the race. The first attack came four kilometers into the race and consisted of Lehtimaki, Teutenberg, and Mißbach. Kupfernagel attacked a little bit later and at the mid-point of the race she was in front with the other three women. Then Kupfernagel attacked again and won the race one lap ahead of Lehtimaki, Teutenberg and Holden. The latter (Holden) "slept" at Kupfernagel's first attack but went out at her second attack. 

 1. Hanka Kufpernagel (Ger) Greenery Hawk	        1.47.48
 2. Sanna Lehtimaki (Fin) Greenery Hawk)     		+ 1 lap
 3. Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Ger) Greenery Hawk) 		+ 1 lap
 4. Mari Holden (USA) Greenery Hawk)         		+ 1 lap
 5. Sandra Mißbach (Ger) Greenery Hawk)              	+ 1 lap
 6. Judith Arndt (Ger) Red Bull)                     	+ 1 lap
 7. Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Greenery Hawk)   		+ 1 lap
 8. Regina Marunde (Ger) Greenery Hawk)      		+ 1 lap
 9. Kristina Obrucova (Cze) Team Rostex)             	+ 2 lap
10. Cornelia Dreher (Ger) Greenery Hawk)             	+ 2 lap
11. Claudine Hartnick (Ger) Cottbus)                 	+ 2 lap
12. Jacqueline Brabenetz (Ger) Chemnitz)             	+ 2 lap
13. Romy Häschke (Ger) Leipzig)                      	+ 2 lap
14. Sabine Doplep (Ger) Waltershausen)               	+ 2 lap
15. Birgit Jung (Ger) Leipzig)                  	+ 2 lap

Note that 1 lap corresponds to about 3m 30 seconds.

US Postal Update

On the heels of a solid effort in the race's only time trial, the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team placed three riders - Dariusz Baranowski, Jonathan Vaughters and Tyler Hamilton - in the overall top 10 at the Circuit de la Sarthe stage race in France. The five stage event, a 2.4 ranked UCI race, concluded Friday in Coulaines. At yesterday's Paris-Roubaix World Cup event, the U.S. Postal Service's Viatcheslav Ekimov finished 22nd in the 266.5 kilometer race, just over 11 minutes back of race winner Franco Ballerini of Mapei.

At the Circuit de la Sarthe, the first three stages finished with field sprints. However, aggressive riding by Marty Jemison - taking time bonuses on the road as a result of a long breakaway - placed the USPS rider in 5th place after the first stage. Jemison fell one spot after two stages to sixth overall and then Baranowski moved into the lead for the team after three stages, holding the ninth overall spot heading into the time trial. Baranowski, fifth in the race last year, turned in a time of 20 minutes in the stage four time trial, a 15.6 km stage in Allonnes, good for fourth place in the stage. Baranowski's time was 29 seconds back of stage winner and eventual race winner Melchior Mauri of ONCE. Finishing fifth in the stage was Jonathan Vaughters, at 32 seconds. Vaughters finished the race in sixth overall. The USPS' Tyler Hamilton then came through with a seventh place stage finish, at 36 seconds, and eventually finished the race in 9th place. The race concluded Friday with another field sprint.

Baranowski, Vaughters, Hamilton and Jemison will join teammates Jean-Cyril Robin, Peter Meinert, Anton Villatoro and Pascal Derame for the Fleche Wallonne Classic on Wednesday prior to the fourth round of the World Cup, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, on Sunday.

Meanwhile at Paris-Roubaix, it proved to be another "Hell of the North" for all the teams except Mapei, which swept the top three placings for the second time since 1996. The weather once again played a huge roll in the outcome, as the cold and wet conditions played havoc on the race's 50.2 kms of pave leading to the velodrome finish in Roubaix. Of the 186 race starters, only 66 riders finished, with the top 49 classified (the last 16 riders, including the USPS' Frankie Andreu and George Hincapie, finished outside of the time limit). The USPS' Ekimov was in the lead chase group early on until numerous crashes hampered his efforts. Ekimov crossed the line in 22nd place with two other riders, 11:18 back of Ballerini.

Kings Vallley Road Race, Kings Valley, Oregon, USA.

Pro 1/2

 1.  John Leonard, Lemond/BikeGallery
 2.  Jamul Hahn, Ray's Boathouse
 3.  Vadila Kungys, Hutch's
 4.  Donald Reeb, NutraFig
 5.  Kelly Wieber, Safeway/Saturn
 6.  Glenn Gann, Sim's
 7.  Gordon Cummings, Safeway/Saturn
 8.  Russ Humbertson, Safeway/Saturn
 9.  Ed French, Lemond/Bike Gallery
10.  John Grochau, Lemond/BikeGallery
11.  Nathan Pescareta, Safeway/Saturn
12.  John Browning, Safeway/Saturn
13.  Paul Dahlke, NutraFig
14.  John Mitchem, Lemond/BikeGallery
15.  Craig Hamilton,Lemond/BikeGallery

Women

 1.  Stacey Peters, Lemond/BikeGallery
 2.  Nicole Gingles,Hutch's
 3.  Rydeen Stevens, Safeway/Saturn
 4.  Erica Jackson, Lemond/Bike Gallery
 5.  Chantal Knapp
 6. Julie O'Neil, Bike Gallery/Sequent
 7.  Noreen Valente, Safeway/Saturn
 8.  Deneen Tripplett, Bike Gallery/Sequent
 9.  Joanne Stevens, Bike Gallery/Sequent
10.  Lisa Mason,Safeway/Saturn
11.  Kirti Walpole,BikeGallery/Sequent
12.  Jennifer Rhodes, Mt Tabor Bicycles
13.  Rebecca Boyd, BikeGallery/Sequent
14.  Susan Fox
15.  Vanda Novak,BikeGallery/Sequent