Neil Storey visits Scott for RVV

Friday:

Arrived just before six at Scott & Sabine's new appartment in central Zottegem. It's been more than six months since last we saw each other, Scott's looking leaner and hungrier than then with his hair back to its normal colour, the move from Gan to Palmans perhaps the shot in the arm that was needed as he's now able to make his own races as opposed to following team orders. There's an immediate sign of nervous energy - the boy's keyed up for the Ronde and that's for sure. Time for a rapid cup of coffee awaiting his friend Bart and then we're off to check out part of the Ronde parcours. Scott's driving, Bart's map-reading and we head into the farm lanes that surround Oudenarde which make up what Scott believes will be the crucial phase of Sunday's race. To the uninitiated, its the easiest place on this planet to get lost (and, predictably) we do a couple of times - Bart's map not being quite of the calibre needed. Eventually, we make it to the bottom of the Knokteberg before running through (and bypassing) the Oude Kwaremont before some magical map- reading brings us to the Patersberg from the wrong direction! Back up the road a little and Scott spends a few moments checking out the lie of the land. With the bergs coming every few minutes at that point of the race, positioning in the peleton is all important as the roads are so narrow passing is all but impossible. From the top of the Kwaremont its left onto the big road, left again and a fiendish drop down another lane left, right, left and snake through to a ninety degree right (all at sixty kilometres an hour) before you hit the Patersberg. Which is, frankly, a bitch. Cobbled from the bottom to the top its narrow, gutters to left and right and far, far steeper that televsion pictures show. Driving up, one can only imagine the pain it'll induce - its bad enough as the car bumps and bores its way skywards. Left at the top and another evil, twisting, descent before we head off along the race route towards the Kortekeer and the Taienberg and finally the Eikenberg. All of these come in the space of just 25 k's. From here its a short run back to Zottegem but - just to please me - we head back across the Padenstraat (where Scotty had his puncture in the first stage of De Panne when in the leading group). This is another nasty section similar style cobbles to Paris Roubaix but perhaps not quite so vicious but with a slim slither of a gutter on the right side which, if you're able, you take at 40ks. Its either that or the cobbles or the dirt on the left side of the road. Nasty.

Saturday:

Saturday dawns cold, wet and windy and not always in that order. Squally rain showers are predicted for Sunday with high winds. Scott abandons the idea of a training ride in favour of an hour sweating profusely on the home trainer in his garage. Late pm, run him over to the team hotel in Waregem late - the mechanics won't be overjoyed at his late arrival but Walter Planckeart won't mind so much. As I leave him I ask - so... tomorrow then? And he shrugs the shrug of all top bike riders and says in his laconic manner - well, you know... perhaps top twenty, I'll be pleased if I'm there. But I want to be a part of the race, that's whats important. So long as I don't puncture at a critical point, I'll be there or therabouts... And he smiles again and shoulders his bike as the rain starts and he goes looking for the mechanics. Head back via Oudenarde and check out the Kattenberg and the cobbled stretch through Mater before ending back at the appartment.

Sunday:

Race day... early morning fuel up with croissants before heading off on the Gerardsbegen road to meet up with Bart. We're armed with ultra-maps by now - a Saturday lunchtime raid on the local book shop assisted that project! Back to the Kattenberg and we're about 40 minutes early but still the crowd is huge. Park facing the right way (all of this is so important otherwise you can't make a quick get-away and thus your chances of getting to the next section you want to see are gone). The crowd grows by the minute, pretty much to Tour (de France) standards and we end up standing beside a posse from South Wales - one of their young lads decides to ride the climb before the police cars, the convoy and the chatter of helicopters announces the arrival of the early break which, itself, is splitting over the top. A few minutes later and the main peleton arrives with Scotty third wheel and looking comfortable. All of the Palmans guys are in there (so far as we can see) but not as close formed as the Gan team are who pass by as one in the middle of the group. Run back to the car and hurtle off toward the Padenstraat. It's mayhem, more like rally-driving. Predictably we end up following a Belgian plated car which we thought was heading in our direction only to discover that we're actually headed towards the Molenberg. Yikes, traffic jams and more traffic jams - you better believe how lousy the parking is on these narrow roads but ultimately we get out of it without scraping the car, a marshall waves us onto the actual race route and rush towards the Padenstraat. Just in time too. The crowds are deep along side the Padenstraat and we pick our spot at the far end, just before the turn left toward Hundelgem.

The peloton's split to pieces and the leading group (remnants of the break) are in sight riding line astern. What is astounding - if you've never seen it before - and even to those who see it regularly, I think its still a surprise is the actual speed they ride over the cobbles. Its a tempo that is not for mere mortals. At all. Scott comes through leading the chase group with a Mapei guy on his wheel (Museeuw?) but the Palmans guys are all over the place, only Carlo Bowmans still close by. Roger Hammond comes through in the next group looking rough and a good two minutes back is Tchmil looking pretty unhappy. One of the Gan guys punctures close by where we're standing, a Mapei require service (and the Mapei team car driver wins zero brownie points for his diabolical driving, didn't quite drive up the bank on which we were standing but it was close) before we're back in our car once again and heading back to the apartment for food and to catch up on the tv - there's no way we'll get to the Patersberg (which was the plan) so our next stop will be the Berendries.

On the tv we see the Kwaremont on which Scott's looking easy riding within himself before the mad dash down to the foot of the Patersberg. He rides close behind Museuuw all the way up, the helicopter fed TV pictures giving no indication whatsoever of the steepness of the climb. Over the top and we're back in th car heading for the Berendries. Arrive there and wait... We catch snippets of radio commentary as Bart and I watch the helicopters hover closer and closer. As they come over the top the group is splitting again and sure enough Scotty's there and looking pretty relaxed.

Sprint to the car and down into Brakel just in time to see the second group pass through before off to Ninove. Bart doesn't reckon we'd make it to the outskirts of Geradsbergen on the way to see them just before the Muur. I diagree (!) but reason prevails as we don't want to take the chance of not getting to the finish in time.

In Ninove and we park next to a policeman friend of Bart's. And... he's a tv in his car. Oh good! But, the darned thing is on the blink so we only catch snippets of the Bosberg but learn that Museuuw is on one and uncatchable and that Scott's not made the final selection. Damn, what happened...?

Soon enough the mighty Johann comes into sight surrounded by a phalanx of press motor-bikes, official cars and so forth. Next group comes in and just a few hundred metres behind is Scott's group with Bowmans sitting on his wheel. Its all over in a flash and we reckon our boy's got to be 12th or thereabouts.

Result!

Head to the showers to await him and Sabine joins us. Not having seen him come in she's worried sick that he crashed and didn't make it. The Palmans mechanics and team officials are delighted with Scotty, bear hugs all round but he's a little disapointed and we get a quick run down on what happened on the Muur before he heads to the showers and to scrape the mud off his face. He reckons he misjudged the run in to the Muur and had to dig deep to get back into position over the top... (and for those who don't know the Muur its really brutal - about 1 in 4 or 5 at mid point with nasty, nasty cobbles especially on the steepest part as it bends sharply to the left near the top). Did so but it affected him on the Bosberg - new direction to it this year with less recovery time therefore - and he lost the wheel by ten metres over the top and... that was that. Blames himself for what he terms as a stupid mistake but that, I think, is him being too harsh on himself. There's no question that for Scott this was an exceptional ride and, I think, it answers his critics who saw him as the nearly man and who reckoned he couldn't do it.

Rudy Dhaenens - His Professional Record

Born: April 10, 1961 in Deinze.

Professional from 1983 to November 1992.

1. 1983 (Euroshop): no victories
2. 1984 (Splendor): 1 victory: Eeklo. Other notable results: 8th Gent-Wevelgem, 4th Amstel Gold Race.
3. 1985 (Hitachi): 2 victories: Meulebeke, Overijse. Other notable results: 3rd Gent-Wevelgem, 5th Paris-Roubaix, 3rd National Championship.
4. 1986 (Hitachi): 4 victories: Meulebeke, Stage in Ronde van Luxemburg and Tour de France, Quillan. Other notable results: 13th Ronde van Vlaanderen, 2nd Paris- Roubaix.
5. 1987 (Hitachi): No victories, notable results 6th Gent-Wevelgem, 3rd Paris-Roubaix.
6. 1988 (PDM): No victories, notable results 4th Omloop Het Volk, 8th Ronde van Vlaanderen, 8th Gent-Wevelgem.
7. 1989 (PDM): No victories, notable results 7th Milan-San Remo, 13th Paris-Brussel.
8. 1990 (PDM): 5 victories: World Champion, Stage in Tour of Asturia, Berlin, Tongeren, Oostrozebeke. Other notable results: 2nd Ronde van Vlaanderen, 9th Paris-Roubaix, 4th Luik-Bastenaken-Luik.
9. 1991 (Panasonic): 1 victory at Eeklo. Other notable results 10th National Championship, 11th World Championship.
10. 1992 (Panasonic): No victories, notable results 13th Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Tristan Hoffman out of Gent-Wevelgem

UCI Rankings, April 6

 1. Laurent Jalabert (Fra)   		2328 points
 2. Michele Bartoli (Ita)     		1663
 3. Andrei Tchmil (Bel)       		1621
 4. Jan Ullrich (Ger)         		1589
 5. Alex Zülle (Swi)          		1474
 6. Pavel Tonkov (Rus)        		1403
 7. Johan Museeuw (Bel)			1224
 8. Erik Zabel (Dui)          		1153
 9. Andrea Tafi (Ita)         		1063
10. Davide Rebellin (Ita)     		1057

US Road Rankings

Men:

 1. Gord Fraser                              277
 2. Julian Dean                              254
 3. Trent Klasna                             222
 4. Jonathan Vaughters                       183
 5. Kirk Willett                             135
 6. Eric Wohlberg                            131
 7. John Peters                              125
 8. Mike McCarthy                            122
 9. Cadel Evans                              110
10. Derek Bouchard                           100
11. Levi Leipheimer                           90
12. Chris Wherry                              85
13. Thurlow Rogers                            80
14. Frank McCormack                           71
15. Roberto Gaggioli                          67
16. Eddy Gragus                               63
17. Tyler Hamilton                            60
18. Bart Bowen                                60
19. Colby Pearce                              57
20. Scott Moninger                            55
21. Robbie Ventura                            54
22. Fred Rodriguez                            53
23. Michael Sayers                            49
24. Steve Larsen                              48
25. Antonio Cruz                              47

Women:

 1. Clara Hughes                             253
 2. Nicole Freedman                          245
 3. Karen Kurreck                            161
 4. Linda Jackson                            153
 5. Marie Holjer                             148
 6. Mari Holden                              136
 7. Pam Schuster                             116
 8. Tina Mayolo                              105
 9. Leigh Hobson                             100
10. Alison Sydor                              90
11. Julie Hanson                              90
12. Jeanne Golay                              89
13. Elizabeth Emery                           88
14. Nicole Reinhart                           86
15. Annette Kamm                              81
16. Joan Wilson                               79
17. Alison Dunlap                             72
18. Jennifer Evans                            66
19. Laura Van Gilder                          66
20. Cheryl Binney                             65
21. Emily Robbins                             61
22. Brenda Brashear                           59
23. Susy Pryde                                57
24. Aleka Skouras                             57
25. Julie Young                               56

Tour LeFleur, April 5

The 5-foot-5, 127-pound Willett beat Scott Fortner (Saturn) and Paul Martin (Navigators) after the trio pulled away to a one-minute lead on the final lap of the 135-mile race.

"I jumped out with about 200 meters left and held off the other two guys," Willett said. "We were sort of playing cat and mouse with about nine miles to go. Fortner decided to break in the last 500 meters and I broke with him." It was the third straight year that a rider from a John Wordin-managed team has won this race.

"Our success is just building," Willett said. "We have to enjoy it while we can."

Julie Hanson (Saturn) posted her first win of the year topping Laura Van Gilder (Navigators) and Tina Mayolo (PowerBar).

"The race was kind of passive," Hanson said. "We tried to get some stuff going, but no breaks. With about two kilometers left everyone was looking at each other for something to happen. I went and no one went with me."

Robbie Ventura of the Navigators Cycling Team placed 3rd in Saturday’s 50 mile criterium at the Jackson, MS Trustmark Tour Le Fleur. Julian Dean of the Mercury team won the event while Mike McCarthy (Saturn) placed 2nd. All three of these strong teams were represented by two riders each in the final 12 man breakaway that contested the fiercely fought sprint. Paul Martin was the second Navigator in the break, and his bid for victory would come the following day in the road race segment of this 2-day event.

Sunday’s 135-mile road race became a test of wills as each of the major teams tried to wrest control of the event from each other. Several large breakaways containing representatives from the UCI teams and several members of the "regional" teams were to spend most of the day up the road in different combinations. As each break gave its bid for victory full effort, the combinations just didn’t seem to suit enough of the remaining riders in the peloton to allow any of the escape attempts their full freedom. A final trio of Paul Martin, Kirk Willett (Mercury) and Scott Fortner (Saturn) attacked on the final 15-mile lap and were able to hold off the charging field. In the end however, it was Willett and Fortner that were able to cross the line 1-2 with Paul in 3rd. Paul’s efforts and results over the two days of racing are an indication of this young rider’s abilities to develop into a feared all-around athlete and a mainstay of the team.

In addition to the Professional Men’s results, Navigators’ Elite Woman rider Laura VanGilder of Cresco, PA had a strong showing as well. Laura placed 3rd in Saturday’s criterium behind Nicole Freedman (Shaklee) and Annette Kamm (Fuji-Cane Creek). In the road race the following day, she placed 2nd in the field sprint to Saturn’s Julie Hanson. In a demonstration of her sprinting ability, Laura schooled the rest of the ladies field by taking the honors in the Saturn Teamwork Challenge by winning the day’s two sprint bonuses, in addition the point bonus she earned the previous day.

The Trustmark Tour Le Fleur is the fifth stop of the 35 event National Racing Calendar and stop number 2 of the Tour of America series for professionals, and boasts the second longest road race in America (135 miles). It is also a fund-raising event for the Blaire Batson Hospital for Children, formerly the University of Mississippi Medical Center Children’s Hospital. "This is purely a community event" said Bo Bourne, race director.

Men, 218 kms

1. KIRK WILLETT (MERCURY), Pullman, Wash., five hrs, 4 mins, 53 secs; 2. Scott
Fortner (Saturn), Littleton, Colo., 0:01; 3. Paul Martin (Navigators), N.
Royalton, Ohio, 0:03; 4. Gord Fraser (Mercury), Ottawa, Ont., Canada, 0:04; 5.
Robbie Ventura (Navigators), Gurnee, Ill., 0:05.

Women, 100 kms

1. JULIE HANSON (SATURN), Boulder, Colo., 2 hrs, 48 mins, 30 secs; 2. Laura
Van Gilder (Navigators), Cresco, Pa., 0:01; 3. Tina Mayolo (PowerBar), Athens,
Ga., s.t.; 4. Nicole Freedman (Shaklee), Palo Alto, Calif., s.t.; 5. Jeanne
Golay (Schwinn Paramount), Glenwood Springs, Colo., 0:03.