1997 Results
Past winners
Route
BriefToday the Walloon Arrow - the Waalse Pijl - the Fleche Walloone is staged and continues its comeback after declining as a large classic when it was not included in the World Cup. The race involves three ascents of the legendary wall of Huy, which has usually been the place where the race is won and lost. The wall of Huy is a narrow road climbing out if the village of Huy which sits next to the River Meuse (just south of Luik). It is only 1.4 kms long but has a slope of some 19 per cent and is very tough.The climb suits Marco Pantani but he has decided to continue his preparation for the Giro I'talia back at home - the weather up north is too cold and Beppe Martinelli has said it is better not to risk getting sick. While Marco's form is currently good he is no where near ready to compete with the best riders. Without Pantani, the Italian hopes for victory are on Michele Bartoli and Francisco Casagrande. Bartoli is thinking to Sunday and Luik-Bastenaken-Luik: "My true objective is LBL, but if I have good legs then the Waalse Pijl is always a good race to win." After the Italian domination of Paris-Roubaix they will also seek to control the Ardenne classic which is 201 kms. But the Italians will have to contend with the number one rider, Frenchman Laurent Jalabert, who won this race in 1995 and 1997. Jalabert seeks to enter the record books by winning the race three times. At the moment no French rider has done this. Three-time winners include the Belgians Marcel Kint and Eddy Merckx and Italian Moreno Argentin. In addition to the aspirations of Jalabert, Frank Vandenbroucke, who has already won Paris-Nice and Gent-Wevelgem this season is keen as is World Champion Laurent Brochard, who is making a return to the peloton after an accident in Tirreno Adriatico. Some ObservationsTrevor Warwick sent me his view of the race.There was a long lived breakaway (>100km) by Udo Bolts and two others. This was very slowly reeled in by Once (actually, mostly Leanizbarrutia) working alone, the field was all together with ~30-40km and three climbs to go. Jalabert attacked a few times with a couple of hills left to go, but didn't quite make it stick. Each time, the group came back to him, and at this stage there was still quite a large group. At one time, it looked like he and Boogerd had got the gap, but it came back together over the top of the climb. Boogerd had been looking really strong, but obviously wore himself out before the finish since he was stone last of the leading group at the end of the race. Going in towards the finish, there was a lot of jumping around in a group that featured Hamburger, Elli, Bartoli, Herve, Dufaux, Peron, Leblanc etc. but Jalabert was being distanced over the last 5 km. I get the impression that he's not quite at the top of his form at the moment. Hamburger attacked at the 1km kite, and no-one even attempted to follow when he attacked. Couldn't tell whether they were all stuffed, or didn't see him as a threat (unlikely). Vandenbroucke had just bridged a big gap on his own, and may have been suffering, because he was only able to attack again quite near the top of the Mur de Huy, and didn't give himself time to catch Hamburger. Leblanc also had a go near the top, but blew quite quickly. Charleroi - Huy, 201 kms:1. Bo Hamburger (Den) Casino 5.06.54 (39.300) 2. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi 0.06 3. Alberto Elii (Ita) Casino 0.10 4. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 0.12 5. Michele Bartoli (Ita) Asics 0.15 6. Luc Leblanc (Fra) Polti 0.17 7. Pascal Hervé (Fra) Festina 0.18 8. Roberto Petito (Ita) Saeco 0.19 9. Laurent Dufaux (Sch) Festina 0.22 10. Rodolfo Massi (Ita) Casino 0.25 11. Andrea Peron (Ita) La Française des Jeux 0.32 12. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 0.36 13. Rik Verbrugge (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 1.18 14. Dario Frigo (Ita) Saeco 1.21 15. Andrea Noe (Ita) Asics 1.28 16. Serguei Ivanov (Rus) TVM-Farm Frites 1.31 17. Mauro Gianetti (Swi) La Francaise des Jeux 1.34 18. Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Casino 1.38 19. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONCE 1.40 20. Nico Mattan (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi 1.45 21. Axel Merckx (Bel) Polti 1.48 22. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Cofidis 1.57 23. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM-Farm Frites 2.24 24. CChristophe Moreau (Fra) Festina 3.32 25. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) US Postal Service 7.02 26. Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Vitalicio Seguros 7.07 27. Mirko Celestino (Ita) Polti 7.07 28. Nicola Loda (Ita) Ballan 7.07 29. Andrei Teteriuk (Kaz) Lotto-Mobistar 7.08 30. Geert Verheyen (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 7.08 31. Stephane Goubert (Fra) Cofidis 7.08 32. Jon Odriozola Mugarza (Spa) Banesto 7.11 33. David Canada Garcia (Spa) ONCE 7.11 34. Tyler Hamilton (USA) US Postal 7.13 35. Marty Jemison (USA) U.S. Postal 7.15 36. Richard Virenque (Fra) Festina 7.18 37. Roméo Hernandez (Bel) Home Market-Charleroi 7.19 38. Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 7.20 39. Laurent Brochard (Fra) Festina 7.21 40. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM-Farm Frites 7.22 41. Xavier Jan (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 7.22 42. Mariano Piccoli (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 7.23 43. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Ballan 7.23 44. Georg Totschnig (Aut) Telekom-ARD 7.23 45. Michael Blaudzun (Den) Telekom-ARD 7.23 46. Gianni Faresin (Ita) Mapei 7.23 47. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi 7.23 48. Roland Meier (Swi) Cofidis 7.24 49. Vladislav Bobrik (Rus) Riso Scotti-MG 7.24 50. Paolo Bettini (Ita) Asics 7.24 51. Luca Scinto (Ita) Asics 7.25 52. David Lefevre (Fra) Casino 7.28 53. Gianni Bugno (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 7.33 54. Udo Bölts (Ger) Telekom-ARD 7.30 55. Steve De Wolf (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 7.31 56. Evgueni Berzin (Rus) La Francaise des Jeux 7.32 57. Leif Hoste (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 7.33 58. Angel Luis Casero Moreno (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 7.33 59. Francesco Frattini (Ita) Telekom-ARD 7.33 60. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 7.34 61. Joona Laukka (Fin) Lotto-Mobistar 7.35 62. Inigo Gonzalez Heredia (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 7.35 63. Ermanno Brignoli (Ita) Riso Scotti-MG 7.36 64. Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Mapei 7.36 65. Paolo Valoti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 7.37 66. Santiago Botero Echeverry (Col) Kelme-Costa Blanca 7.37 67. Jens Heppner (Ger) Telekom-ARD 7.37 68. Kurt Van de Wouwer (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 7.38 69. Pascal Richard (Swi) Casino 7.38 70. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Casino 7.40 71. Germano Pierdomenico (Ita) Cantina Tollo 7.41 72. David Latasa (Spa) Banesto 7.41 73. David Tani (Ita) Asics 7.47 74. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) TVM-Farm Frites 7.47 75. Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 7.48 76. Didier Rous (Fra) Festina 7.49 77. Peter Meinert-Nielsen (Den) US Postal Service 7.49 78. Glenn D'Hollander (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 7.49 79. Cristiano Frattini (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 7.49 80. Stephane Heulot (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 7.50 81. Manuel Fernandez Gines (Spa) Banesto 7.50 82. Santiago Blanco Gil (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 7.50 83. Rolf Järmann (Swi) Casino 7.51 84. Roberto Sgambelluri (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 7.54 85. Marco Milesi (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 7.54 86. Alexandre Gontchenkov (Rus) Ballan 7.55 87. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) (Ita) Polti 7.55 88. Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 7.59 89. Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Ballan 7.59 90. Christophe Rinero (Fra) Cofidis 8.00 91. Mikel Zarrabeitia Uranga (Spa) ONCE 8.01 92. Gabriele Missaglia (Ita) Mapei 8.05 93. Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 8.20 94. Riccardo Forconi (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi 8.31 95. Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale 8.33 96. Simone Borgheresi (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi 8.34 97. Marcelino Garcia Alonso (Spa) ONCE 8.36 98. Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Ballan 8.54 99. Sébastien Demarbaix (Bel) Home Market-Charleroi 12.42 100. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 12.44 101. Kevin Livingston (USA) Cofidis 12.44 102. Nicolay Bo Larsen (Den) TVM-Farm Frites 13.10 103. Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) Banesto 13.17 104. David Etxebarria (Spa) ONCE 15.25 105. Luis Perez Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE 15.26 106. Ellis Rastelli (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 17.10 Started: 242 Finished: 106 Women's Waalse Pijl, 84 kms:Fabiana Luperini (last year winner of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour Feminin) won the first edition of the Waalse Pijl for women. They used 84 km of the same parcours as the men.
1. FabianaLuperini (Ita) 2.27.11 (34.240) 2. Sundstedt (Fin) 0.09 3. Marsal (Fra) 0.31 4. Palmer (Can) 0.38 5. Cappellotto (Ita) 0.49 6. McGregor (GBr) 0.50 .. 12. De Bruijn (Ned) 1.10 37. Vink (Ned) 9.32 44. Vermast (Ned) 9.41 47. Bras (Ned) 9.51 60. Klep (Ned) 10.18 65. Teutenberg (Ger) 10.47 Started: 108 riders Finished: 65 riders RouteCHARLEROI start Place Charles II official start Gilly 0 11.00 Chatelet 1 11.02 Fleurus 2 11.04 Sombreffe - Ligny 10 11.14 Sombreffe 13 11.19 Corroy-le-Château 15 11.23 Grand Manil 18 11.30 Gembloux 19 11.31 Perwez 33 11.48 Noville 39 11.56 Eghezèe 43 12.01 Hanret 44 12.03 Hambraine 46 12.05 Forville 49 12.11 Bierwart 52 12.15 Hanneche 53 12.17 Burdinne 56 12.21 Lamontzée 58 12.24 Oteppe 61 12.28 Huccorgne 64 12.31 climb: Côte 'Route Jolie' 66 12.36 Fumal 68 12.40 Vinalmont 70 12.43 Wanze 75 12.47 Huy 76 12.49 climb: Mur du Huy 79 12.54 Feed Station 80 15.55 Stree 82 12.57 Ombret 88 13.03 Amay 94 13.12 climb: Côte d'Amay 95 13.16 Jehay 97 13.18 Bodegnée 101 13.23 Fize-Fontaine 103 13.26 Villers-le-Bouillet 106 13.31 Pâturages 109 13.35 Huy 110 13.36 climb: Mur du Huy 115 13.45 provisioning 116 13.47 Stree 116 13.47 Ombret 125 13.57 climb: Côte de France 128 14.02 Villers-le-Temple 129 14.03 Scry (Tinlot) 133 14.10 Pont-de-Bonne 141 14.21 climb: Côte de Pailhe 147 14.30 Havelange 150 14.35 Flostoy 153 14.41 Evelette 156 14.45 Ohey 160 14.48 Coutisse 163 14.53 Andenne 167 14.57 Côte de la Flisme 172 15.02 Coutisse climb: Côte de Bohisseau 174 15.08 Ben-Ahin 177 15.13 Solières 179 15.16 Hénimont 181 15.18 climb: Côte d'Ahin 190 15.31 Fléron Marchin 192 15.33 Huy 198 15.43 FINAL CLIMB TO FINISH Mur du Huy 201 15.48 Past Winners and History
1936 Philippe Demeersman (Bel) 1937 Adolph Braeckeveldt (Bel) 1938 Emile Masson (Bel) 1939 Edmund Delathouwer (Bel) 1941 Sylvain Grysolle (Bel) 1942 Karel Thijs (Bel) 1943 Marcel Kint (Bel) 1944 Marcel Kint (Bel) 1945 Marcel Kint (Bel) 1946 Desire Keteleer (Bel) 1947 Ernest Sterckx (Bel) 1948 Fermo Camellini (Ita) 1949 Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) 1950 Fausto Coppi (Ita) 1951 Ferdi Kübler (Swi) 1952 Ferdi Kübler (Swi) 1953 Stan Ockers (Bel) 1954 Germain Derijcke (Bel) 1955 Stan Ockers (Bel) 1956 Richard Van Genechten (Bel) 1957 Raymond Impanis (Bel) 1958 Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) 1959 Joseph Hoevenaars (Bel) 1960 Pino Cerami (Bel) 1961 Willy Vannitsen (Bel) 1962 Henri De Wolf (Bel) 1963 Raymond Poulidor (Fra) 1964 Gilbert Desmet (Bel) 1965 Roberto Poggiali (Ita) 1966 Michele Dancelli (Ita) 1967 Eddy Merckx (Bel) 1968 Rik Van Looy (Bel) 1969 Jos Huysmans (Bel) 1970 Eddy Merckx (Bel) 1971 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) 1972 Eddy Merckx (Bel) 1973 André Dierickx (Bel) 1974 Frans Verbeeck (Bel) 1975 André Dierickx (Bel) 1976 Joop Zoetemelk (Ned) 1977 Francesco Moser (Ita) 1978 Michel Laurent (Fra) 1979 Bernard Hinault (Fra) 1980 Guiseppe Saronni (Ita) 1981 Daniel Willems (Bel) 1982 Mario Beccia (Ita) 1983 Bernard Hinault (Fra) 1984 Kim Andersen (Den) 1985 Claude Criquielion (Bel) 1986 Laurent Fignon (Fra) 1987 Jean-Claude Leclercq (Fra) 1988 Rolf Gölz (Ger) 1989 Claude Criquielion (Bel) 1990 Moreno Argentin (Ita) 1991 Moreno Argentin (Ita) 1992 Giorgio Furlan (Ita) 1993 Maurizio Fondriest (Ita) 1994 Moreno Argentin (Ita) 1995 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) 1996 Lance Armstrong (USA) 1997 Laurent Jalabert (Fra)Past winners from my friend Mario Stiehl in Berlin |