HEW-Cyclassics Cup, World Cup Round 7

Germany, August 15, 1998

Brief Preview:

The World Cup goes to Germany on Sunday - the HEW Cyclassic - a new race near Hamburg, in the North. This is the 7th round of 10 for the World Cup 1998 and it replaces the English event which has been held in mid-August over the last several years. The change reflects a dissatisfaction with the English event and also the rising popularity of cycle racing in Germany following the 1997 Tour de France victory of Jan Ullrich.

Not only has Ullrich as an individual helped to transform the status of cycle sport in Germany, but also he is in one of the better teams in the Cat 1 division - another German entity - the Telekom team. That team has Erik Zabel who by his sprinting exploits also contributes to the image of the sport in Germany.

However, whatever the German's might think about their own, it is the Italian riders that are expected to dominate. They will turn up in force for this race and they are the best one-day classic riders in the entire professional peloton. Asics rider Michele Bartoli, who did not ride the Tour de France, is strongly placed at the head of the World Cup rankings. But a major threat to him is fellow Italian Francesco Casagrande who won in San Sebastien last weekend but who has now tested positive on two occasions (April and May) and faces a hearing before the Italian Olympic Disciplinary Committee.

The HEW Classic is over 253 kms with a 16 per cent climb involved. Number one UCI-ranked rider Laurent Jalabert is not riding this weekend.

Brief Report:

As the race entered the final laps of the finishing circuit around Hamburg there was still 24 riders in the top group. Last year's winner Jan Ullrich was supported by Jens Heppner, World Cup leader Michele Bartoli, Nico Mattan, Ludo Dierickxsens, Mengin, Paul Van Hyfte, Roscioli, Commesso, Rich, Wegmann and Van Bon to name a few.

The group worked well together until the final climb, a short 16% hill, where the final selection was made and only 13 of the strongest riders remained. In the final sprint it was Leon Van Bon who was first from Bartoli then the Belgian Dierickzsens. It was the first Dutch world cup win since Frans Maassen won the Amstel Gold Race in 1991.

Dutchman Leon van Bon (Rabobank) won the 7th and only German Round of the World Cup - the HEW Cyclassics of Hamburg. Italian rider Michele Bartoli (Asics) who was second to Van Bon has solidified his lead at the top of the Cup Standings with three rounds left to go for 1998.

Over 253.3 kms, Van Bon played a key role in the break of 13 riders from a larger group of 25 riders which went away, initially, with 80 kms to go. He attacked hard on the last climb about 16 kms from the end and at once Bartoli reacted. German Jan Ullrich was also very active in the final group and attacked several times in the last kms. He came 9th in the end. His last attack was the strongest and he was joined by the Belgian Ludo Dierickxsens. But this offensive was brought back the by the group with two kms left.

Van Bon started the sprint with 500 metres to go and resisted the final effort by Bartoli with Dierickxsens still trying to the end despite his strong prior work.

Van Bon (26) said afterwards: "I was with a dozen rider who I know well but I was not on top of my form, there were some good sprinters in that lot."

The other eventful happening occured at the 118 kms mark when a truck broke through the fencing and drove onto the circuit, momentarily stopping the race.

Hamburg - Hamburg, 253 kms:

   1. Leon Van Bon (Ned) Rabobank			     	     6.09.31 (41.135)
   2. Michele Bartoli (Ita) Asics
   3. Ludo Dierickxsens (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
   4. Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale
   5. Nico Mattan (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi
   6. Christophe Mengin (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux
   7. Michael Rich (Ger) Saeco-Cannondale
   8. Christian Wegmann (Ger) Die Continentale
   9. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Telekom
  10. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Lotto-Mobista
  11. Cristiano Colleoni (Ita) Polti
  12. Paolo Bettini (Ita) Asics						0.09
  13. Elio Aggiano (Ita) Vitalicio Seguros				0.14
  14. Fabio Roscioli (Ita) Asics 					2.39
  15. Jens Heppner (Ger) Telekom            				2.41
  16. Andrea Peron (Ita) La Francaise des Jeux
  17. Ole Sigurd Simensen (Nor) Agro Adler Brandenburg 
  18. René Jörgensen (Den) Team Home Jack and Jones 
  19. Cyril Saugrain (Fra) Cofidis 					6.31 
  20. Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Polti 					6.33 
  21. Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Scrigno 					7.37 
  22. Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom 						8.23 
  23. Danilo Hondo (Ger) Agro Adler Brandenburg 
  24. Jo Planckaert (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
  25. Danny Jonasson (Den) Rabobank
  26. Martin Rittsel (Swe) Cantina Tollo
  27. Adriano Baffi (Ita) Ballan
  28. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole
  29. Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
  30. Christian Andersen (Den) Team Home Jack and Jones
  31. Arvis Piziks (Lat) Team Home Jack and Jones
  32. Andreas Klier (Ger) Nürnberger
  33. Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Vitalicio Seguros
  34. Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux
  35. Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Gerolsteiner
  36. Gabriele Ballanducci (Ita) Scrigno
  37. Björn Glasner (Ger) Gerolsteiner
  38. Max van Heeswijk (Ned) Rabobank
  39. Rolf Aldag (Ger) Telekom
  40. Raymond Meijs (Ned) Gerolsteiner
  41. Andreas Kappes (Ger) Gerolsteiner
  42. Francois Simon (Fra) Credit Agricole
  43. Massimilliano Mori (Ita) Saeco
  44. Lars Michaelsen (Den) TVM
  45. Chris Peers (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
  46. Lauri Aus (Est) Casino
  47. Stephane Barthe (Fra) Casino
  48. Scott McGrory (Aus) Die Continentale
  49. Andrea Tafi (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi
  50. Heinrich Trumheller (Ger) Die Continentale
  51. Marco Bellini (Fra) Cantina Tollo
  52. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino
  53. David Tani (Ita) Asics-CGA
  54. George Hincapie (USA) US Postal
  55. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Casino
  56. André Korff (Ger) Festina
  57. Jörn Reuss (Ger) Agro Adler Brandenburg
  58. Bert Grabsch (Ger) Agro Adler Brandenburg
  59. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina Tollo
  60. Grischa Niermann (Ger) Die Continentale
  61. Inigo Gonzalez Heredia (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros
  62. Francisco Benitez Esbri (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros
  63. Volker Ordowski (Ger) Agro Adler Brandenburg
  64. Peter Farazijn (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
  65. Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank
  66. Maarten den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank
  67. Fabio Malberti (Ita) Asics-CGA
  68. Maximillian Sciandri (GB) La Francaise des Jeux
  69. Franky Andreu (USA) US Postal
  70. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Cofidis
  71. Christian Henn (Ger) Telekom
  72. Axel Merckx (Bel) Polti
  73. Stephan Gottschling (Ger) Agro Adler Brandenburg
  74. Peter Meinert Nielsen (Den) US Postal
  75. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Polti
  76. Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole
  77. Franco Ballanlerini (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi
  78. Felix Garcia Casas (Spa) Festina
  79. Mirko Celestino (Ita) Polti
  80. David Plaza Romero (Spa) Cofidis
  81. Gines Salmeron Martinez (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros
  82. Michael Rosborg (Den) Team Home Jack and Jones
  83. Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Cofidis
  84. Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Asics-CGA
  85. Rolf Sörensen (Den) Rabobank
  86. Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi
  87. Maurizio Fondriest (Ita) Cofidis
  88. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM
  89. Alexandre Gontchenkov (Ukr) Ballan
  90. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM
  91. Henk Vogels (Aus) Credit Agricole
  92. Peter van Petegem (Bel) TVM
  93. Rolf Järmann (Swi) Casino
  94. Roland Meier (Swi) Cofidis
  95. Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Ballan
  96. Evgueni Berzin (Rus) La Francaise des Jeux
  97. Christopher Horner (USA) La Francaise des Jeux
  98. Alberto Elli (Ita) Casino
  99. Luca Scinto (Ita) Asics-CGA					s.t.

Started: 165
Classified: 99

(23 teams - 17 according to UCI rankings and 6 wild cards for
Scrigno, Team Home Jack and Jones, Gerolsteiner, Die Continental, 
Nürnberger and Agro-Adler-Brandenburg.


The other 5 Cat 1 UCI teams did not start - ONCE, Banesto, Mercatone Uno, 
Kelme and Riso Scotti

World Cup standings after 7 races:

For full progress rankings and details of all 7 races go to Cumulative Standings 

  1. Michele Bartoli (Ita)                 276 pts
  2. Leon van Bon (Ned)                    181
  3. Francesco Casagrande (Ita)            151
  4. Franco Ballerini (Ita)                132
  5. Emmanuel Magnien (Fra)                130
  6. Andrei Tchmil (Bel)                   129
  7. Stefano Zanini (Ita)                  118
  8. Rolf Järmann (Swi)                    110
  9. Andrea Tafi (Ita)                     110
 10. Erik Zabel (Ger)                      104
 11. Johan Museeuw (Bel)                   100
 12. Maarten den Bakker (Ned)               98
 13. Frédéric Moncassin (Fra)               86
 14. Laurent Jalabert (Fra)                 81
 15. Peter van Petegem (Bel)                78

Selected Starting List

Mapei-Bricobi:

Oskar Camenzind
Tom Steels
Jan Svorada
Andrea Tafi
Pavel Tonkov
Franck Vandenbroucke

Festina-Lotus:

Gianluca Bortolami
Laurent Brochard
Laurent Dufaux
André Korff
Richard Virenque
Marcel Wüst
Alex Zuelle

Team Deutsche Telekom:

Jan Ullrich
Udo Bölts
Bjarne Riis
Erik Zabel

ONCE:

Johan Bruyneel
Laurent Jalabert
Melchior Mauri

Rabobank:

Rolf Sorensen
Leon van Bon
Beat Zberg

Banesto:

Jose Maria Jimenez
Abraham Olano

Casino:

Alberto Elli
Bo Hamburger
Pascal Chanteur
Pascal Richard

TVM-Farm Frites:

Jeroen Blijlevens
Lars Michaelsen
Laurent Roux

Le Credit Agricole:

Christopher Boardman
Frederic Moncassin
Cédric Vasseur
Jens Voigt

Saeco-Cannondale:

Mario Cipollini
Ivan Gotti
Michael Rich

La Francaise des Jeux:

Evgeni Berzin
Maximilian Sciandri
Mauro Gianetti

Lotto-Mobistar:

Andrei Tchmil
Jo Planckert

Team Polti:

Jörg Jaksche
Davide Rebellin

Cofidis:

Francesco Casagrande
Maurizio Fondriest

Asics:

Michele Bartoli

Vitalicio Seguros:

Daniel Clavero
Juan Carlos Dominguez
Andrea Ferrigato
Tobias Steinhauser

Kelme-Costa Blanca:

Fernando Escartin

US Postal:

Vjatceslav Ekimov
Sven Teutenberg

Mercatone Uno:

Dimitri Konyshev
Marco Pantani

Cantina Tollo:

Serguei Gontchar

Ballan:

Alexandre Gontchenkov
Piotre Ugrumov
Davide Casarotto

Scrigno:

Biagio Conte

Route

                                                    ETOA        ETOA
                             kms        Height     42 km/h     44 km/h

Mönckebergstraße            00.0           6       11.30       11.30
Brennerhof                  11.0           3       11.46       11.45
Mohnhof                     31.9           7       12.16       12.13
Drager Straße               54.9           3       12.48       12.45
Schwarzenbergstraße         79.1          19       13.23       13.18
Ehestorfer Weg              85.1          89       13.32       13.26
Köhlbrandbrücke             99.1          58       13.52       13.45
Steintorwall               110.1           6       14.08       14.01
Elbgaustraße               121.8          22       14.24       14.17
Lehmweg                    138.9          11       14.49       14.40
Waseberg                   152.5          61       15.08       14.59
Mönckebergstraße           169.0           6       15.32       15.21
Elbgaustraße               180.9          22       15.49       15.37
Waseberg                   194.7          61       16.09       15.56
Waseberg                   194.7          61       16.09       15.56
Mönckebergstraße           211.1           6       16.32       16.19
Elbgaustraße               223.0          22       16.49       16.35
Waseberg                   236.9          61       17.10       16.54
Mönckebergstraße           253.3           6       17.33       17.16

Past Winners

1996:

 1. Rossano Brasi (Ita) Team Polti		160 kms in 3.33.18
 2. Bert Dietz (Ger) Telekom
 3. Steffen Rein (Ger) Team Nürnberger

1997:

 1. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Telekom			160 kms in 4.10.04
 2. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) Mapei
 3. Jens Heppner (Ger) Telekom
Past winners from Mario Stiehl, Berlin