GP Plouay, Cat 1.1

France, August 30, 1998


1997 Results     Past Winners

Preview:

Organized from the daily paper Ouest France, the GP Plouay will be raced today in Plouay, a town in Brittany. It is a UCI Cat 1.1 race over a circuit of 13.9 kms. The riders have to do the circuit 15 times for a total of 209 kms. The same circuit will be used for the World Championships in 2000. As this is an important race, there will be 22 teams riding and noted performers include Telekom with Riis and Lombardi, Casino with Rodolfo Massi, Brescialat-Liquigas with Contrini, Festina with Virenque, Cofidis with Fondriest and Lelli, Riso Scotti with Minali and Baldato and Vitalicio Seguros with Ferrigato (who won in 1997).

It will be the first time that Rodolfo Massi has raced since being allowed to race again while awaiting trial for drug charges. The race also marks the return to official competition in France for the Festina team after the Tour de France scandal.

Race Report:

Pascal Hervé (Festina) who is under judicial inquiry for drugs crimes after the Tour de France, attacked Ludo Dierickxsens on a climb 6 kms before the finish to set up the winning move in the G.P. Ouest-France. After 11 of the 15 laps the race was defined. A small group of 11 riders (Guidis, Secchiari, Ferrigato, Napolitano, Rinero, Berges, Heulot, Madouas, Barthe, Hervé, Dierickxsens), attacked and rode away from the main bunch. Dierickxsens subsequently attacked the group and took Hervé and Guidi with him. But the French rider was able to drop the Belgian and took 1.19 out of him at the end, most of it on the final climb . Guidi dropped out on the last lap after doing a lot of the work to set up the break.

First of Italian riders who have been dominant in the post-Tour period was Francisco Secchiari (Scrigno-Gaerne), who came in joint fifth, followed by 1997 winner Andrea Ferrigato, in 8th place.

The other development after the race came from Richard Virenque. Upon hearing the stipulation from the French Cycling Federatino that none of the riders under investigation for drug abuse would be selected in the French team for the World Championships, he said he would looking for another country to ride for. He intimated that fellow French Festina riders would do the same.

Plouay, 15 laps for 209 kms:

 1. Pascal Herve (Fra) Festina				     4.57.13 (42.196)
 2. Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Lotto=Mobistar			1.19
 3. Stephane Heulot (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux			3.30
 4. Grzegorz Gwiazdowski (Pol) Cofidis				3.38
 5. Francesco Secchiari (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne			3.50
 6. Christophe Rinero (Fra) Cofidis				3.52
 7. Laurent Madouas (Fra) Lotto=Mobistar			3.54
 8. Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Vitalicio Seguros			4.00
 9. Paolo Valoti (Ita) Cantina Tollo				4.05
10. Oscar Pozzi (Ita) Asics-CGA					5.02
11. Fabrizio Bontempi (Ita) Ros Mary     			5.30
12. Bo Hamburger (Dan) Casino
13. Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Cofidis
14. Richard Virenque (Fra) Festina
15. Dirk Müller (Ger) Telekom
16. Christian Charrière (Sch) Riso Scotti
17. Marco Velo (Ita) Mercatone Uno
18. Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Mutelle de Seine-et-Marne 
19. Jérôme Bernard (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne
20. Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto=Mobistar				5.30

Past Winners

1931	Francois Fave (Fra)
1932	Philippe Bono (Fra)
1933	Philippe Bono (Fra)
1934	Lucien Tulot (Fra)
1935	Jean Le Dily (Fra)
1936	Pierre Cogan (Fra)
1937	Jean-Marie Goasmat (Fra)
1938	Pierre Cloarec (Fra)
1945	Eloi Tassin (Fra)
1946	Ange Le Strat (Fra)
1947	Raymond Louviot (Fra)
1948	Eloi Tassin (Fra)
1949	Armand Audaire (Fra)
1950	Armand Audaire (Fra)
1951	Emile Guerinel (Fra)
1952	Emile Guerinel (Fra)
1953	Serge Blusson (Fra)
1954	Ugo Anzile (Fra)
1955	Jean Petitjean (Fra)
1956	Valentin Huot (Fra)
1957	Isaak Vitre (Fra)
1958	Jean Gainche (Fra)
1959	Emmanuel Crenn (Fra)
1960	Hubert Ferrer (Fra)
1961	Fernand Picot (Fra)
1962	Jean Gainche (Fra)
1963	Fernand Picot (Fra)
1964	Jean Bourles (Fra)
1965	Francois Goasduff (Fra)
1966	Claude Mazeaud (Fra)
1967	Francois Hamon (Fra)
1968	Jean Jourdan (Fra)
1969	Jean Jourdan (Fra)
1970	Jean Marcarini (Fra)
1971	Jean-Pierre Danguillaume (Fra)
1972	Robert Bouloux (Fra)
1973	Jean-Claude Largeau (Fra)
1974	Raymond Martin (Fra)
1975	Cyrille Guimard (Fra)
1976	Jacques Bossis (Fra)
1977	Jacques Bossis (Fra)
1978	Pierre-Raym. Villemiane (Fra)
1979	Fritz Pirard (Ned)
1980	Patrick Friou (Fra)
1981	Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (Fra)
1982	Francis Castaing (Fra)
1983	Pierre Bazzo (Fra)
1984	Sean Kelly (Ire)
1985	Eric Guyot (Fra)
1986	Martial Gayant (Fra)
1987	Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (Fra)
1988	Luc Leblanc (Fra)
1989	Jean-Claude Colotti (Fra)
1990	Bruno Cornillet (Fra)
1991	Armand De las Cuevas (Fra)
1992	Ronan Pensec (Fra)
1993	Thierry Claveyrolat (Fra)
1994	Andrej Tchmil (Mol)
1995	Rolf Jaermann (Swi)
1996	Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel)
1997	Andrea Ferrigato (Ita)
Past winners are from Mario Stiehl, Berlin