18th Trofeo Luis Puig, Cat 1.2

Valencia - Benidorm, 189 Kms

Spain, February 22, 1998

Brief Preview

The 18th edition of the Trofeo Luis Puig will be staged between Benidorm and Valencia a distance of 189 kms. It is the warm-up event for the Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana, which will starts on Tuesday, February 24 at Elche. The race will begin at 11.00 at Benidorm and usually finishes around 14.43 in Valencia. There are three major climbs on the circuit: the Puerto de Confrides (Cat 1) which comes at km40, the Puerto de Albaida (Cat 2) - km67, and the Serragrosa (Cat 3) - km94.

The course profile and the distance of the climbs from the finish usually allow the sprinters and their teams to dominate the finish.

Valencia-Benidorm, 186 kms:

  1. Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar	     4.36.21 (avs 40.384)
  2. Vjatceslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal 
  3. Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Rabobank
  4. Angel Edo Alsina (Spa) Kelme 		0.03
  5. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) Cofidis 
  6. Guido Trenti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 
  7. Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Saeco
  8. Jens Heppner (Ger) Telekom-ARD 
  9. German Nieto (Spa) Estepona  
 10. Ludo Dierckxens (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
 11. Franky Andreu (VS) US Postal
 12. Francisco Mancebo (Esp) Banesto
 13. Roberto Petito (Ita) Saeco
 14. Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Vitalicio Seguros
 15. Lars Michaelsen (Den) TVM
 16. Chris Peers (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
 17. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) US Postal
 18. Maarten den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank
 19. José L. Arrieta (Spa) Banesto
 20. Peter van Petegem (Bel) TVM
 21. David Garcia-Marquina (spa) Vitalicio Seguros
 22. Fabio Malberti (Ita) Asics
 23. Ibon Ajuria (Spa) Euskaltel
 24. Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Saeco
 25. Herminio Diaz-Zabala (Spa) ONCE
 26. Melchor Mauri (Spa) ONCE
 27. Fabian Jeker (Swi) Festina
 28. Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank
 29. Mario Scirea (Ita) Saeco
 30. Uwe Peschel (Ger) Estepona
 31. A. Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel
 32. Riccardo Forconi (Ita) Mercatone Uno
 33. Juan-José de los Angeles (Spa) Kelme
 34. Rui Lavarinhas (Por) Troiamarisco
 35. Ginčs Salmeron (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros    	0.03
 ... 
 39. Wladimir Belli (Ita) Festina 
 53. Abraham Olano Manzano (Spa) Banesto 	4.27
 57. Alex Zülle (Swi) Festina
 68. Marco Pantani (Ita) Mercatone Uno 
 92. Maurizio Fondriest (Ita) Cofidis 		5.07
100. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM 			5.07 
102. Bert Hiemstra (Ned) Rabobank 		7.19

Brief

Andrei Tchmil originally from the Ukraine but now riding as a Belgian for Team Lotto, took out his first victory of the season by winning the sprint from Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov and Dutchman Max Van Heeswijk.

The main player of the race was Italian Stefano Verziagi, from Spanish Team Estepona Brepac, who was in a lone breakaway for 150 kms, after attacking from the peloton at the 17 km mark. By 78 kms he had a lead of 15 minutes. At that stage, ONCE decided to work and they eventually brought Verziagi back. A few kilometers before catching Verziagi there was a fall in the peloton with the riders most affected being Santos González and García Casas. Both were able to continue the race.

The final section was marked by constant attacking which splintered the peloton with only 40 riders remaining in the top group. Italian Giovanni Lombardi (Telekom-ARD) fell in the final kms and this also splintered the peloton.

In the final group, the most astute riding came from Andrei Tchmil, who started the sprint early and was only followed by Ekimov and Van Heeswijk. The rest of the group missed the move and came in 3 seconds behind.

Past Winners 

Year  Winner				Finish

1969  Carlos Echeverria (Spa)
1970  Ramon Saez (Spa)
1971  Pe Verhaegen (Bel)
1972  Eric Leman (Bel)
1973  Gustave Van Roosbroeck (Bel)
1974  Eddy Peelman (Bel)
1975  Eddy Peelman (Bel)
1976  Tomas Nistal (Spa)
1977  Domingo Perurena (Spa)
1978  Javier Elorriaga (Spa)
1979  Antoine Gutierrez (Spa)
1981  Noél Dejonckheere (Bel)		Algemesm
1982  Raimund Dietzen (Ger)		Benifays
1983  Noél Dejonckheere (Bel)		Burjassot
1984  Noél Dejonckheere (Bel)		Torrent
1985  Enrique Aja (Spa)			Elda
1986  Bernard Hinault (Fra)		Denia
1987  Pello Ruiz-Cabestany (Spa)	Benidorm
1988  Acacio Da Silva (Por)		Benidorm
1989  Mathieu Hermans (Ned)		Cullera
1990  Tom Cordes (Ned)			Benidorm
1991  Andreas Kappes (Ger)		Benidorm
1992  Sean Kelly (Ire)			Benidorm
1993  Laurent Jalabert (Fra)		Valencia
1994  Adriano Baffi (Ita)		Valencia
1995  Mario Cipollini (Ita)		Valencia
1996  Peter Van Petegem (Bel)		Valencia
1997  Erik Zabel (Ger)			Valencia
1998  ?