Postgirot Tour of Sweden, Cat 2.4

Sweden, June 10-14, 1998

Other Stages     

Prologue - Uppsala, 1.8 kms
Stage 1b - Uppsala - Örebro, 190.2 kms
Stage 2 - Örebro - Skövde, 200.2 kms
Stage 3 - Skövde - Eskilstuna, 248.1 kms

Brief

Tomas Nilsson, a journalist from Sweden is our reporter for the Postgirot Tour of Sweden. In keeping with our usual aims, Tomas will be seeking all the results and news that he can find for us.

Prologue, Uppsala, 1.8 kms:

 1. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) Cantina Tollo		2.19	10 pts
 2. Glenn Magnusson (Swe) Amore e Vita			2.20	 9 pts
 3. Martin Rittsel (Swe) Cantina Tollo			2.22	 8 pts
 4. Thor Hushovd (Nor) National Team			2.22	 7 pts
 5. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites		2.22	 6 pts
 6. Marcus Ljungkvist (Swe) Cantina Tollo		2.22	 5 pts
 7. Niklas Ronnerling (Swe) National Team		2.23	 4 pts
 8. Bert Grabsch (Ger) Agro Adler			2.24	 3 pts
 9. Colin Sturgess (Gbr) National Team			2.24	 2 pts
10. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina Tollo			2.24	 1 pts

Stage 1b, Uppsala - Örebro, 190.2 kms:

 1. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites		40.44	25 pts
 2. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) Cantina Tollo			20 pts
 3. Mirko Rossato (Ita) Scrigno Gaerne				16 pts
 4. Olaf Pollack (Ger) Agro Adler				14 pts
 5. Dirk Shumann (Ger) Gerolsteiner				12 pts
 6. Allesandro Petacchi (Ita) Scrigno Gaerne			10 pts
 7. Tayeb Braika (Den) Acceptcard				 9 pts
 8. Anders Eklundh (Swe) Bianchi Orebro				 8 pts
 9. Danny Daehlman (Bel) Collstrop				 7 pts
10. Thor Hushovd (Nor) National Team				 6 pts
11. Orjan Gustafsson (Swe) Bianchi Orebro			 5 pts
12. Magnus Backstedt (Swe) National Team			 4 pts
13. Arkadiusz Wojtas (Pol) Mroz					 3 pts
14. Glenn Magnusson (Swe) Amore e Vita				 2 pts
15. John Tanner (Gbr) National Team			s.t.	 1 pt

GC after Stage 1b 

 1. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) Cantina Tollo		     4.42.59
 2. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites			0.04	
 3. Glenn Magnusson (Swe) Amore e Vita				0.05
 4. Martin Rittsel (Swe) Cantina Tollo				0.07
 5. Thor Hushovd (Nor) National Team				0.07
 6. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites			0.07
 7. Marcus Ljungkvist (Swe) Cantina Tollo			0.07
 8. Niklas Ronnerling (Swe) National Team			0.08
 9. Bert Grabsch (Ger) Agro Adler				0.09
10. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina Tollo				0.09

Other Classifications 

U23 (White jersey)

 1. Thor Hushovd (Nor) National Team
 2. Bert Grabsch (Ger) Agro Adler
 3. Niclas Ekström (Swe) Team Postgirot

Points (Green jersey)

 1. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) Cantina Tollo              		30
 2. Jeroen Blijlewens (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites           		25
 3. Mirko Rossato (Ita) Scrigno Gaerne                		16
 4. Olaf Pollack (Ger) Agro Adler                     		14
 5. Thor Hushovd (Nor) National Team                  		13
 6. Dirk Shumann (Ger) Gerolsteiner                   		12
 7. Glenn Magnusson (Swe) Amore&Vita                  		11
 8. Allesandro Petacchi (Ita) Scrigno Gaerne          		10
 9. Tayeb Braika (Den) Acceptcard                     		 9
10. Martin Rittsel (Swe) Cantina Tollo                		 8
11. Anders Eklundh (Swe) Bianchi Orebro               		 8
12. Danny Daehlman (Bel) Collstrop                    		 7
13. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites              		 6
14. Marcus Ljungkvist (Swe) Cantina Tollo             		 5
15. Orjan Gustafsson (Swe) Bianchi Orebro             		 5
16. Niklas Ronnerling (Swe) National Team             		 4
17. Magnus Backstedt (Swe) National Team              		 4
18. Bert Grabsch (Ger) Agro Adler                     		 3
19. Arkadiusz Wojtas (Pol) Mroz                       		 3
20. Colin Sturgess (Gbr) National Team                		 2
21. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina Tollo               		 1
22. John Tanner (Gbr) National Team                   		 1

Brief

Massimo Strazzer of Cantina Tollo dominated the first day of Postgirot Open Tour of Sweden. First he won the prolouge then came in second after Jeroen Blijlevens, TVM, in the mass sprint of the afternoon stage from Uppsala to Orebro thus keeping the yellow jersey over night.

Michael Andersson, TVM, (who else?) attacked after a little more than half an hour of the race. He got 20 secons but was soon chased down. Dutch amateur Rik Reinerik started the only serious attack right after the first sprint in Vasteras. Oscar Cavagnis, Scrigno Gaerne and Swedish amateur Martin Johansson joined him and together they built a three and a half minute lead before Amore e Vita started towing the peloton. Before they were caught Reinerik took the well deserved sprint in Koping. A couple of small attacks occured but nothing serious happened before Jeroen Blijlevens crossed the finish line on the rain wet cobblestones in Orebro.

Stage 2, Örebro - Skövde, 200.2 kms:

 1. DE JONGH, Steven (NED) TVM 				     5.00.34
 2. WAJS, Grzegorz (Pol) MROZ 
 3. BLIJLEVENS, Jeroen (NED) TVM 				0.59
 4. MAGNUSSON, Glenn (Swe) Amore e Vita 
 5. BÄCKSTEDT, Magnus (Swe) Sweden National Team 
 6. LAFIS, Michel (Swe) TVM 
 7. LJUNGQVIST, Marcus (Swe) Cantina Tollo 
 8. PETACCHI, Alessandro (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne 
 9. KNAVEN, Servais (NED) TVM 
10. RITTSEL, Martin (Swe) Cantina Tollo 
11. KAPPES, Andreas (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner 
12. HUSHOVD, Thor (Nor) Norway National Team 
13. ANDERSSON, Michael (Swe) TVM 
14. HENRIX, Sascha (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner 
15. LILLYWHITE, Chris (GB) Great Britain
16. HOLM, Brian (Den) Team Acceptcard 
17. WOJTAS, Arkadiusz (Pol) MROZ 
18. VESTÖL, Björnar (Nor) Team Acceptcard 
19. VERECKE, Philip (Bel) Collstrop 
20. ROSOLINSKI, Grzegorz (Pol) MROZ 
21. BRACKE, Tony (Bel) Collstrop 
22. GOTTSCHLING, Stephan (Ger) Agro-Adler Brandenburg 
23. TANNER, John (GB) Great Britain
24. LARSEN, Nicolay Bo (Den) TVM 
25. KARLSSON, Jan (Swe) Team Acceptcard 
26. ANDERSSON, Markus (Swe) Sweden National Team 
27. SIMENSEN, Ole (Ger) Agro-Adler Brandenburg 			1.30
28. DE CLERCQ, Eric (Bel) Collstrop 
29. RASCH, Gabriel (Nor) Norway National Team 
30. GRABSCH, Bert (Ger) Agro-Adler Brandenburg 
31. ANDERSSON, Allen (Swe) Bianchi Racing Team 
32. KRYGER, Martin (Den) Team Acceptcard 
33. JOHANSSON,Martin (Swe) Sweden National Team 
34. ANDRIOTTO, Dario (Ita) Amore e Vita 
35. ENGELSVOLL, Erlend (Nor) Norway National Team 		3.17
36. GRABSCH, Ralf (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner 
37. EKSTRÖM, Niclas (Swe) Team Postgirot			4.53
38. KARLSSON, Rickard (Swe) Team Postgirot 
39. STRAZZER, Massimo (Ita) Cantina Tollo 			5.21
40. ARNELL, Emil (Swe) Team Postgirot 				5.26
41. CARLSTRÖM, Kjell (Fin) Finland National Team 
42. INGEBY, Kristoffer (Swe) Team Postgirot 
43. CARLSSON, Mattias (Swe) Sweden National Team 
44. STENSTRÖM, Oscar (Fin) Finland National Team 
45. NILSSON, Tobias (Swe) Team Wirsbo CK 
46. GUSTAFSSON, Örjan (Swe) Bianchi Racing Team 
47. BAEYENS, Danny (Bel) Collstrop 
48. IVARSSON, Anders (Swe) Team Postgirot 
49. SPARR, Henrik (Swe) Team Wirsbo CK 
50. ALBERTSSON, Magnus (Swe) Team Postgirot			5.26

GC after Stage 2 

 1. Steven de Jongh (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites                    9.43.30
 2. Grzegorz Wajs (Pol) Mroz                  			0.11
 3. Jeroen Blijlevens(Ned) TVM-Farm Frites               	1.02
 4. Glenn Magnusson (Swe) Amore e Vita       			1.07
 5. Martin Rittsel (Swe) Cantina Tollo        			1.09
 6. Thor Hushovd (Nor)						1.09
 7. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites			1.09
 8. Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Cantina Tollo     			1.10
 9. Nicolay Bo Larsen  (Den) TVM-Farm Frites              	1.12
10. Björnar Vestöl (Nor) Acceptcard				1.12

Other Classifications 

Points (Green Jersey):

 1. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites		41
 2. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) Cantina Tollo		30
 3. Glenn Magnusson (Swe) Amore e Vita			25
 4. Steven de Jongh (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites		25
 5. Grzegorz Wajs (Pol) Mroz				20
 6. Thor Hushovd (Nor) National Team			17
 7. Mirko Rossato (Ita) Scrigno Gaerne			16
 8. Magnus Backstedt (Swe) National Team		16
 9. Olaf Pollack (Ger) Agro Adler			14
10. Martin Rittsel (Swe) Cantina Tollo			14
11. Marcus Ljungkvist (Swe) Cantina Tollo		14
12. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites		13
13. Dirk Shumann (Ger) Gerolsteiner			12
14. Allesandro Petacchi (Ita) Scrigno Gaerne		10
15. Michel Lafis (Swe) TVM-Farm Frites			10
16. Tayeb Braika (Den) Acceptcard			 9
17. Anders Eklundh (Swe) Bianchi Orebro			 8
18. Allesandro Petacchi (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne		 8
19. Danny Daehlman (Bel) Collstrop			 7
20. Orjan Gustafsson (Swe) Bianchi Orebro		 5
21. Andreas Kappes (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner		 5
22. Niklas Ronnerling (Swe) National Team		 4
23. Bert Grabsch (Ger) Agro Adler		 	 3
24. Arkadiusz Wojtas (Pol) Mroz			 	 3
25. Michael Andersson (Swe) TVM-Farm Frites		 3
26. Colin Sturgess (Gbr) National Team			 2
27. Sascha Henrix (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner		 2
28. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina Tollo			 1
29. John Tanner (Gbr) National Team			 1


Under 23 (White Jersey):
	
 1. Thor Hushovd (Nor) National Team

Sprints (Red Jersey):

 1. Steven de Jongh (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites
 2. Niclas Ekström (Swe) Team Postgirot
 3. Gerben Nijmeijer (Ned) National Team

Brief

The second stage of Postgirot Open Tour of Sweden offerd far more entertainment than the first. Several attacks early on. The first sprint in Laxa, 52,5 kms, was won by swedish U23-rider Niklas Ekström who was one minute ahead of the peloton together with Holm, Bellini, Larsen, Muller and de Clercq.

They were soon chased down and at 60 kms Steven de Jongh, TVM and Grzegorz Wajs, MROZ, attacked. de Jongh took the second sprint i Undenas, 113 kms. At 137 kms they had 11 minutes. Then Cantina Tollo, Amore e Vita and Team Postgirot started working in the peloton.

Into the three 7,2 km laps in Skovde, with the most serious climb, Billingen, the duo had 7.40 mins. De Jongh punctured his rear wheel on the second lap but managed to catch Wajs, hold the shrinking peloton off and outsprint Wajs easily one minute before the peloton arrived. De Jongh also took care of the yellow jersey and leads the intermediate sprints competition. Jeroen Blijlevens, TVM, headed the peloton and captured the green points jersey.

Stage 3, Skövde - Eskilstuna, 248.1 kms:

 1. BLIJLEVENS, Jeroen (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 		    5.41.49 	25 pts 
 2. STRAZZER, Massimo (Ita) Cantina Tollo 				20 
 3. SCHUMANN, Dirk (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner 				16 
 4. MELONI, Filippo (Ita) Amore e Vita 					14 
 5. DE JONGH, Steven (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 				12 
 6. HONDO, Danilo (Ger) Agro-Adler Brandenburg 				10 
 7. PETACCHI, Alessandro (Ita) Scrigno Gaerne 				 9 
 8. HENRIX, Sascha (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner				 8 
 9. DAELMAN, Danny (Bel) Collstrop					 7 
10. KAPPES, Andreas (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner				 6 
11. BRAIKIA, Tayeb (Den) Team Acceptcard				 5 
12. KNAVEN, Servais (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites				 4 
13. BÄCKSTEDT, Magnus (Swe) Sweden National Team			 3
14. HUSHOVD, Thor (Nor) Norway National Team				 2 
15. LJUNGQVIST, Marcus (Swe) Cantina Tollo				 1 
16. WOJCIECHOWSKI, Dariusz (BLR) Mroz
17. POLLACK, Olaf (Ger) Agro-Adler Brandenburg
18. GRABSCH, Bert (Ger) Agro-Adler Brandenburg
19. HVASTIJA, Martin (SLO) Cantina Tollo
20. EKSTRÖM, Niclas (Swe) Team Postgirot			s.t.
21. GUSTAFSSON, Örjan (Swe) Bianchi Racing Team			0.08
22. SIMENSEN, Ole (Ger) Agro-Adler Brandenburg
23. NIJMEIJER, Gerben (Ned) Holland National Team
24. HOLM, Brian (Den) Team Acceptcard
25. MAGNUSSON, Glenn (Swe) Amore e Vita
26. RASCH, Gabriel (Nor) Norway National Team
27. WOJTAS, Arkadiusz (Pol) Mroz
28. LILLYWHITE, Chris (GB) Great Britain National Team
29. DE CLERCQ, Eric (Bel) Collstrop
30. LAFIS, Michel (Swe) TVM-Farm Frites
31. CARLSTRÖM, Kjell (Fin) Finland
32. VERECKE, Philip (Bel) Collstrop
33. TANNER, John (GB) Great Britain National Team
34. LARSEN, Nicolay Bo (Den) TVM-Farm Frites
35. INGEBY, Kristoffer (Swe) Team Postgirot
36. ANDERSSON, Allen (Swe) Bianchi Racing Team
37. ANDERSSON, Michael (Swe) TVM-Farm Frites
38. SPARR, Henrik (Swe) Team Wirsbo CK
39. RITTSEL, Martin (Swe) Cantina Tollo
40. GRABSCH, Ralf (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner
41. JOHANSSON,Martin (Swe) Sweden National Team
42. BAYFIELD, Joe (GB) Great Britain National Team
43. GOTTSCHLING, Stephan (Ger) Agro-Adler Brandenburg
44. BRACKE, Tony (Bel) Collstrop
45. WAJS, Grzegorz (Pol) Mroz
46. CARLSSON, Mattias (Swe) Sweden National Team
47. BAEYENS, Danny (Bel) Collstrop
48. GLASNER, Björn (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner
49. STENERSEN, Björn (Nor) Norway National Team
50. JOHANSEN, Kristoffer (Swe) Sweden National Team		0.08

GC after Stage 3 

 1. DE JONGH, Steven (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 		    15.25.19
 2. WAJS, Grzegorz (Pol) MROZ 					0.17
 3. BLIJLEVENS, Jeroen (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 			0.52
 4. KNAVEN, Servais (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 			1.07
 5. HUSHOVD, Thor (Nor) Norway National Team 			1.09
 6. LJUNGQVIST, Marcus (Swe) Cantina Tollo			1.10
 7. RITTSEL, Martin (Swe) Cantina Tollo 			1.12
 8. BÄCKSTEDT, Magnus (Swe) Sweden National Team 		1.13
 9. KAPPES, Andreas (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner 			1.13
10. PETACCHI, Alessandro (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne 			1.13
11. HENRIX, Sascha (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner 			1.13
12. MAGNUSSON, Glenn (Swe) Amore e Vita 			1.13
13. LARSEN, Nicolay Bo (Den) TVM-Farm Frites 			1.18
14. LAFIS, Michel (Swe) TVM-Farm Frites 			1.22
15. TANNER, John (GB) Great Britain National Team 		1.22
16. ANDERSSON, Michael (Swe) TVM-Farm Frites 			1.24
17. GOTTSCHLING, Stephan (Ger) Agro-Adler Brandenburg 		1.25
18. BRACKE, Tony (Bel) Collstrop				1.25
19. VERECKE, Philip (Bel) Collstrop				1.26
20. LILLYWHITE, Cris (GB) Great Britain National Team		1.30

Other Classifications 

Points (Green Jersey):

 1. BLIJLEVENS, Jeroen (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 			66
 2. STRAZZER, Massimo (Ita) Cantina Tollo 			50
 3. DE JONGH, Steven (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 			37
 4. SCHUMANN, Dirk (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner 			28
 5. PETACCHI, Alessandro (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne 			27
 6. MAGNUSSON, Glenn (Swe) Amore e Vita 			25
 7. WAJS, Grzegorz (Pol) Mroz 					20
 8. HUSHOVD, Thor (Nor) Norway National Team 			19
 9. BÄCKSTEDT, Magnus (Swe) Sweden National Team 		19
10. KNAVEN, Servais (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 			17
11. ROSSATO, Mirko (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne 			16
12. LJUNGQVIST, Marcus (Swe) Cantina Tollo 			15
13. RITTSEL, Martin (Swe) Cantina Tollo 			14
14. POLLACK, Olaf (Ger) Agro-Adler Brandenburg 			14
15. MELONI, Filippo (Ita) Amore e Vita				14

Under 23 (White Jersey):
	
 1. HUSHOVD, Thor (Nor) Norway National Team

Sprints (Red Jersey):

 1. DE JONGH, Steven (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 			8
 2. EKSTRÖM, Niclas (Swe) Team Postgirot 			7
 3. NIJMEIJER, Gerben (Ned) Holland National Team 		6
 4. ROSSATO, Mirko (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne 			6
 5. KAPPES, Andreas (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner 			5
 6. RITTSEL, Martin (Swe) Cantina Tollo 			5
 7. CEI, Luca (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne 				5
 8. KNAVEN, Servais (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 			3
 9. WAJS, Grzegorz (Pol) MROZ 					3
10. CAVAGNIS, Oscar (Ita) Cantina Tollo 			3
11. MÜLLER, Martin (Ger) Agro-Adler Brandenburg 		3
12. LARSEN, Nicolay Bo (Den) TVM-Farm Frites 			2
13. JOHANSSON,Martin (Swe) Sweden National Team 		2
14. GLASNER, Björn (Ger) Team Gerolsteiner 			2
15. KRYGER, Martin (Den) Team Acceptcard 			2

Brief

High speed from start and lots of small attacks but TVM held the bunch together. First sprint in Askersund, 100 kms, was won by Andreas Kappes, Team Gerolsteiner, who passed with 12 others half a minute ahead of the peloton. Second sprint in Hallsberg, 128 kms, was won by Luca Cei, Scrigno-Gaerne.

The Swedish and Finnish national teams did most of the attacking along the road as well as Cantina Tollo’s seventh placed Martin Rittsel, but TVM did their job well.

On the first lap of three on the 5,6 kms final circuit Glenn Magnusson and five others crashed but Magnusson was able to rejoin the peloton before the finish with was won by Jeroen Blijlevens, TVM, once again. TVM dominates the race by winning all stages, except the prolouge, this far. All six riders in the top 16. De Jongh still in yellow, and topping the sprints competition. Blijlevens in green points jersey.