33rd Tirreno Adriatico, Hors Category

Italy, March 11-18, 1998


Stage 3, Sessa Aurunca - Venafro, 167 kms:

 1. Jan Svorada (Cze) Mapei			   4.24.21 (36.542)  
 2. Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom-ADR
 3. Gabriele Balducci (Ita) Scrigno
 4. Steven De Jongh (Ned) TVM
 5. Mario Manzoni (Ita) Mobilvetta-Northwave
 6. Rolf Sörensen (Den) Rabobank
 7. Rolf Jaermann (Swi) Casino
 8. Nicola Loda (Ita) Ballan
 9. Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Kross
10. Dario Pieri (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne
11. Jacky Durand (Fra) Casino
12. Fabrizio Bontempi (Ita) Ros Mary - Amica Chips 
13. Marc Streel (Bel) Casino
14. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Telekom-ADR 
15. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Festina 
16. Marco Milesi (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 
17. Federico De Beni (Ita) Riso Scotti-MG 
18. Marco Giroletti (Ita) Mobilvetta-Northwave 
19. Ermanno Brignoli (Ita) Riso Scotti-MG
20. Davide Casarotto (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne 
21. Andrei Zintchenko (Rus) Vitalicio Seguros 
22. Marco Vergnani (Ita) Kross 
23. Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Cofidis 
24. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) Cofidis 
25. Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Ballan 
26. Germano Pierdomenico (Ita) Cantina Tollo
27. Roberto Pistore (Ita) Riso Scotti-MG
28. Franco Ballerini (Ita) Mapei 
29. Claudio Chiappucci (Ita) Ros Mary - Amica Chips 
30. Laurent Brochard (Fra) Festina
31. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) Polti
32. Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Mapei
33. Stefano Faustini (Ita) Vini Caldirola
34. Pedro Horillo (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros
35. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM-Farm Frites 
36. Mauro Gianetti (Swi) La Francaise des Jeux 
37. Luca Sironi (Ita) Vini Caldirola
38. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM			    
39. Jens Heppner (Ger) Telekom-ADR
40. Fabian Jeker (Swi) Festina
41. Jan Schaffrath (Ger) Telekom-ADR
42. Vincent Cali (Fra) Casino
43. Flavio Vanzella (Ita) La Francaise des Jeux
44. Valerio Tebaldi (Ita) Mobilvetta-Northwave
45. Pascal Richard (Swi) Casino
46. Gianluca Pierobon (Ita) Kross		     all s.t.
47. Emanuele Lupi (Ita) Amore e Vita			0.12
48. Gianluca Pianegonda (Ita) Mapei			0.29
49. Steffen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom-ARD			0.42
50. Francesco Frattini (Ita) Telekom-ARD 		0.56

Started 50
Finished 50
Did not start: Andrea Noe' (Ita) Asics

GC after Stage 3

 1. Gabriele Balducci (Ita) Scrigno		    12.02.31
 2. Mario Manzoni (Ita) Mobilvetta-Northwave		0.05
 3. Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Mapei				0.05
 4. Ermanno Brignoli (Ita) Riso Scotti-MG		0.05
 5. Germano Pierdomenico (Ita) Cantina Tollo		0.05
 6. Rolf Sörensen (Den) Rabobank			0.07
 7. Nicola Loda (Ita) Ballan				0.07
 8. Rolf Jaermann (Swi) Casino				0.07
 9. Davide Casarotto (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne		0.07
10. Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Kross			0.07
11. Claudio Chiappucci (Ita) Ros Mary - Amica Chips 	0.07
12. Franco Ballerini (Ita) Mapei			0.07
13. Dario Pieri (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne 			0.07
14. Jens Heppner (Ger) Telekom-ADR			0.07
15. Laurent Brochard (Fra) Festina			0.07
16. Roberto Pistore (Ita) Riso Scotti-MG 		0.07
17. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM				0.07
18. Stefano Faustini (Ita) Vini Caldirola 		0.07
19. Jan Schaffrath (Ger) Telekom-ARD			0.07 
20. Emanuele Lupi (Ita) Amore e Vita			0.19 
21. Andrei Zintchenko (Rus) Vitalicio Seguros 		1.00
22. Steven de Jongh (Ned) TVM 				4.53
23. Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom-ADR 			6.05
24. Steffen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom-ARD 			8.48
25. Pedro Horillo (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 		9.27
26. Jan Svorada (Cze) Mapei 			       11.30
34. Laurent Roux (Fra) TVM-Farm Frites 		       11.38
36. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Festina 		       26.04
39. Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Ballan		       26.04
41. Gianluca Pianegonda (Ita) Mapei		       26.33
44. Marc Streel (Bel) Casino 			       37.35
46. Mauro Gianetti (Swi) La Francaise des Jeux	       37.35
49. Pascal Richard (Swi) Casino			       37.35
50. Francesco Frattini (Ita) Telekom-ARD	       38.31

Brief Report

Slovak rider Jan Svorada (Mapei) was the fastest at the end of the 167 km third stage from Sessa Aurunca to Venafro. The 30-year old Svorada, finished in front of German sprinter Erik Zabel, after having been beaten by Zabel in the sprint on Thursday at Baia Domizio - now being called "the stage of the rebellion!".

The Italian Gabriele Balducci, who came in behind Zabel for 3rd remains at the top of the GC.

On Thursday, the officials eliminated 129 riders from the race after the had requested officials to neutralise the stage following a large crash involving much of the field. The officials refused and so the riders rode slowly to the finish and were outside the time limit. The result was that a very small peloton left on Friday and the race was monotonous with little animation. All the big riders, Gianni Bugno, Michele Bartoli and Maurizio Fondriest were gone.

There were no difficulties on the course but still with fine rain riders had to be carefl. The peloton came in together with Svorada taking the initiative in the final sprint.