GP of Wallonie, Cat 1.2

Belgium, May 21, 1998

Past Winners    

Report

It was a difficult race. First there were thunderstorms and later some tough hills which were attacked. But the 14 days of preparation that his riders have just finished in the Black Forest has clearly had benefits. The period of preparation for the Tour has definitely started.

The bad weather forced the peloton to take care in the early parts of the race. Eventually a top group of 22 riders formed. At 130 kms, on the Cote d'Evrehailles, Sebastien Demarbaix attacked. But he was caught on the Cote Warnant after gaining a 30 second gap. Four of Theo De Rooy's riders and three of Rudy Pevenage controlled the race. But they had to counter the tough work of the Lotto duo Kurt Van De Wouwer and Rik Verbrugghe. Also Axel Merckx was not taking it easy.

In the finale, there was an attack by Maarten Den Bakker. It was countered by Kurt Van De Wouwer. He had an excellent chance of winning but was caught around 4 kms from the finish. At that moment, his teammate Rik Verbrugghe took his chances on the the second climb of the Citadel. But in the end it was Udo Bölts who triumphed.

At the start in Jambes, the most interest was reserved for Jan Ullrich. The Tour winner looked to be in better shape now. He has just finished a 14 day training camp. early in the race, Jan was in the second group which was a minute or so behind the top group. He rode the race without problems. He is now in intensive preparation for the Tour.

Jambes - Namen, 201 kms:

 1  Udo Bolts (Ger) Telekom-ARD 	                      5.08.35 (39.179)
 2  Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
 3  Stephane Heulot (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 		 0.05
 4  Maarten den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank
 5. Cyril Saugrain (Fra) Cofidis 
 6. Sebastien Demarbaix (Bel) Home Market-Charleroi
 7. Marty Jemison (USA) US Postal Service 
 8. Pascal Derame (Fra) US Postal Service
 9. Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 
10. David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis 
11. Axel Merckx (Bel) Polti
12. Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 
13. Peter Farazijn (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
14. Mikael Holst Kyneb (Den) Team Home-Jack and Jones 		 4.02
15. Francis Moreau (Fra) Cofidis
16. Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
17. Christian Henn (Ger) Telekom-ARD
18. Patrick Jonker (Aus) Rabobank
19. Francesco Frattini (Ita) Telekom-ARD 			 4.55
20. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) Polti 					 6.05
21. Bert Grabsch (Ger) Agro-Adler 				 6.22
22. Richard Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank		       		10.15
23. Rolf Aldag (Ger) Telekom 
24. Daniel Atienzae (Spa) Polti 
25. Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank 
26. Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
27. Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 
28. Maximilian Sciandri (GB) La Francaise des Jeux 
29. Stephan Gottschling (Ger) Agro-Adler 	       		12.35 
30. Gert Vanderaerden (Bel) Palmans-Ideal
31. Roman Stoffel (Ger) Team Nurnberger
32. Oleg Pankov (Ukr) Ipso 
33. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Telekom			       		12.35
34. Christian Vandevelde (US) US Postal Service 
35. Michael Steen Nielsen (Den) Team Home-Jack and Jones
36. Raymond Meijs (Ned) Team Gerolsteiner 
37. Georg Totschnig (Aut) Telekom 
38. Maurizio Fondriest (Ita) Cofidis 
39. Leonardo Guidi (Ita) Polti 
40. Hans De Meester (Bel) Tonissteiner
41. Kai Hundertmark (Ger) Telekom
42. Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 
43. Peter Meinert (Den) US Postal Service
44. Roger Hammond (GB) Palmans-Ideal 
45. Ludwig Willems (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
46. Eddy Torrekens (Bel) Tonissteiner
47. Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 			     		13.05

Started 114

Past Winners

1935	Gustave Degreef (Bel)
1936	Adolph Braeckeveldt (Bel)
1937	Karel Tersago (Bel)
1938	Adolph Braeckeveldt (Bel)
1939	Adolph Braeckeveldt (Bel)
1940	-
1941	-
1942	Maurice Van Herzele (Bel)
1943	Edouard Van Dyck (Bel)
1944	Joseph Somers (Bel)
1949	Jacques Geus (Bel)
1950	Joseph Verhaert (Bel)

1951 - 1969  no event

1970	Ferdinand Bracke (Bel)
1971	Felice Gimondi (Ita)
1972	Emiel Cambre (Bel) 
1973	Albert Van Vlierberghe (Bel)
1974	Frans Verbeeck (Bel)
1975	André Dierickx (Bel)
1976	Herman Vanspringel (Bel)
1977	Walter Planckaert (Bel)
1978	Willem Peeters (Bel) - Ijsborke
1979	Leo Van Vliet (Hol) - Ti Raleigh
1980	Willy De Geest (Bel) - Ijsboerke
1981	Walter Dalgal (Ita) - 
1982	Hennie Kuiper (Hol) - DAF Trucks
1983	Stephen Roche (Irl) - Peugeot
1984	Frank Hoste (Bel) - Europ Decor
1985	Marc Madiot (Fra) - Renault
1986	Steven Rooks (Hol) - PDM
1987	Pascal Poisson (Fra) - System U (Laurent Fignon (Fra) disq) 
1988	Claude Criquielion (Bel) - Hitachi
1989	Thomas Wegmüller (Sui) - Domex Weinmann
1990	Luc Leblanc (Fra) - Castorama
1991	Frank Van den Abeele (Bel) - Lotto
1992	Danny Nelissen (Hol) - PDM
1993	Patrick Evenepoel (Bel) - Collstrop
1994	Peter Farazijn (Bel) - Lotto
1995	Andrea Chiurato (Ita) - Mapei
1996	Franco Ballerini (Ita) - Mapei
1997	Dimitry Konychev (Rus) - Roslotto
1998	?
Past winners from my friend Mario Stiehl in Berlin