Brief:Tom Steels was on the wheel of the Italian Champion and was in the ideal position. He thought he had booked his 5th win for the season. But Tafi went away at the end to take the victory by 5 seconds from Steels who was the fastest in the main sprint. In a turbulent race, Bobby Julich was very aggressive. The major move came from the West Flanders trio of Vermeersch, Feys and Frankie Van Haesebroucke. Steels, Tafi, Julich, Vansevenant and De Wilde took advantage of it and the broke away themselves with 10 kms to go. Tafi said afterwards: "The Tour has left me in good condition. I am now looking for top performances in Paris-Brussels, and the other Autumn classics and then I want to give the younger riders some stick in the World Championships."Bavikhove, 90 kms:1. Andrea Tafi (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 1.54.00 (47.368) 2. Tom Steels (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi 0.05 3. Etienne De Wilde (Bel) Spar 4. Bobby Julich (USA) Cofidis 5. Franky Vanhaesebroucke (Bel) Ipso 6. Wim Sevenant (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 7. Jurgen Vermeersch (Bel) Palmans-Ideal 8. Wim Feys (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 9. Jean-Pierre Heynderickx (Bel) Home Market-Charleroi 0.54 10. Ronny Assez (Bel) Home Market-Charleroi 11. Philip Vereecke (Bel) Collstrop 12. Michel Van Haecke (Bel) Ipso 13. Peter Spaenhoven (Bel) Palmans-Ideal 14. Casper van der Meer (Ned) Elite 15. Werner Van Dromme (Bel) Spar 16. Bart Leysen (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi 17. Johan De Geyter (Bel) Palmans-Ideal 18. Karel Vereecke (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 19. Masahiko Mifune (Jap) Tonissteiner 20. Rino De Raedt (Bel) Tonissteiner 21. Andreas Walzer (Ger) Die Continentale 22. Koen Deschuyter (Bel) Collstrop 23. Franco Ballerini (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 24. Klaus Mutschler (Ger) Die Continentale 25. Ludwig Willems (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 26. Rico Schmidt (Ger) Die Continentale 27. Bart Heirwegh (Bel) Ipso 0.54 Started: 27 |