78th Paris-Brussels, Cat 1.1

Belgium, September 12, 1998


1997 Results     Past Winners     Complete Starting List

Preview

The 78th edition of the cycling classic Paris-Brussels on Saturday will be a duel between the Belgians and the Italians, who make up the majority of the 160 riders who will leave Soissons, for the 256.2 kms journey to Brussels.

20 teams will be at the start for this end of season race, one of the oldest on the calendar, that has suffered since the Vuelta a Espana has been moved to September. 7 of the teams are Italian - Mapei, Asics, Polti, Riso Scotti-MG, Ballan, Brescialat-Liquigas and Cantina Tollo) and 8 are Belgian - including Lotto-Mobistar, Vlaanderen 2002, and Collstrop. La Française des Jeux, Festina, Rabobank, Gerolsteiner and Home Jack and Jones make up the rest.

Mapei will be with Johan Museeuw, victim of a fractured left patella in April during Paris-Roubaix, who made an effective return to racing at the Circuit Mandel-Lys-Escaut in Belgium last weekend. To help Museeuw, the organisers have sought a strong participation of his Italian teammates like Andrea Tafi (winner in 1996 in front of Museeuw and 3rd last year), Franco Ballerini, and Stefano Zanini. Other riders who have entered include Michele Bartoli (Asics), Fabio Baldato (Riso Scotti-MG), Davide Rebellin (Polti), Nicola Minali (Riso Scotti-MG).

The Belgian riders who are fancied include the all-rounders Tom Steels (Mapei) and Jo Planckaert (Lotto), and Axel Merckx (Polti).

Race Report

Marco Magnani wasn't allowed to start in Paris-Bruxelles. He failed a blood test and had a hematocriet level in excess of 50 percent.

Italian Stefano Zanini (Mapei) chalked up a 9th Italian victory in this race, the third in a row after Andrea Tafi and Alessandro Bertolini, when he won the 78th edition of the classic race Paris-Bruxelles (256.2 kms), which was dominated climbers. Nicknamed "The Hercules from Varese" for his athletic qualities, Zanini attacked strongly to win by 3 seconds from his compatriat Mirko Celestino, with Michele Bartoli taking 3rd, just in front of Emmanuel Magnien. All three riders were given same time.

The quartet lead the race after a decisive attack over Mont Saint-Roch, a cobbled hill which came at the 192 kms mark and constituted the main difficulty of the day. After several earlier attempts in the race to attack saw substantial shuffling in the peloton, two groups of around 30 riders crossed the border into Belgium (at 140 kms). The Italian Champion Andrea Tafi tentatively attacked at this point and built up a lead of around 25 seconds. He was caught before the main climb.

18 riders then moved away from the lead group going up to the Mont Saint-Roch. A finer selection came when the final 4 attacked hard over the hill and built up a good lead despite the attempts to counter attack.

The 4 riders then went out to a lead of 2.12 after they went over Keperenberg (at 236 kms), the 5th and second last difficulty but from then they saw their lead being reduced quickly.

Zanini told the assembled press later: "This win, which I dedicate to my family, is a good springboard for selection in the 'squadra azzurra' for the World Championships in Valkenburg in a month's time, especially after my stomach troubles and fever after the Grand Prix Suisse. I now have great confidence in Mapei and especially since our manager Patrick Lefevere knows these Belgian races very well."

It was Zanini's second win for the season, the first being the 3rd stage of La Panne. He also won the Amstel Gold Race in 1996.

Soissons - Brussels, 256.2 kms:

 1. Stefano Zanini (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 			     5.48.00
 2. Mirko Celestino (Ita) Team Polti 				0.03
 3. Michele Bartoli (Ita) Asics					0.03
 4. Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 		0.03
 5. Franco Ballerini (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 			1.16
 6. Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 			1.32
 7. Fabio Sacci (Ita) Team Polti		   		1.32
 8. Andrea Tafi (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi				1.32
 9. Germano Pierdomenico (Ita) Cantina Tollo 			1.49
10. Adriano Baffi (Ita) Ballan	 		 		1.49
11. Brian Dalgaard (Den) Spar
12. Tom Desmet (Bel) Collstrop
13. Danny Nelissen (Ned) Team Home Jack and Jones
14. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi
15. Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002
16. Michel Van Haecke (Bel) Ipso
17. Luca Scinto (Ita) Asics
18. Jaime Hernandez (Spa) Festina
19. Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Asics
20. Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar			1.49

Started: 162
Finished: 26

Complete Starting List

Mapei                     Lotto-Mobistar               Asics-CGA

1-Tom STEELS              11-Jo PLANCKAERT             21-Michele BARTOLI
2-Andrea TAFI             12-Peter FARAZIJN            22-Fabio ROSCIOLI
3-Franco BALLERINI        13-Christophe DETILLOUX      23-Paolo BETTINI
4-Wilfried PEETERS        14-Wim FEYS                  24-Luca SCINTO
5-Bart LEYSEN             15-Fabian DEWAELE            25-David TANI
6-Johan MUSSEEUW          16-Rik VERBRUGGHE            26-Filippo SIMEONI
7-Daniele NARDELLO        17-Paul VAN HYFTE            27-Aleksandr SHEFER
8-Stefano ZANINI          18-Gert VERHEYEN             28-Kurt-Asle ARVESEN *

Spar-RDM                  Team Polti                   La Française des Jeux

31-Rik CLAEYS             41-Rossano BRASI             51-Yevgeniy BERZIN
32-Benny HOEDEMAKERS *    42-Luc LEBLANC               52-Frederic GUESDON
33-Geert OMLOOP           43-Mirko CELESTINO           53-Stéphane HEULOT
34-Brian DALGAARD         44-Fabio SACCHI              54-Franck PERQUE
35-Michel CORNELISSE      45-Leonardo GUIDI            55-Emmanuel MAGNIEN
36-Rik VAN SLYCKE         46-Enrico CASSANI            56-Chris HORNER
37-Koen VAN DE VELDE *    47-Davide REBELLIN           57-Christophe MENGIN
38- nobody                48-Silvio MARTINELLO         58-Andrea PERON

Vlaanderen 2002           Riso Scotti                  Rabobank

61-Kristof TROUVE         71-Fabio BALDATO             81-Maarten DEN BAKKER
62-Johan VERSTREPEN       72-Ermanno BRIGNOLI          82-Jan BOVEN
63-Kris GERITS            73-Andrea BROGNARA           83-Richard GROENENDAAL
64-Nico RENDERS           74-Bruno CENGHIALTA          84-Adri VAN  DER POEL
65-Erwin THIJS            75-Nicola MINALI             85-Danny JONASSON
66-Jarno VAN FRACHEM      76-Moreno DI BIASE           86-Patrick JONKER
67-Kurt VAN LANCKER       77-Alessandro SPEZIALETTI    87-Jans KOERTS
68-Karel VEREECKE         78-Ondrej SOSENKA *          88- nobody

Palmans-Ideal             Ballan                       Festina

91-Frank CORVERS          101-Gabriele COLOMBO         111-Patrice HALGAND
92-Carlo BOMANS           102-Aleksandr GONCHENKOV     112-Fabian JEKER
93-Frank HOJ              103-Endrio LEONI             113-Bruno BOSCARDIN
94-Hans DECLERCQ          104-Stefano CATTAI           114-Wladimir BELLI
95-Johan DE GEYTER        105-Adriano BAFFI            115-André KORFF
96-Karl PAUWELS           106-Nicola LODA              116-Laurent LEFEVRE
97-Gianni RIVERA *        107-Rodolfo ONGARATO         117-Armin MEIER
98-Gert VANDERAERDEN      108-Matteo TOSATTO           118-Jaime HERNANDEZ

Home Market - RDM         Team Home Jack & Jones       Brescialat-Liquigas

121-Sebastien DEMARBAIX   131-René JORGENSEN           141-Antonio FIGURA
122-Ludovic CAPELLE       132-Arvis PIZIKS             142-Ellis RASTELLI
123-Ronny ASSEZ           133-Marc Strange JACOBSEN    143-Simone BERTOLETTI
124-Jurgen DEBUYSSCHERE   134-Danny NELISSEN           144-Marzio BRUSEGHIN
125-Jurgen LANDRIE *      135- nobody                  145-Marco DELLA VEDOVA
126-Jerome LAVEUR-PEDOUX  136-Juris SILOVS             146-Claudio CAMIN
127-Danny SWINNEN *       137-Michael Steen NIELSEN    147-Mauro BANFI
128-Gregory SCHOELENS     138-Mickaël ROSBORG          148-Enrico ZAINA

Collstrop                 IPSO                         Tönissteiner-Colnago

151-Tony BRACKE           161-Oleg PANKOV              171-Franky DE BUYST
152-Danny BAEYENS         162-Michel VAN HAECKE        172-Hans DE MEESTER
153-Filip VEREECKE        163-Koen BECKMAN             173-Eddy TORREKENS
154-Bart EVERAERT *       164-Andy DE SMET             174-Jan HORDIJK
155-Erik DE CLERCQ        165-Stéphane HENNEBERT       175-Paul HERIJGERS
156-Steven DE NEEF        166-Bart HEIREWEGH           176-Masahiko MIFUNE
157-Dimitri FOFONOV *     167-Pauly BURKE *            177-Nicolas COUDRAY
158-Tom DESMET            168-Darius STROLE *          178-Davy DELME

Team Gerolsteiner         Cantina Tollo                Team EC Bayer-Worringen

181-Frank ACKERMANS       191-Stefano COLAGE           201-Thomas BÖCKMANN
182-Raymond MEIJS         192-Giorgio FELIZIANI *      202-Boris GODO
183-Björn GLASNER         193-Alessandro BARONTI       203-Patrick KÖHLER
184-Ralf GRABSCH          194-Luca MAZZANTI            204-Jan RICHTER
185-Sascha HENRIX         195-Germano PIERDOMENICO     205-Holger SIEVERS
186-Wolfgang OSCHWALD     196-Paolo VALOTI             206-Lars TEUTENBERG
187-Michael SCHLICKAU     197-Marco MAGNANI **         207-Lars WACKERNAGEL
188-Dirk SCHUMANN         198- nobody                  208-Roger TANNER

Notes:
* Stagiaires
** Number 197 Marco Magnani did not start. UCI control early in the morning for several teams (Rabobank, Asics, Vlaanderen 2002, Ballan and Cantina Tollo). Only Magnani was over the maximum authorized.

Complete starting list from Daniel Schamps, Paris

Past Winners

1906	A. Dunlop (Fra)
1907	Gusrave Garrigou (Fra)
1908	Lucien Petit-Breton (Fra) 
1909	Francois Faber (Lux)
1910	Maurice Brocco (Fra)
1911	Octave Lapize (Fra)
1912	Octave Lapize (Fra)
1913	Octave Lapize (Fra)
1914	Louis Mottiat (Bel)
1919	Alexis Michiels (Bel)
1920	Henri Pelissier (Fra)
1921	Robert Raboul (Fra)
1922	Felix Sellier (Bel)
1923	Felix Sellier (Bel)
1924	Felix Sellier (Bel)
1925	Gerard Debaets (Bel)
1926	Denis Verschueren (Bel)
1927	Nicolas Frantz (Lux)
1928	Georges Ronsse (Bel)
1929	Pe Verhaegen (Bel)
1930	Ernest Mottard (Bel)
1931	Jean Aerts (Bel)
1932	Julien Vervaecke (Bel)
1933	Albert Barthelemy (Fra)
1934	Frans Bonduel (Bel)
1935	Edgard De Caluwe (Bel)
1936	Eloi Meulenberg (Bel)
1937	Albert Beckaert (Bel)
1938	Marcel Kint (Bel)
1939	Frans Bonduel (Bel)
1946	Alberic Schotte (Bel)
1947	Ernest Sterckx (Bel)
1948	Lode Poels (Bel)
1949	Maurice Diot (Fra)
1950	Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel)
1951	Jean Gueguen (Fra)
1952	Alberic Schotte (Bel)
1953	Loretto Petrucci (Ita)
1954	Marcel Hendrickx (Bel)
1955	Marcel Hendrickx (Bel)
1956	Rik Van Looy (Bel)
1957	Leon Van Daele (Bel)
1958	Rik Van Looy (Bel)
1959	Frans Schoubben (Bel)
1960	Pierre Everaert (Bel)
1961	Pino Cerami (Bel)
1962	Joseph Wouters (Bel)
1963	Jean Stablinski (Fra)
1964	Georges Van Coningsloo (Bel)
1965	Edward Sels (Bel)
1966	Felice Gimondi (Ita)
1973	Eddy Merckx (Bel)
1974	Marc Demeyer (Bel)
1975	Freddy Maertens (Bel)
1976	Felice Gimondi (Ita)
1977	Ludo Peeters (Bel)
1978	Jan Raas (Ned)
1979	Ludo Peeters (Bel)
1980	Pierino Gavazzi (Ita)
1981	Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel)
1982	Jacques Hanegraaf (Ned)
1983	Tommy Priem (Swe)
1984	Eric Vanderaerden (Bel)
1985	Adri Van der Poel (Ned)
1986	Guido Bontempi (Ita)
1987	Wim Arras (Bel)
1988	Rolf Gölz (Ger)
1989	Jelle Nijdam (Ned)
1990	Franco Ballerini (Ita)
1991	Brian Holm (Den)
1992	Rolf Sörensen (Den)
1993	Francis Moreau (Fra)
1994	Rolf Sörensen (Den)
1995	Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel)
1996	Andrea Tafi (Ita)
1997	Alessandro Bertolini (Ita)
Past Winners by Mario Stiehl, Berlin