* Rolf Järmann will stop end of this year his career.
Friday, August 13:
I was at the two stages for today: Narbonne Plage - Agde, 54.2 kms and Agde - Balaruc les Bains, 40.1 kms. The start in Narbonne Plage was beautiful as it was by the seaside. The sea wind buffetted us however. The wind was to be the principal problem for the riders and a lot of them arrived late in Agde. I want to mention Stéphanie Reymond (OMT), Claudia Marietta (Master-Molteni), Delphine Deschamps (CA Mantes-la-Ville), Karin Mobes (OMT), Patricia Ounzari (Ebly) and Astrid Mortier (ASPTT Moselle Champion) for their courage. Gabriella Pregnolato (Acca Due O Lorena) won in Agde and wore the beautiful harlequin jersey of the leader of the combined team. She won alone and the peloton was 54 seconds behind.
After a break of three hours in Agde with the sun becoming very hot, the women were back on the starting line to battle the the unfavorable wind again along the way to Balaruc-les-Bains. Gabriella Pregnolato won again by breaking away from the peloton.
The organisation of the race left something to be desired though. The team hotels were almost all near to Avignon, 150 kms from Balaruc-les-Bains where there were no showers and no places for the riders to rest. The traffic was also very slow on the autoroute between Montpellier and Avignon. So, the women were in their hotels after a 2 to 3 hour journey by road. I couldn't understand the organisation in this regard.
Saturday, August 14:
The most beautiful stage, Les Baux-de-Provence-Valréas 141.5 kms with the legendary climb of the Mont-Ventoux. Diana Ziliute is the leader of the race and this is an important day for her as the Russian rider Polkhanova is only 15 seconds behind and third placed Italian Daniela Veronesi (third of the Giro and best climber) is at 51 seconds.
There were a lot of attacks before the climb but as the riders started winding up the Ventoux, six girls were away with all the favourites except one present - Valentina Polkhanova (Russia), Joane Somarriba (winner of the Giro), Daniela Veronesi, Svetlana Boubnenkova (all three from team Alfa-Lum) and the twin-sisters Rasa and Iolanta Polikievicute (Panevezys-Casteljaloux). Diana Ziliute was one minute back due to mechanical problems (in fact, a VIP car knocked against Ziliute). After few kms in the leading group, Polkhanova, the strongest on this climb, was out alone and a group of three (Veronesi, Somarriba, Iolanta Polilievicute) were at 1.40.
Over the top of the Mont-Ventoux, Polkhanova was 1.36 in front of Pucinskaite (great climb to help Ziliute), Veronesi, Boubnenkova, Somarriba and Iolanta Polikievicute. Ziliute was a few seconds behind and was able to catch up again on the descent. On the descent, the difference stood at 2.05. Polkhanova was the virtual leader but after some strong riding from Pucinskaite and the Alfa-Lum team the difference dropped to 0.38 with 23 kms to go. Polkhanova decided to stop and wait for the group. With 2 kms to go, Boubnenkova attacked with Iolanta Polikievicute on her wheel. The Russian from the Alfa-Lum team was too strong and won without trouble.
This year, the climb of the Ventoux was fabulous. I have not seen a group with more than 7 riders. The last group was almost an hour behind. One particular incident was memorable. Patricia Ounzari (Ebly) passed by 52 minutes after the leading group and asked a couple of spectators for a little stone from the Mont Ventoux to have a memory of the place. And she said when she was putting the stone in her pockets: "Its just a legend!" For me, this is cycling. Governed by the passion. I also want to mention Claudia Marietta (Master-Molteni) and Astrid Mortier (ASPTT Moselle-Champion). This pair were one hour behind on the climb and they suffered. They struggled up the mountain and battled against the pain. Astrid Mortier is the youngest rider in the race and is licensed with the Vouziers club in the Ardennes. Sandra Wampfler from the Swiss team Mazza climbed the Ventoux with a broken rib as a result of a fall during the the stage to Balaruc-les-Bains. I talked to her at the start of the stage in Les Baux-de-Provence and I do not know how she was able to finish today. She told me that she wants to finish the race in Paris. If i was an Italian, I would say: "Giù il capello!"
Sunday, August 15:
The decisive stage in the Tour was this ITT of 34.5 km from Le Teil to Aubenas. It was a very, very hard parcours, especially as it came a day after the climb of the Ventoux. I think that the leader in Aubenas will be the winner in Paris. Under the very hot sun of the Ardèche, Ziliute put on a grand exhibition. She won the stage and increased her lead on Polkhanova and Boubnenkova. Sandra Wampfler finished the ITT and she could almost not walk afterwards because of the pain from her broken rib. Most of the women at the finish said that the ITT was very hard. Karin Mobes from OMT has been sick for three days but she does not want to give up. And with all the difficulties, it would have been easy to give up. But she didn't. I have a lot of respect for all these women and I'm angry that we do not have in France the organisers or the races worthy of them. For example, the Grande Boucle finishes on August 22 and then from August 25-29 there is the Trophée d'Or from 25 to 29. Only 3 days rest. It's totally aberrant!!
I hope that in the future, women's cycling will be more planned. I hope that the television will show more than one hour a day. France Television (France 2 and 3) has recently shown us the last 120 kilometers of the Tour de France each day but they don't seem to have seen that the Tour is now so boring - like watching a game of darts. For me, the Grande Boucle Féminine is more interesting than the Tour. And above all, I hope to see more of women's cycling in the French press especially in the major cycling magazines like Vélo Magazine (this year not one word about the Grande Boucle), Vélo Un (same thing) and Cyclisme International (some news sometimes). They should look at Wieler Revue (Netherlands) or at Bicisport (Italy). In France, it always takes us time to catch up with trends.
If someone asks me later on what I remember of the 1999 summer of cycling, I will not mention the victory of Armstrong, the come-back of Virenque, the victories of Cipollini and Steels in the Tour, Casagrande in San Sebastian. No, I will say I remember the passage of Valentina Polkhanova up the Ventoux, the courage of Sandra Wampfler, the little stone of Patricia Ounzari, and the smile of Stéphanie Reymond. That's all. Vive le cyclisme féminin!
Elite Men, 6 laps for 42 kms: 1. Miguel Martinez (Fra) 2.08.49 2. Grégory Vollet (Fra) 2.11.07 3. Roberto Lezaun Zubiria (Spa) 2.11.24 4. Michael Rasmussen (Den) 2.12.44 5. Dominique Arnould (Fra) 2.13.55 .. 7. Jerome Chiotti (Fra) 2.15.09 8. Bas van Dooren (Ned) 9. Bart Brentjens (Ned) Elite Women, 4 laps for 28 kms: 1. Paola Pezzo (Ita) 1.39.05 2. Barbara Blatter (Swi) 1.39.05 3. Margarita Fullana Riera (Spa) 1.40.13 4. Annabella Stopparo (Ita) 1.40.49 5. Sandra Temporelli (Fra) 1.46.03 6. Sophie Villeneuve (Fra) 1.47.05 .. 8. Corine Dorland (Ned)
Stage 1, Alice Springs - Alice Springs, 39 kms: 1. Marcel Esser (Ned) 49.59 2. Richard Uhlschmied (Ger) 0.15 3. Jurij Robic (Slo) 0.39 4. Jaap Viergever (Ned) 1.08 5. Ard Jansen (Ned) 2.10 6. Marc Desmet (Bel) 3.12 7. Simon Apperloo (Ned) 4.38 8. Thomas Sorensen (Den) 4.54 9. Roger Anderhalden (Swi) 4.54 10. Thomas Fladischer (Aut) 5.06 Stage 2, Alice Springs - Arltunga 104 kms: 1. Jaap Viergever (Ned) 3.35.20 2. Jurij Robic (Slo) 3. Marcel Esser (Ned) 0.02 4. Richard Uhlschmied (Ger) 0.03 5. Marc Desmet (Bel) 0.11 6. Simon Apperloo (Ned) 0.14 7. Matic Smon (Slo) 1.40 8. Ard Jansen (Ned) 6.24 9. Juan Carlos Najera (Spa) 6.25 10. Dennis Teeuwen (Ned) 7.16 GC after Stage 2: 1. Marcel Esser (Ned) 4.25.16 2. Richard Uhlschmied (Ger) 0.21 3. Jurij Robic (Slo) 0.32 4. Jaap Viergever (Ned) 0.56 5. Marc Desmet (Bel) 3.26 6. Simon Apperloo (Ned) 4.55 7. Matic Smon (Slo) 7.59 8. Ard Jansen (Ned) 8.37 9. Juan Carlos Najera (Spa) 12.07 10. Johan van Buuren (Ned) 13.10 Stage 3, Arltunga - Jervois, 145 kms: 1. Jaap Viergever (Ned) 5.20.55 2. Jurij Robic (Slo) 3. Richard Uhlschmied (Ger) 0.03 4. Marc Desmet (Bel) 12.13 5. Ard Jansen (Ned) 24.47 6. Marcel Esser (Ned) 26.44 7. Matic Smon (Slo) 37.00 8. Juan Carlos Najera (Spa) 43.31 9. Dennis Teeuwen (Ned) 43.33 10. Simon Apperloo (Ned) 43.34 GC after Stage 3: 1. Richard Uhlschmied (Ger) 9.46.30 2. Jurij Robic (Slo) 0.03 3. Jaap Viergever (Ned) 0.22 4. Marc Desmet (Bel) 3.17 5. Marcel Esser (Ned) 11.54 6. Ard Jansen (Ned) 20.31 7. Matic Smon (Slo) 32.27 8. Juan Carlos Najera (Spa) 38.32 9. Simon Apperloo (Ned) 48.07 10. Dennis Teeuwen (Ned) 50.34 Stage 4 was cancelled because the transfer bus and the car with the bicycle trailer was broken Stage 5, Boulia - Middleton, 191 kms: 1. Marcel Esser (Ned) 6.11.45 2. Jaap Viergever (Ned) 3.43 3. Richard Uhlschmied (Ger) 3.43 4. Ard Jansen (Ned) 3.43 5. Jurij Robic (Slo) 3.44 6. Marc Desmet (Bel) 3.51 7. Ron Schoens (Ned) 3.52 8. Rudy Motke (Ned) 3.52 9. Matic Smon (Slo) 17.36 10. Simon Apperloo (Ned) 17.36 GC after Stage 5: 1. Richard Uhlschmied (Ger) 16.01.53 2. Jurij Robic (Slo) 0.09 3. Jaap Viergever (Ned) 0.17 4. Marc Desmet (Bel) 3.30 5. Marcel Esser (Ned) 8.01 6. Ard Jansen (Ned) 20.36 7. Matic Smon (Slo) 46.25 8. Juan Carlos Najera (Spa) 56.53 9. Ron Schoens (Ned) 58.39 10. Simon Apperloo (Ned) 1.02.05 Stage 6, Middleton - Winton, 167 kms: 1. Marc Desmet (Bel) 5.12.11 2. Ron Schoens (Ned) 3. Jaap Viergever (Ned) 0.49 4. Dennis Teeuwen (Ned) 0.49 5. Jurij Robic (Slo) 0.49 6. Ard Jansen (Ned) 0.49 7. Richard Uhlschmied (Ger) 0.49 8. Marcel Esser (Ned) 0.49 9. Simon Apperloo (Ned) 0.52 10. Johan van Buuren (Ned) 0.52 GC after Stage 6: 1. Richard Uhlschmied (Ger) 21.14.53 2. Jurij Robic (Slo) 0.09 3. Jaap Viergever (Ned) 0.12 4. Marc Desmet (Bel) 2.26 5. Marcel Esser (Ned) 8.01 6. Ard Jansen (Ned) 20.36 7. Ron Schoens (Ned) 57.40 8. Simon Apperloo (Ned) 1.02.08 9. Dennis Teeuwen (Ned) 1.04.32 10. Johan van Buuren (Ned) 1.14.18Thanks to Graham Fowler, South Australia
The race was to consist of 6 laps of the 10 mile circuit. The night before the race southern New Jersey was treated to a much downpour of rain. NJ had been in drought for almost two months. So the rain was welcomed, except it did cause one portion of the course that had been cleaned the day before to be almost washed out with sand and debris from the surrounding area.
Lap 1 was a neutralized lap because of the concern for being a first time event and the concern for the European style section of road that had been littered with debris and sand all over it from the previous night storms.
Lap 2 saw the race actually start and it was apparent right away that this was going to be a very fast race. With speed going over the 30+mph right after the start/finish area was crossed. Several rider attempted to form small breaks but nothing moved more than a couple of seconds off the front t the fast moving field of 150 strong.
Lap 3 saw the field stay together with teams like Snow Valley, Ideal Tile, Knapp-Comerce Bank & Wheelwork/Cannondale sending riders off trying to form a break. But the field was still together as they sprinted for the Thule Roof mount bike rack. The preme was taken by Torrey Marks of Snow Valley.
Lap 4 As lap 4 started it was clear that this was a fast race the laps were averaging between 18-19 minutes each lap. So it was starting to shape up as a possible 150 rider field sprint. Again as the riders approached the start/finish are the field was together again. This lap also had a preme from Juck Luck Shoes-the shoe sponsor for Knapp's-Comerce Bank. The preme was taken by Mark Light riding for Target/I.C.E. One note was the amazing ride of Jake Rosenbarger(knapp's/Commerce Bank) who had flatted near the feed zone, after getting a quick wheel change the rider put in a very impressive chase by himself eventually catching the field that was constantly hovering around 30mph and erasing a defecit of around 20 seconds.
Lap 5 The field again was moving toward an 18 minute lap as they entered the downtown section of Mt Holly. As the field came up the small hill on High street two riders made a small acceleration for the lap preme of $50. The lap preme was taken by another strong Snow Valley rider Jon Wirsing.
Lap 6 - after taking the preme Wirsing apparently noticed that he had a small gap and just kept going. As he headed out of town he was joined by Phil Cabel of Enzymatic Therapy/Carrera and the two quickly started to work together. Over the next few miles several small groups split off the peleton front and formed a break of 14 riders Innes(Kissena), Kincaid (Excite/Smartfuel), Gould (Breakaway/Metro), Davis(Wheelworks/Cannondale), Svatec (Wheelsworks/Cannondale), Dechau (Dms-Renassance), Urzedowski (Navigators), Workowski (Schwitzer), Menard (Bicycle Therapy), Stansbury (Amoroso/Cyclesport), Frick (Snow Valley), Erdely (Ideal Tile) with most of the strong team present the gap quickly grew to 25 seconds.
At this point several teams that didn't have a rider in the break and started to organise a chase. As the rider came through the beginning of the feed zone there was several rider that crashed and the chase was interrupted as a round 30-40 rider hit the deck. As the break charged down the European style narrow section of the course, there lead was down to a mere 13 seconds. The break entered the final section making a quick left at the bottom of the small downhill and then a right as they headed up the rise on High Street to the finish. as the break made the turn up High street Phil Cable (Enzymatic Therapy/Carrera) attacked and only one rider responded fast enough, that being Jonathan Erdely from Ideal Tile/Brielle cycles/YSG racing. With 300 metres to go Cable went with everything he could muster, Erdely sat on his wheel waiting. With around 50 meter to go Erdely popped off Cable's wheel and came around his right side with enough time to give a much deserved victory salute to the race fans. Behind the two riders Jon Wirsing (Snow Valley) the rider that had started the break took the final podium spot by taking the sprint for 3rd place. As the field charged up the hill on high street Shawn McCormack of Wheelworks/Cannondale won the field sprint.
This ended a very nice day of competitive racing in southern NJ for the first annual Mt Holly-Smithville Invitational Grand Prix. The race is already slated for Aug 12 for the year 2000. We are looking to increase the prize list to between $6,000-8,000 for the second edition.
Thanks to Kenneth Williams, Race Director
1. Mikael Andersson (Swe) Team Crescent Tranemo 1.30.12 2. Henrik Oldon (Swe) Örebrocyklisterna 3. Conny Björkman (Swe) Skoghalls CK Hammarö 4. Tobias Lergård (Swe) Skoghalls CK Hammarö 0.19 5. Örjan Gustavsson (Swe) Skoghalls CK Hammarö 0.19 6. Martin Axelsson (Swe) Sollerö IF 0.19 7. Johan Lång (Swe) Frölunda CK 0.19 8. Mikael Segersäll (Swe) CK Hymer 0.19 9. Jonas Emanuelsson (Swe) Team Crescent Tranemo 0.19 10. Anders Eklund (Swe) Örebrocyklisterna 0.19 11. Andreas Lömäng (Swe) Skoghalls CK Hammarö 0.19Thanks to Tomas Nilsson, Sweden
1. Tobias Lergård (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 1.38.50 2. Örjan Gustavsson (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 0.16 3. Anders Eklundh (Swe) Örebrocyklisterna 0.16 4. Fredrik Johansson (Swe) CK Hymer 0.16 5. Tapio Niemi (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 0.16 6. Kim Eriksson (Swe) CK UNI 0.16 7. Henrik Oldin (Swe) Örebrocyklisterna 0.16 8. Fredrik Johansson (Swe) Västerås CK 0.16 9. Johan Blixt (Swe) Burseryds IF 0.16 10. Johan Nordlund (Swe) Burseryds IF 0.16 11. Johan Lång (Swe) Frölunda CK 0.16 12. Jonas Emanuelsson (Swe) Team Crescent-Tranemo 0.16 13. Johan Svensson (Swe) Falkenbergs CK 0.16 14. Erik Oldin (Swe) Götene CK 0.16 15. Martin Axelsson (Swe) Sollerö IF 0.16 16. Viktor Sjöström (Swe) Upsala CK 0.16 17. Stefan Finman (Swe) CK Falken 0.16 18. Peter Lindqvist (Swe) CK Norrtälje 0.16 19. Edvin Gustavsson (Swe) Örebrocyklisterna 0.16 20. Lars Robertsson (Swe) Värnamo CK 0.16 21. Andreas Larsson (Swe) Hässelby CK 0.16 22. Tobias Stridsberg (Swe) Upsala CK 0.16 23. Johan Flodin (Swe) Team Crescent-Tranemo 0.16 24. Andreas Lömäng (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 0.16 25. Rikard Sjöberg (Swe) Götene CK 0.16 26. Anders Bergstedt (Swe) Hässelby CK 0.16 27. Jonas Gartman (Swe) Svanesunds GIF 0.16 28. Per-Åke Jordansson (Swe) Karlstads CA 0.16 29. Mats Hedlund (Swe) Borlänge CK 0.16 30. Andreas Svensson (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 0.16 31. Michael Johansson (Swe) CK Hymer 0.16 32. Magnus Lömäng (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 0.16 33. Mikael Segersäll (Swe) CK Hymer 0.16 34. Stefan Carlsson (Swe) Falu CK 0.16 35. Niklas Andersson (Swe) CK Falken 0.16 36. Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Burseryds IF 0.16 37. Mikael Andersson (Swe) Team Crescent-Tranemo 0.16 38. Erik Birgersson (Swe) Falu CK 0.16 39. Filip Svensson (Swe) Värnamo CK 0.16 40. Klas Johansson (Swe) Team Crescent-Tranemo 0.16 41. Marcus Juneholt (Swe) Borlänge CK 0.16 42. Robert Jansson (Swe) Upsala CK 0.16 43. Mikael Björnström (Swe) Spårvägen Cykel 0.16 44. Tommy Östermark (Swe) Spårvägen Cykel 0.16 45. Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Borlänge CK 0.16 46. Stefan Birgersson (Swe) Karlstads CA 0.16 47. Conny Björkman (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 0.16 48. Lars Johansson (Swe) Västerås CK 0.16 49. Peter Resar (Swe) Sollerö IF 0.16 50. Peter Lundblad (Swe) Västerås CK 0.16 51. Håkan Nilsson (Swe) Burseryds IF 0.16 52. Fredrik Lundblad (Swe) Västerås CK 0.16 53. Jesper Andersson (Swe) Hässelby CK 0.16 Sprints: Magnus Lömäng (Swe) Skoghalls CK-HammaröThanks to Tomas Nilsson, Sweden
Men Elite 140 kms 1. Anders Eklundh (Swe) Örebrocyklisterna 3.03.53 2. Örjan Gustavsson (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 3. Fredrik Johansson (Swe) Västerås CK 4. Tapio Niemi (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 5. Johan Flodin (Swe) Team Crescent-Tranemo 6. Petter Renäng (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 7. Jonas Rydberg (Swe) Team Crescent-Tranemo 8. Johan Nordlund (Swe) Burseryds IF 9. Martin Axelsson (Swe) Sollerö IF 10. Henrik Oldin (Swe) Örebrocyklisterna 0.24 11. Jonas Emanuelsson (Swe) Team Crescent-Tranemo 0.24 12. Conny Björkman (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 0.28 13. Tobias Lergård (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 0.28 14. Johan Lång (Swe) Frölunda CK 0.41 15. Fredrik Johansson (Swe) CK Hymer 0.41 16. Jonas Gartman (Swe) Svanesunds GIF 0.41 17. Kim Eriksson (Swe) CK UNI 0.41 18. Johan Svensson (Swe) Falkenbergs CK 0.41 19. Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Burseryds IF 0.41 20. Stefan Carlsson (Swe) Falu CK 0.41 21. Lars Robertsson (Swe) Värnamo CK 0.41 22. Markus Persson (Swe) Örebrocyklisterna 0.41 23. Andreas Lömäng (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö 0.41 24. Magnus Olzén (Swe) CK Hymer 0.41 25. Andreas Larsson (Swe) Hässelby CK 0.41 26. Edvin Gustavsson (Swe) Örebrocyklisterna 0.41 27. Mats Hedlund (Swe) Borlänge CK 0.41 28. Viktor Sjöström (Swe) Upsala CK 0.41 29. Håkan Nilsson (Swe) Burseryds IF 0.41 30. Peter Lundblad (Swe) Västerås CK 0.41 31. Marcus Juneholt (Swe) Borlänge CK 0.41 32. Oddbjörn Granli (Nor) Sarpsborg Sykkelklubb 0.41 33. Erik Birgersson (Swe) Falu CK 0.41 34. Klas Johansson (Swe) Team Crescent-Tranemo 0.41 35. Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Borlänge CK 0.41 36. Christian Johansson (Swe) CK Antilopen 0.41 37. Mikael Andersson (Swe) Team Crescent-Tranemo 0.41 38. Stefan Birgersson (Swe) Karlstads CA 0.41 39. Peter Resar (Swe) Sollerö IF 0.41 40. Michael Johansson (Swe) CK Hymer 0.41 Sprints: Andreas Lömäng (Swe) Skoghalls CK-Hammarö Women Elite 56 kms: 1. Lotta Green (Swe) CK Revanche 1.29.05 2. Theres Hennig (Swe) Ramnäs CK 8.28Thanks to Tomas Nilsson, Sweden
1. Gerwin Peters 4.27.91 2. Bas de Bever 4.36.09 3. Michel Kruiper 4.36.98 Peters finished the main race second after Swiss rider Rene Wildhaber (2.25.98) Women: 1. Natasja Nachba
Men's Championship 176 kms:
1. Kristen Lewis (Norwood CC) 5.03.37 2. Jeff Wheeler (Norwood CC) 3. Darrel Beddome (Kilkenny CC) 4. Alan Gill (Norwood CC) 5. Stephen Sabine (Adelaide CC) 6. Russel VanHout (Adelaide CC) Started: 22 Men, 1 Woman Women's Championship 88 kms: 1. Sonya Simpson (Adelaide CC) 3.18.29 The SA Men's Road Team for the Nationals: Kristen Lewis Russel VanHout Jeff Wheeler Darrel Beddome Reserves Matthew Hancock Davide Ross Stephen SabineThanks to Sonya Simpson, SACF Secretary