GP La Marseillaise (GP d'Ouverture), Cat 1.4

1998 Results     Report     Results     Report Belgian Frank Vandenbroucke won the opening race of the European cycling season on Tuesday - the GP La Marseillaise. Riding for his new team, Cofidis, Vandenbroucke won the 140 km race between La Seyne-sur-Mer and Gardanne in a sprint with four riders. The former Mapei-Bricobi rider was accompanied by three other Cofidis riders in a group of 11 that broke away early in the race. Vandenbroucke had then set up the final selection of 4. Vandenbroucke, number 9 in the world at present was strong in this pre-amble to the Etoile de Bessèges which begins tomorrow. The race became very attacking in the last 100 kms as the riders reached the main difficulty of the day - the col de l'Espigoulier. At the summit the 9 breakaways went clear. Two riders were driving the break - Belgian Jo Plankaert (Lotto) and the Kazak rider Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov (Casino). All the favourites were in their tow. The group remained intact for the next 50 kms and then not far from the town of Auriol a new group (with Vandenbroucke) went away. At the end as they came onto the finishing circuit it was Vandenbroucke, Voigt and Bessy who were left for the sprint with Nicolas Fritsch (Saint-Quentin) coming to them strongly. Tomorrow, the riders start the 29th Etoile de Bessèges, over 5 stages, with the first being a 126 kms stage between la Ciotat and Aubagne. Meanwhile the drugs issue was to the forefront. Today's race left the town of Seyne-on-Sea (Var) in an environment of rumour and memories of last year's police searches and arrests. There were animated discussions about the events and the future. Even old riders like Raymond Poulidor spoke again of last year. He said: "It could have been done more effectively with less media presence." Raymond Poulidor, was at the beginning of the race along with two other former heroes Roger Walkowiak and the German Rolf Wolfshohl. While he stressed that it was necessary "that everything was done to fight doping", he also said that the "riders have to be respected. Veteran French professional Thierry Bourguignon, who starts his last season, said "In that way the authorities do their job and the riders do what they are hired for - to pedal. Thierry Bourguignon who is riding again with BigMat represented the whole peloton and endorsed the declaration read on the starting line by the president of the National Union of Professional Cyclists (UNCP), Jean-Claude Ducasse. The UNCP deplored the way in which "cycling had been made the target." The body wants increased resources for education and counselling not police arrests. They said that the riders were very uneasy now and also resented the way in which medical privacy had been abandoned. La Seyne-sur-Mer - Gardanne, 140 kms: 1. Franck Vandenbroucke (Bel) Cofidis 3.27.25 (40.296 km/h) 2. Jens Voigt (Ger) Crédit Agricole 3. Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Casino 4. Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Saint-Quentin s.t. 5. Fabian De Waele (Bel) Lotto 0.57 6. Jean-Michel Thilloy (Fra) Saint-Quentin 0.57 7. Steve De Wolf (Bel) Cofidis 0.57 8. David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis 0.57 9. Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis 1.03 10. Dominique Rault (Fra) BigMat-Auber 93 1.03 11. Bradley McGee (Aus) La Francaise des Jeux 3.28 12. Lauri Aus (Est) Casino 3.40 13. Karl Vereecke (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 3.40 14. Saulius Ruskys (Lit) Saint-Quentin 3.40 15. Jo Planckaert (bel) Lotto 3.40 16. Michael Steen Nielsen (Den) Team Home Jack & Jones 3.40 17. François Simon (Fra) Crédit Agricole 3.40 18. Tom Desmet (Bel) Collstrop 3.40 19. Mauro Zinetti (Ita) Polti 3.40 20. Stéphane Auroux (Fra) Besson 3.40 Thanks to Stéphane David for some data