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Men's Road Race, 260 kms

Sunday, October 10, 1999



Complete Starting List     Results     As it happened      Route Info

Verona: Corso Porta Nuova, 16 laps/ 260 km

Report:

An Oscar Winning Move From Oscar

By Tim Maloney, cyclingnews.com correspondent

Oscar Freire Gomez, a unknown 23 year-old Spanish pro took the surprise win in the Elite Men's World Road Championships in Verona, Italy - the final World Championships of the 20th Century. As the afternoon shadows of a beautiful fall afternoon bathed Corso del Porta Nuova, Freire jumped from the back of a group of 9 riders at just the right moment with 500 meters to go and took the rainbow jersey, the first Spanish pro road champion since Abraham Olano won in 1995. "The other guys really weren't watching me and I just saw the right moment to go", said Freire. And go he did, surprising the other 8 in the race winning break for the biggest win of his short career.

The day dawned crisp and clear as a huge field of over 170 riders took the start at 10am for 16 laps of the Torricelle circuit. Nothing much happened in the first few laps of the race, with the riders preferring to warm up on the cool morning. The first six laps were covered at 38.3 km/hr and were enlivened with an uneventful crash of favorite Frank Vandenbroucke. The Belgian quickly returned to the peloton and it wasn't until the 7th lap that the first break got away in Verona. 6 riders, including Velo (Italy), Knaven (Netherlands), Schweda (Germany), Tessier (France), Sivakov (Russia) and Hoj (Denmark) got a lead of 30", and maintained it until B.Zberg (Switzerland), Klöden (Germany) and Laiseka (Spain) bridged up. This doomed the front group, who were caught at the 120km mark.

At the halfway point of the race after 8 laps, it was gruppo compatto and despite a few attacks, the rapidly diminishing peloton stayed together with gli azzurri of Italy riding a hard tempo. Italian co-team leader Davide Rebellin, the hometown favorite, crashed hard on his left side and retired, and after 162km of racing the tempo became red-hot. Laps 10, 11 & 12 were ridden at a blistering average lap speed of 44.4 km/hr! Defending champion Oscar Camenzind (Switzerland) showed himself on the climb on lap 12, and was quickly joined by race favorite Casagrande (Italy) and Paris-Tours winner Marc Wauters (Netherlands), but a major effort by Vandenbroucke pulled them back. On the descent, Andrea Tafi began a series of huge attacks on the descent, finally getting away as lap 13 began. Tafi began the Torricelle with a 45 second lead, but with Belgians, Swiss and Germans all chasing hard, he was caught after 9km of freedom.

With 65 riders left in the race, the average speed was 40.8 km / hr and Italians Zanetti and Velo led a long Indian file of riders through the finish with three laps to go. At the foot of the Torricelle, after yet another Tafi attack was absorbed, Alex Zülle (Switzerland) made a strong attack and was joined by Jean-Cyril Robin (France). This dynamic duo quickly gained time on the climb and over the top, they had 15" lead. Behind, Camenzind, Celestino (Italy), Martin (Spain) and Den Bakker (Netherlands) bridged to form a group of 6 away with two laps to go.

28 riders were chasing the sextet and on the penultimate ride up the Torricelle, 7 riders bridged up to the front group; Jan Ullrich (Germany), Francesco Casagrande (Italy), Oscar Freire Gomez (Spain), Marcus Zberg (Switzerland), Dimitri Konyshev (Russia), Chann McRae (USA), Michael Boogerd (Netherlands) and Frank Vandenbroucke (Belgium). On the final phases of the penultimate lap, Zulle, Martin, and Den Bakker dropped back, so a group of 11 had 33 seconds lead on the chasers starting the final lap. On the final ride up the Torricelle, Camenzind, Ullrich and finally Vandenbroucke attacked, but only succeeded in dumping Celestino and Boogerd from the front group.

At the bottom of the descent with 3.5km to race, Vandenbroucke attacked again but was pulled back by Zberg. Vandenbroucke went again, but was pulled back by Camenzind in the team pits with 1.5km to race. Under the 1km to go arch, American Chann McRae, who was having a fantastic ride, made an attack. He got a small gap, but with 600 meters to go, the remaining 9 riders took the final right turn onto Corso del Porta Nuova.

Who was the fastest left? Certainly Konyshev was known for his rapid finish and had won some races recently. Vandenbroucke was usually very fast and Swiss Marcus Zberg looked great and also had a solid sprint but after 259.5km of fast, hard racing, it really came down to who had the best legs. As McRae slowed at the front of the group on the left side of the road, the riders looked at each other...all but Freire. As the other 8 bunched up on the left, the Spaniard saw the right side of the road open up all the way to the finish line. Freire didn't hesitate - he jumped hard down the right side with 500 meters to go and opened up a huge gap. The quick Spaniard a great jump and kept his 50 meter margin all the way to the finish line for the completely unexpected outsider victory.

Winners Profile:
Oscar Freire Gomez
height: 1m71cm / weight: 63kg
born 15.02.76 in Torrelaveda, Spain
Team: Vitalicio Seguros

Freire Gomez is a 23 year old from northeastern region of Spain. He's a virtually unknown pro with a fast finish who can also climb. His best previous result was silver medalist in the '97 U23 Worlds in San Sebastian, Spain.

He turned pro for Vitalicio Seguros in '98 and was 17th in the '98 Pro Worlds In Maastricht. Freire Gomez was injured most of '99 with a tendon injury to his right knee and has only raced 11 times this year. He didn't race the Vuelta, but did a lot of training to get back to top level.

Spanish get serious

The last race of the last World Road Championships of the millennium saw a bold move by comparatively unknown Spanish rider, Oscar freire Gomez take out the race in front of several more highly fancied candidates.

Although most of the favourites made the cut on the final few laps, with the exception of local Davide Rebellin, who abandoned from injury, there was still a big enough group coming into the finish to make it possible for an opportunist to sneak off for the win.

In this case it was freire Gomez, who rides for Vitalicio Seguros, who jumped the final group containing: Jan Ullrich (Ger), Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel), Francesco Casagrande (Ita), Dimitri Konyshev (Rus), Oscar Camenzind and Marcus Zberg (Swi), Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) and William Chann McRae (USA) with less than a kilometer to go. The others looked around and that was the end of the race. Italian based rider, Dimitri Konyshev didn't even sprint after he saw Gomez had gone and finished last of the group of 9.

Swiss Marcus Zberg easily won the sprint for the silver medal ahead of France's Robin. Italian favourite Casagrande was in fourth, edging out Chann McRae (USA) who had a great ride on the day. Defending champion Oscar Camenzind (Swi) also rode well to finish in the group along with hot favourites VDB and Ullrich.

Although the first few laps were predictably slow, things really started to get going on the 6th lap or so. There were a few bad crashes - Rebellin went down in one and had to pull out; VDB, Tafi and Camenzind also crashed with Morten Sonne (Den) but the first 3 were able to regain the peloton. Tafi seemed to be used as a sacrifice for Casagrande, as he attacked time and time again to keep the pace high. Laps 10 -12 are extremely fast because of this (more than 44 km/h).

The final four laps saw a lot of attacking, with the Belgians and Germans seemingly missing the moves and having to chase. The Swiss and Italian teams were always amongst the moves, with Zulle, Camenzind, Celestino and Robin (Fra) being very aggressive. However, it came down to a selection of 17 on the last lap, which turned into 9 the final time up the Toricelle. Dutch favourite Michael Boogerd missed this group, but all the remaining favourites were there.

Vandenbroucke tried an attack over the top, but was brought back on the descent and it came down to the 9 playing cat and mouse in the closing kilometers. None of the favourites were prepared to let the others go, so the Spanish rider Oscar Freire Gomez took his chance, and it paid off with a gold medal - yet another solo win as we have seen in all the road races, although this one was in different style.

It was an interesting end to an exciting world championships, and the Spanish team pulled off a major coup by upstaging the Germans, Italians, Swiss, and Belgians, all of whom had very strong teams.

Results:

1 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa)                6.19.29 (Av: 41.109 km/h)
2 Marcus Zberg (Sui)                         0.04
3 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra)                     
4 Francesco Casagrande (Ita)                 
5 William Chann McRae (Usa)                  
6 Oscar Camenzind (Sui)                      
7 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel)                  
8 Jan Ullrich (Ger)                          
9 Dmitri Konyshev (Rus)                      
10 Daniele Nardello (Ita)                    0.59
11 Andrea Tafi (Ita)                          
12 Johan Museeuw (Bel)                        
13 Rolf Sorensen (Den)                        
14 Michael Boogerd (Ned)                      
15 Marco Serpellini (Ita)                    1.08
16 Beat Zberg (Sui)                          1.09
17 Piotr Wadecki (Pol)                        
18 Pavel Tonkov (Rus)                         
19 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned)                   
20 Pascal Richard (Sui)                       
21 Marco Velo (Ita)                           
22 Niki Aebersold (Sui)                       
23 Christophe Moreau (Fra)                    
24 Santiago Blanco Gil (Esp)                  
25 Mirko Celestino (Ita)                     1.26
26 Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu)                    1.43
27 Mauro Giannetti (Sui)                     2.40
28 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Esp)      4.16
29 Romans Vainsteins (Lat)                   8.02
30 Gianni Faresin (Ita)                      8.15
31 Zbigniew Piatek (Pol)                     
32 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Esp)              
33 Glenn Magnusson (Swe)                      
34 Laurent Brochard (Fra)                     
35 Felice Puttini (Sui)                      8.17
36 JoséLuis Rubiera Vigil (Esp)              8.18
37 Roberto Laiseka Jaio (Esp)                 
38 Massimo Donati (Ita)                       
39 Mauro Zanetti (Ita)                        
40 Peter Farazijn (Bel)                       
41 Andrei Tchmil (Bel)                        
42 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat)                16.01
43 Inigo Chaurreau Bernadez (Esp)           
44 Nicki Sorensen (Den)                     
45 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo)                    
46 Georg Totschnig (Aut)                    
47 Andrei Kivilev (Kaz)                     
48 Marc Lotz (Ned)                          
49 Sergei Lelekin (Rus) 

Previews:

By Tim Maloney, cyclingnews.com correspondent

It should be a long, hard day in the saddle for whoever wins the Elite Men's World Championship Road Race. With the 3.5km Torricelle climb to be scaled 16 times, that comes to 56 km of "up", not to mention the fast descent and urban portion of the circuit that requires constant accelerations. So only the strong and fit need apply for the Rainbow Jersey and Gold medal on October 10th.

The man most likely to apply for the job is generally considered to be Frank Vandenbrouke of Belgium. Certainly, his great riding with two stage wins in the recent Tour of Spain shows that he is on top form. But after the upset of his drug scandal in May and the fractional nature of the Belgian team, VdB could be frozen out at the key moment he needs support to win his first World Championship. Musseuw and his Mapei men will not ride for ex-teammate VdB, while Tchmil had only his Lotto teammates to count on in Verona.

Gli Azzuri of Team Italia traditionally ride well in the World Championships, and the 14 man squad will be focused to bring home yet another World title. Francesco Casagrande and local boy Davide Rebellin seem like the Italians most likely to succeed, but if Andrea Tafi has a good day, he could be a force to be reckoned with. And up and coming Daniele Nardello, winner of the tough Paris-Bourges over Andre Tchmil might be a dark horse winner for the Italians. But no matter what, Gli Azzuri will give their all trying to bring the final World Cycing Champioships of the millenium to Italia.

Newly crowned World TT Champion and 1999 Tour of Spain winner Jan Ullrich of Germany and his young team could emerge to rival the Italians. It will be interesting to see how the newly revitalized Ullrich does in the championships.

In contrast to Belgium, The Netherlands is 100% focused on supporting a decidedly in-form Michael Boogerd, who recently won back-to-back races in Italy while preparing for the Worlds. Most of the Orange Crush are his Rabobank teammates and the circuit suits Boogerd's all-round characteristics. Last years champ Oscar Camenzind will wear Dossard #1 but he is not considered to be in top form and may not play a role. France will be led by '97 World Champ Laurent Brochard, but with World #1 Laurent Jalabert at home recovering from a Tour Of Spain crash, France will probably play an outsider role in this years championship.

Other dark horse contenders are Dimitri Konyshev of Russia, Romans Vainsteins of Latvia, Rolf Sorensen of Denmark and Max Sciandri of Great Britain. With Lance Armstrong at home awaiting the birth of his first child, the USA contingent will be led by Chann McRae, who recently finished a respectable 20th in the Tour Of Spain. Australia has 7 riders on the Worlds Team, with young talent Brad McGee, and experienced Scott Sunderland with the best chances to show well.

And no matter who wins the final World Pro Cycling Championships of the 20th Century, the tough Torricelle circuit promises an exciting and dramatic day of racing.

All the way with VDB

By Jeff Jones

The final event of this year's World Road Championships in Italy is of course the big one - the Elite men's road race. 16 times up the punishing Toricelle climb will definitely yield the strongest rider, and it will be a fantastic battle.

So far, we have seen the large bunches reduced to tatters in the first few laps, and this race will be no different. The nature of the course makes it hard for any organised chasing to occur, thus we have seen some very aggressive racing so far.

The favourites - well, all eyes will be on the white-haired wonder from Ploogsteert, Belgium - Frank Vandenbroucke, who is on the comeback after having a bit of a hole knocked in his season. Can the boy pull it off with the rest of the field watching his every move? I think he can, and he has a very strong Belgian team who will happily take their chances should he be unable to escape. Tchmil, Museeuw and Van Petegem can all ride.

Then there are the Italians, headed by Davide Rebellin and Francesco Casegrande, both of whom will be very suited to this course. The Italians will of course be fired up on their home territory, having already won 2 gold medals so far, and would love to top off their championships with this one. They too, have a formidable squad and should be able to match the Belgians.

The German team, though maybe not quite as strong as the above two contains a certain Ullrich, J. who is certainly as strong as Vandenbroucke, and showed his class in the TT by winning it. Similarly, the Dutch will be working for Boogerd, although they will be one short - Erik Dekker is out for hematocrit reasons. Boogerd has shown he is in excellent form in the last couple of weeks and should be a strong medal chance.

Of course, we can not rule out the other in-form rider, and Italian resident - Dmitri Konyshev. Again, this type of course will suit his style and he may be able to escape the more fancied riders.

All in all, it should be a great race and hopefully all the favourites will stay on their bikes for a great battle in the closing laps. Stay tuned for our live updates!

Tensions high

Tim Maloney reports that before the start, everyone is very nervous in the starting box. Davide Rebellin got a huge cheer, being a local boy, but an even bigger one was reserved for Andrea Tafi, who looks pretty focussed and is maybe set for a big one today.

Danish TV commentator, Bjarne Riis is picking Max Sciandri to win it - again an outside chance, but who knows how things will work out.

VDB is confident, according to an insider at the Belgian team dinner last night. VDB: "You can be sure I'm going to win tomorrow"

Although the Dutch team has been shattered by the removal of Dekker, they will still be riding for Boogerd, as per team manager Gerie Knetemann's instructions. Maarten Den Bakker and Leon Van Bon, both Rabobank, are free to take care of their own interests should the chance occur. TVM's Servais Knaven, who has had a somewhat tense relation with Boogerd with opinions from both parties being excanged in the media. But now they are the best of friends.

Complete Starting list

By Number:

1 Oscar Camenzind (Swi)
2 Niki Aebersold (Swi)
3 Pierre Bourquenoud (Swi)
4 Pascal Richard (Swi)
5 Rolf Huser (Swi)
6 Roland Meier (Swi)
7 Sven Montgomery (Swi)
8 Felice Puttini (Swi)
9 Pascal Richard (Swi)
10 Daniel Schnider (Swi)
11 Beat Zberg (Swi)
12 Marcus Zberg (Swi)
13 Alex Zuelle (Swi)
14 Mario Aerts (Bel)
15 Dave Bruylandts (Bel)
16 Peter Farazijn (Bel)
17 Nico Mattan (Bel)
18 Johan Museeuw (Bel)
19 Wilfried Peeters (Bel)
20 Andrei Tchmil (Bel)
21 Geert van Bondt (Bel)
22 Kurt van de Wouwer (Bel)
23 Peter van Petegem (Bel)
24 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel)
25 Marc Wauters (Bel)
26 Sergio Barbero (Ita)
27 Ivan Basso (Ita)
28 Francesco Casagrande (Ita)
29 Mirko Celestino (Ita)
30 Massimo Donati (Ita)
31 Gianni Faresin (Ita)
32 Daniele Nardello (Ita)
33 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
34 Marco Serpellini (Ita)
35 Andrea Tafi (Ita)
36 Marco Velo (Ita)
37 Mauro Zanetti (Ita)
38 David Clinger (USA)
39 Eddy Gragus (USA)
40 Christopher Horner (USA)
41 Floyd Landis (USA)
42 Levy Leipheimer (USA)
43 William Chann McRae (USA)
44 Scott Moninger (USA)
45 Fred Rodriguez (USA)
46 Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned)
47 Michael Boogerd (Ned)
48 Jan Boven (Ned)
49 Steven de Jongh (Ned)
50 Erik Dekker (Ned)
51 Maarten den Bakker (Ned)
52 Tristan Hoffman (Ned)
53 Servais Knaven (Ned)
54 Marc Lotz (Ned)
55 Leon van Bondt (Ned)
56 Aart Vierhouten (Ned)
57 Bart Voskamp (Ned)
58 Raimondas Rumsas (Lit)
59 Saulius Ruskys (Lit)
60 Rolf Aldag (Ger)
61 Dirk Baldinger (Ger)
62 Ralf Grabsch (Ger)
63 Danilo Hondo (Ger)
64 Jörg Jaksche (Ger)
65 Andreas Klier (Ger)
66 Andreas Klöden (Ger)
67 Grischa Niermann (Ger)
68 Michael Schlickau (Ger)
69 Raphael Schweda (Ger)
70 Jan Ullrich (Ger)
71 Jens Voigt (Ger)
72 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat)
73 Arvis Piziks (Lat)
74 Juris Silovs (Lat)
75 Romans Vainsteins (Lat)
76 Stéphane Berges (Fra)
77 Laurent Brochard (Fra)
78 David Delrieu (Fra)
79 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra)
80 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra)
81 Pascal Lino (Fra)
82 Gilles Maignan (Fra)
83 Christophe Mengin (Fra)
84 Christophe Moreau (Fra)
85 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra)
86 Jean-Michel Tessier (Fra)
87 Cédric Vasseur (Fra)
88 Manuel Beltran (Spa)
89 Santiago Blanco Gil (Spa)
90 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa)
91 Pedro Diaz Lobato (Spa)
92 Oscar Freire (Spa)
93 José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa)
94 Alvaro Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa)
95 Roberto Laiseka (Spa)
96 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa)
97 Melchior Mauri (Spa)
98 Jon Odriozola (Spa)
99 José Luis Rubiera (Spa)
100 Vassili Davidenko (Rus)
101 Oleg Joukov (Rus)
102 Vitali Kokorine (Rus)
103 Dmitri Konyshev (Rus)
104 Sergei Lelekin (Rus)
105 Dmitri Sedun (Rus)
106 Alexei Sivakov (Rus)
107 Serguei Smetanine (Rus)
108 Pavel Tonkov (Rus)
109 Piotre Ugrumov (Rus)
110 Andrei Zintchenko (Rus)
111 Lauri Aus (Est)
112 Jann Kirsipuu (Est)
113 Allan Oras (Est)
114 Branko Filip (Slo)
115 Martin Hvastija (Slo)
116 Uros Murn (Slo)
117 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo)
118 Dmitri Fofonov (Kaz)
119 Andrei Kivilev (Kaz)
120 Oleg Kozlitine (Kaz)
121 Andrei Mizourov (Kaz)
122 Aleksandr Sheffr (Kaz)
123 Andrei Teteriouk (Kaz)
124 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz)
125 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz)
126 Olexander Fedenko (Ukr)
127 Serhiy Honchar (Ukr)
128 Michael Blaudzun (Den)
129 Bo Hamburger (Den)
130 Frank Hoj (Den)
131 Allan Johansen (Den)
132 Danny Jonasson (Den)
133 Mikael Holst Kyneb (Den)
134 Lars Michaelsen (Den)
135 Soren Petersen (Den)
136 Morten Sonne (Den)
137 Nicki Sorensen (Den)
138 Rolf Sorensen (Den)
139 Thomas Brozyna (Pol)
140 Grzegorz Gwiazdowski (Pol)
141 Artur Krasinski (Pol)
142 Zbigniew Piatek (Pol)
143 Piotr Przydzial (Pol)
144 Radoslaw Romanik (Pol)
145 Zbigniew Spruch (Pol)
146 Piotr Wadecki (Pol)
147 Nick Gates (Aus)
148 Jonathan Hall (Aus)
149 Tom Leaper (Aus)
150 Bradley McGee (Aus)
151 David McKenzie (Aus)
153 Peter Rogers (Aus)
154 Scott Sunderland (Aus)
155 Maximilian Sciandri (GBr)
156 Julian Dean (NZ)
157 Christopher Jenner (NZ)
158 Amar el Nady (Egy)
156 Nathan O'Neill (Aus)
159 Benoît Joachim (Lux)
160 Gerrit Glomser (Aut)
161 Thomas Muhlbacher (Aut)
162 Georg Totschnig (Aut)
163 Peter Wrolich (Aut)
164 Jaroslav Bilek (Cze)
165 Jan Hruska (Cze)
166 Tomas Konecny (Cze)
167 Niklas Axelsson (Swe)
168 Glenn Magnusson (Swe)
169 Martin Rittsel (Swe)
170 Svein Gaute Hölestöl (Nor)
171 Steffen Kjaergaard (Nor)
172 Björnar Vestöl (Nor)
173 José Azevedo (Por)

By country:

Australia

Nick Gates                     (Aus)   01-03-1972
Jonathan Hall                  (Aus)   08-10-1972
Tom Leaper                     (Aus)   07-11-1975
Bradley McGee                  (Aus)   24-02-1976
David Mckenzie                 (Aus)   06-08-1974
Peter Rogers                   (Aus)   24-10-1974
Scott Sunderland               (Aus)   28-11-1966

Austria

Gerrit Glomser                 (Aut)   01-04-1975
Thomas Muhlbacher              (Aut)   11-05-1974
Georg Totschnig                (Aut)   25-05-1971
Peter Wrolich                  (Aut)   30-05-1974

Belgium

Mario Aerts                    (Bel)   31-12-1974
Dave Bruylandts                (Bel)   12-07-1976
Peter Farazijn                 (Bel)   27-01-1969
Nico Mattan                    (Bel)   17-07-1971
Johan Museeuw                  (Bel)   13-10-1965
Wilfried Peeters               (Bel)   10-07-1964
Andrei Tchmil                  (Bel)   22-01-1963
Geert Van Bondt                (Bel)   18-11-1970
Kurt Van de Wouwer             (Bel)   24-09-1971
Peter Van Petegem              (Bel)   18-01-1970
Frank Vandenbroucke            (Bel)   06-11-1974
Marc Wauters                   (Bel)   23-02-1969

Canada

Brian Walton                   (Can)   18-12-1965

Czechoslovakia

Jaroslav Bilek                 (Cze)   16-03-1971
Jan Hruska                     (Cze)   04-02-1975
Tomas Konecny                  (Cze)   11-10-1973

Denmark

Christian Andersen             (Den)   18-06-1967
Michael Blaudzun               (Den)   30-04-1973
Bo Hamburger                   (Den)   24-05-1970
Frank Hoj                      (Den)   04-01-1973
René Joergensen                (Den)   26-07-1975
Allan Johansen                 (Den)   14-07-1971
Danny Jonasson                 (Den)   01-10-1974
Mikael Holst Kyneb             (Den)   05-03-1972
Nicolay Bo Larsen              (Den)   10-11-1971
Lars Michaelsen                (Den)   13-03-1969
Jacob Moe Rasmussen            (Den)   19-01-1975
Morten Sonne                   (Den)   13-11-1970
Nicki Sorensen                 (Den)   14-05-1975
Rolf Sorensen                  (Den)   20-04-1965

Spain

Manuel Beltran Martinez        (Esp)   28-05-1971
Inigo Chaurreau Bernadez       (Esp)   14-04-1973
Pedro Diaz Lobato              (Esp)   31-05-1973
Angel Edo Alsina               (Esp)   04-08-1970
Oscar Freire Gomez             (Esp)   15-02-1976
José Vicente Garcia Acosta     (Esp)   04-08-1972
Alvaro Gonzalez Galdeano       (Esp)   03-01-1970
Igor Gonzalez Galdeano         (Esp)   01-11-1973
Roberto Heras Hernandez        (Esp)   21-02-1974
Roberto Laiseka Jaio           (Esp)   17-06-1969
Miguel A Martin Perdiguero     (Esp)   14-10-1972
Melchior Mauri Prat            (Esp)   08-04-1966
Jon Odriozola                  (Esp)   26-12-1970
Aitor Osa Eizaguirre           (Esp)   09-09-1973
Luis José Rubiera Vigil        (Esp)   27-01-1973
Juan Antonio Zarrabeitia       (Esp)   06-04-1967

Estonia

Lauri Aus                      (Est)   04-11-1970
Jann Kirsipuu                  (Est)   17-07-1969
Allan Oras                     (Est)   20-12-1975
Janek Tombak                   (Est)   22-07-1976

France

Stéphane Berges                (Fra)   09-01-1975
Frédéric Bessy                 (Fra)   09-01-1972
Laurent Brochard               (Fra)   26-03-1968
Pascal Chanteur                (Fra)   09-02-1968
David Delrieu                  (Fra)   20-02-1971
Frédéric Finot                 (Fra)   20-03-1977
Frédéric Guesdon               (Fra)   14-10-1971
Stéphane Heulot                (Fra)   20-03-1971
Nicolas Jalabert               (Fra)   13-04-1973
Denis Leproux                  (Fra)   16-12-1964
Pascal Lino                    (Fra)   13-08-1966
Gilles Maignan                 (Fra)   30-07-1968
Christophe Mengin              (Fra)   03-09-1968
Christophe Moreau              (Fra)   12-04-1971
Christophe Rinero              (Fra)   29-12-1973
Jean Cyril-Robin               (Fra)   27-08-1969
Jean Michel Tessier            (Fra)   20-12-1977
Cédric Vasseur                 (Fra)   18-08-1970

Great Britain

Maximilian Sciandri            (Gbr)   15-02-1967

German

Rolf Aldag                     (Ger)   25-08-1968
Dirk Baldinger                 (Ger)   27-08-1971
Bert Grabsch                   (Ger)   19-06-1975
Danilo Hondo                   (Ger)   04-01-1974
Jörg Jaksche                   (Ger)   23-07-1976
Andreas Klier                  (Ger)   15-01-1976
Andreas Klöden                 (Ger)   22-06-1975
Grischa Niermann               (Ger)   03-11-1975
Michael Schlickau              (Ger)   07-01-1969
Raphael Schweda                (Ger)   17-04-1976
Jan Ullrich                    (Ger)   02-12-1973

Italian 

Sergio Barbero                 (Ita)   17-01-1969
Ivan Basso                     (Ita)   26-11-1977
Paolo Bettini                  (Ita)   01-04-1974
Francesco Casagrande           (Ita)   14-09-1970
Mirko Celestino                (Ita)   19-03-1974
Danilo de Luca                 (Ita)   02-01-1976
Massimo Donati                 (Ita)   18-01-1967
Gianni Faresin                 (Ita)   16-07-1965
Daniele Nardello               (Ita)   02-08-1972
Davide Rebellin                (Ita)   09-08-1971
Marco Serpellini               (Ita)   14-08-1972
Andrea Tafi                    (Ita)   07-05-1966
Marco Velo                     (Ita)   09-03-1974
Mauro Zanetti                  (Ita)   05-04-1973

Kazakhstan

Dmitri Fofonov                 (Kaz)   15-08-1976
Andrei Kivilev                 (Kaz)   21-09-1973
Oleg Kozlitine                 (Kaz)   02-05-1969
Andrei Mizourov                (Kaz)   16-03-1973
Aleksandr Sheffr               (Kaz)   20-08-1971
Andrei Teteriouk               (Kaz)   20-09-1967
Alexandre Vinokourov           (Kaz)   16-09-1973
Serguei Yakovlev               (Kaz)   21-04-1976

Latvia

Raivis Belohvosciks            (Lat)   21-01-1976
Andris Nauduzas                (Lat)   05-09-1975
Dainis Ozols                   (Lat)   09-11-1966
Arvis Piziks                   (Lat)   12-09-1969
Juris Silovs                   (Lat)   27-01-1973
Romans Vainsteins              (Lat)   03-03-1973

Lithuania

Raimondas Rumsas               (Ltu)   14-01-1972
Saulius Ruskys                 (Ltu)   18-04-1974

Luxembourg

Benoît Joachim                 (Lux)   14-01-1976

The Netherlands

Jeroen Blijlevens              (Ned)   29-12-1971
Michael Boogerd                (Ned)   28-05-1972
Jan Boven                      (Ned)   28-02-1972
Erik Dekker                    (Ned)   21-08-1970
Maarten Den Bakker             (Ned)   26-01-1969
Tristan Hoffman                (Ned)   01-01-1970
Servais Knaven                 (Ned)   06-03-1971
Marc Lotz                      (Ned)   19-10-1973
Leon Van Bon                   (Ned)   28-01-1972
Aart Vierhouten                (Ned)   19-03-1970
Bart Voskamp                   (Ned)   06-06-1968

Norway

Svein Gaute Hölestöl           (Nor)   01-03-1971
Steffen Kjaergaard             (Nor)   24-05-1973
Björnar Vestöl                 (Nor)   28-05-1974

New Zealand

Julian Dean                    (Nzl)   28-01-1975
Christopher Jenner             (Nzl)   03-11-1974
Glen Mitchell                  (Nzl)   19-10-1972

Poland

Thomas Brozyna                 (Pol)   19-09-1970
Piotr Chmielewski              (Pol)   18-09-1970
Grzegorz Gwiazdowski           (Pol)   03-11-1974
Artur Krasinski                (Pol)   18-06-1971
Artur Krzeszowiec              (Pol)   20-07-1972
Zbigniew Piatek                (Pol)   01-05-1966
Piotr Przydzial                (Pol)   15-05-1974
Jaroslaw Rebiewski             (Pol)   27-02-1974
Radoslaw Romanik               (Pol)   16-01-1966
Zbigniew Spruch                (Pol)   12-12-1965
Piotr Wadecki                  (Pol)   11-02-1973
Cezary Zamana                  (Pol)   14-11-1967

Portugal

José Azevedo                   (Por)   19-09-1973
Orlando Sergio Gomes Rodriguez (Por)   21-10-1969

Russia

Artour Babaitsev               (Rus)   23-10-1971
Anton Chantyr                  (Rus)   25-04-1974
Vassili Davidenko              (Rus)   17-03-1970
Vjatceslav Ekimov              (Rus)   04-02-1966
Alexandre Gontchenkov          (Rus)   14-04-1970
Oleg Grichkine                 (Rus)   10-02-1975
Edouard Gritsoun               (Rus)   04-02-1976
Serguei Ivanov                 (Rus)   05-03-1975
Oleg Joukov                    (Rus)   09-02-1976
Vitali Kokorine                (Rus)   03-01-1975
Dmitri Konyshev                (Rus)   18-02-1966
Dmitri Sedun                   (Rus)   02-01-1971
Alexei Sivakov                 (Rus)   07-01-1972
Serguei Smetanine              (Rus)   24-10-1973
Maxim Smirnov                  (Rus)   06-02-1976
Pavel Tonkov                   (Rus)   09-02-1969
Piotre Ugrumov                 (Rus)   21-01-1961
Andrei Zintchenko              (Rus)   05-01-1972

Slovenia

Branko Filip                   (Slo)   18-03-1975
Martin Hvastija                (Slo)   30-11-1969
Uros Murn                      (Slo)   09-02-1975
Gorazd Stangelj                (Slo)   27-01-1973

Switzerland

Niki Aebersold                 (Sui)   05-07-1972
Oscar Camenzind                (Sui)   12-09-1971
Mauro Gianetti                 (Sui)   16-03-1964
Rolf Huser                     (Sui)   05-06-1971
Fabian Jeker                   (Sui)   28-11-1968
Roland Meier                   (Sui)   22-11-1967
Sven Montgomery                (Sui)   10-05-1976
Felice Puttini                 (Sui)   18-09-1967
Pascal Richard                 (Sui)   16-03-1964
Daniel Schnider                (Sui)   20-11-1973
Beat Zberg                     (Sui)   10-05-1971
Marcus Zberg                   (Sui)   27-06-1974
Alex Zuelle                    (Sui)   05-07-1968

Sweden

Niklas Axelsson                (Swe)   15-05-1972
Glenn Magnusson                (Swe)   05-07-1969
Martin Rittsel                 (Swe)   28-03-1971

Ukraine

Olexander Fedenko              (Ukr)   20-12-1970
Serhiy Honchar                 (Ukr)   03-07-1970

United States

David Clinger                  (Usa)   22-11-1977
Eddy Gragus                    (Usa)   15-02-1968
Christopher Horner             (Usa)   23-10-1971
Floyd Landis                   (Usa)   14-10-1975
Levy Leipheimer                (Usa)   24-10-1973
William Chann McRae            (Usa)   11-10-1971
Scott Moninger                 (Usa)   20-10-1966
Fred Rodriguez                 (Usa)   03-09-1973
Jonathan Vaughters             (Usa)   10-06-1973