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Results & Reports
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Maastricht - Maastricht
35th Amstel Gold Race - CDM
Netherlands, April 22, 2000
Reports Results World Cup standings
Report
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191 cyclists started the 35th edition of the Dutch Classic, the Amstel Gold Race on a cool morning in Maastricht, the nation's capital. The fifth and last round of the spring World Cup races meant that many of the one day specialists could enjoy a short break after completing the 256 kilometres course. It has, as always, been a hard early season and many have fallen by the wayside due to sickness, injury or other reasons.
After a first hour at a fairly brisk pace - 44.6 km/h, the peloton settled down a little to allow things to play out. Rabobank were prominent at the front, and managed to get riders in every move, or chase down those that they didn't. The first serious attack came at 58 km at climb number 4 of 30, the Bergseweg. Jan Boven (Rabobank) and Giusseppi Palumbo (Amica Chips) attacked and were later joined by Farm Frites rider, Koos Moerenhout. They were in turn caught by a group of 27 containing some big names: Wesemann, Bölts (Telekom), Peeters, Bettini, Van Heeswijk (Mapei), Boogerd, Lotz, Wauters, and Van Bon (Rabobank), Vainsteins (VC), Jonker (USPS), Blijlevens (Polti), Commesso and Dufaux (Saeco) and managed to establish a break of two and a half minutes to the bunch.
This was too many to allow to escape, and those teams that were unrepresented caught the 30 riders just before the 100 kilometre point. Unfortunately for Jesper Skibby (MC J&J), his last Amstel was not to be a successful one as he abandoned at this point. So too did Palmans' Scott Sunderland who must have found it hard reliving the ghosts of this race that almost cost him his life two years ago.
Fifty kilomtres later, another move came, this time by eight riders who all had a very good chance of success: Marc Wauters (Rabobank), Albero Elli (Telekom), Andrea Peron & Dimitri Konychev (Fassa Bortolo), Eddy Mazzoleni (Polti), Viatcheslav Ekimov (USPS), Sergio Barbero (Lampre), and Oscar Freire (Mapei) established a lead coming onto climb number 16, the Eperheide. They managed to keep things together, and their lead grew to 3.45 by the Keutenberg (climb 22, at 187 kilometres). All the big names were at the front of the peloton however, and this escape would need a little luck to succeed. There was a chance, seeing as most of the big teams were represented but Rabobank may have wanted someone better than Wauters and still kept things moving in the bunch.
As the lead approached Maastricht, their lead shrank back to 1.38 with 47 kilometres to go. So too did the break, after an attack by Eddy Mazzoleni (Polti) got rid of Ekimov, Peron and Wauters. This was a signal for Rabobank to begin chasing in earnest in the peloton and they caught the escape with 30 kilometres to go after over 70 kilometres out in front. Once again, the World Champion Freire wasn't afraid to show himself at the front of a major race and continues to build on a great year so far.
The bunch were in full swing now, and there were many desparate attempts to get away in the closing stages of the race. On climb 28, the Helambaye, Van Petegem, Bettini, Rebellin, Boogerd, Vainsteins, Zberg and Van Dijck attacked, causing havoc within the peloton. This grew to 17 with riders such as Casagrande, Dufaux, Zabel, Velo, Tchmil, Jonker, Vinokourov and yes, Oscar Freire joining them. This was it and the winner would come from this group.
On the last climb, the Pietersberg there were more attempts to break, but it wasn't until the descent when Davide Rebellin (Liquigas) managed to get clear with three kilometres to go. A brave move by last week's third place getter and definitely his only chance in a bunch containing Zabel.
Rebellin was committed, but so were the Rabobank and Telekom teams who rode like maniacs to catch the Italian. He had six seconds coming into the final kilometre, but that was as far as he got as the Telekom and Rabobank trains swallowed him up with a few hundred metres to go. At the finish, it was once again Germany's Erik Zabel who held his arms up in triumph, beating two Rabobank riders, Michael Boogerd and Markus Zberg.
His second win in five outings, combined with his fourth in the Ronde van Vlaanderen and third in Paris-Roubaix means that Zabel now has 290 points (and 9 wins altogether) - a huge total for the first half of the season, and it will be difficult to beat him in the final five races commencing in August. Not only can he sprint, he can ride the cobbles (and hills) of Flanders and Roubaix. However, you can never write off Tchmil who scored some more points today with his 11th place.
Post race comments:
Michael Boogerd came close again to winning his home race: "Today was one of those days where you have that little extra. And I prefer a sprint into the wind. Today, I was better than last year, when I won. But the best man on the Halembaye was Peter van Petegem. I don't know what happened with Peter on the last climb, the Pieterzberg. It seemed like he had cramps.
"I nearly fell on the Pietersberg when Rebellin attacked. I'm glad I'm feeling good now, because after that fall I had a terrible few weeks. Maybe I can do something next week in Frankfurt."
Hendrik Van Dijck (Palmans, 5th):
I tried to lock up Van Petegem and Zabel, but that didn't happen. Next season I want to ride for team manager Walter Planckaert, but I want to do all the World Cup races, and in a second division team like Palmans that is difficult."
Rudy Pevenage (Telekom):
"Our tactics were on Zabel and it went perfectly. Erik wants the World Cup, and there are still 2 good races for him: Hamburg and Paris-Tours.
Results
1 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Deutsche Telekom 6.13.37 (41.11 km/h) 2 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 3 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 4 Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Vini Caldirola - Sidermec 5 Hendrick Van Dijck (Bel) Palmans - Ideal 6 Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Saeco - Valli & Valli 7 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Farm Frites 8 Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Lampre - Daikin 9 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Mapei - Quick Step 10 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Vini Caldirola - Sidermec 11 Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto - Adecco 12 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Liquigas - Pata 13 Patrick Jonker (Ned) US Postal Service 14 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei - Quick Step 15 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) Team Deutsche Telekom 0.14 16 Marco Velo (Ita) Mercatone Uno - Albacom 0.45 17 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Team Deutsche Telekom 0.45 18 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Festina 1.00 19 Biagio Conte (Ita) Saeco - Valli & Valli 1.10 20 Servais Knaven (Ned) Farm Frites 21 Christophe Mengin (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 22 Fernando Escartin (Spa) Kelme - Costa Blanca 23 Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto - Adecco 24 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 25 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis 26 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto - Adecco 27 Sergio Barbero (Ita) Lampre - Daikin 28 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1.32 29 Fabiano Fontanelli (Ita) Mercatone Uno - Albacom 30 Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) Team Deutsche Telekom 31 Andrea Tafi (Ita) Mapei - Quick Step 32 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Kelme - Costa Blanca 33 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Mapei - Quick Step 34 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Palmans - Ideal 35 Mauro Gianetti (Swi) Vini Caldirola - Sidermec 36 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Lotto - Adecco 37 Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) Cofidis 38 Igo Gonzalex Galdeano (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 1.36 39 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service 40 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Mapei - Quick Step 41 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Mapei - Quick Step 42 Igor Pugaci (Mda) Saeco - Valli & Valli 1.42 43 Martin Rittsel (Swe) Memorycard - Jack & Jones 2.00 44 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Team Polti 45 Wilfried Peeters (Bel) Mapei - Quick Step 46 Raymond Meijs (Ned) Team Cologne 47 David Etxebarria (Spa) O.N.C.E. - Deutsche Bank 48 Dmitri Konychev (Rus) Fassa Bortolo 2.56 49 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Memorycard - Jack & Jones 50 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance 3.15 51 Alain Turicchia (Ita) Amica Chips - Tacconi Sport 3.24 52 Marco Serpellini (Ita) Lampre - Daikin 53 Arvis Piziks (Lat) Memorycard - Jack & Jones 54 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Farm Frites 55 Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 56 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 57 Rolf Sörensen (Den) Rabobank 58 Marco Milesi (Ita) Vini Caldirola - Sidermec 59 Benoit Salmon (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 60 Yvon Ledanois (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 61 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Vini Caldirola - Sidermec 62 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis 63 Fabian Jeker (Swi) Festina 64 Viatchevlav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal Service 65 Tyler Hamilton (USA) US Postal Service 66 Massimilliano Mori (Ita) Saeco - Valli & Valli 67 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service 68 Stephane Heulot (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 69 Franco Ballerini (Ita) Lampre - Daikin 70 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Amica Chips - Tacconi Sport 71 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Lotto - Adecco 72 Peter Lafis (Swe) Farm Frites 73 Jan Hruska (Cze) Vitalicio Seguros 74 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 75 Jens Heppner (Ger) Team Deutsche Telekom 76 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Kelme - Costa Blanca 77 Joaquin Castelblanco (Col) Kelme - Costa Blanca 78 Geert Van Bondt (Bel) Farm Frites 79 Udo Bölts (Ger) Team Deutsche Telekom 80 Rolf Aldag (Ger) Team Deutsche Telekom 81 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 82 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto - Adecco 83 Alberto Elli (Ita) Team Deutsche Telekom 84 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) Memorycard - Jack & Jones 85 Luca Scinto (Ita) Mapei - Quick Step 86 Richard Virenque (Fra) Team Polti 6.24 87 Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) Team Polti 88 Marco Della Vedova (Ita) Lampre - Daikin 89 Christian Vandevelde (USA) US Postal Service 90 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Liquigas - Pata 91 Miquel Van Kessel (Ned) Farm Frites 92 Christiano Frattini (Ita) Liquigas - Pata 93 Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank 9.33 94 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 95 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Team Polti 96 Benoit Joachim (Lux) US Postal Service 97 Sascha Henrix (Ger) Festina 98 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Rabobank 11.21 99 Denis Zanette (Ita) Liquigas - Pata 14.33 100 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Palmans - Ideal 101 Kees Jeurissen (Ned) Bankgiroloterij-Batavus 102 Diego Ferrari (Ita) Amica Chips - Tacconi Sport 103 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 104 Michel Klinger (Swi) Festina 105 David Delrieu (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 106 Stefano Cattai (Ita) Liquigas - Pata
World Cup standings after round 5
1. Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom 290 pts 2. Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 125 3. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Farm Frites 122 4. Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Vini Caldirola 122 5. Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 112 6. Johan Museeuw (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 111 7. Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Lampre-Daikin 106 8. Markus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 90 9. Fabio Baldato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 84 10. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 79 11. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 76 12. David Etxebarria (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 70 12. Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Mapei-Quick Step 70 12, Dario Pieri (Ita) Saeco-Valli & Valli 70 15. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Liquigas-Pata 64 Teams: 1. Rabobank (Ned) 46 pts 2. Mapei-Quick Step (Ita) 44 3. Fassa Bortolo (Ita) 27 4. Deutsche Telekom (Ger) 26 5. Lampre-Daikin (Ita) 25 6. Farm Frites (Ned) 22 7. Lotto-Adecco (Bel) 18 8. Vini Caldirola (Ita) 17 9. US Postal Service (USA) 14 10. ONCE-Deutsche Bank (Spa) 12 11. Team Polti (Ita) 8 11. La Francaise des Jeux (Fra) 8 13. Vitalicio Seguros (Spa) 6 14. Saeco-Valli&Valli (Ita) 5 15. Cofidis (Fra) 4 16. Banesto (Spa) 3