Vodacom Rapport Toer - Cat. 2.4

South Africa, February 11-19, 2000

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Stage 1 - February 12: Bellville - Paarl, 190 km

Telekom gains the lead

The first road stage of the 2000 Rapport Toer was a 190km journey from Bellville to Paarl, marked by a couple of hard climbs at Grabouw (94.3 km) and Franshoek (151.1 km). The weather was uncomfortable as well, with it being very hot on the flats, but raining in the mountains.

The main move of the day came at just 60km after the first of the sprints at Stellenbosch. A total of 19 riders escaped on the small rise and were never seen again by the rest of the bunch. By the finish, they had some 20 minutes on the remainder of the peloton, which included the likes of last year's winner, Michael Rich, as well as Jan Ullrich.

Three riders escaped from the lead group - Alberto Elli (Ita, Telekom), Salvatore Commesso (Ita, Saeco) and Tobias Steinhauser (Ger, Gerolsteiner) who attacked on the Franshoek climb. The remaining 16 couldn't cope, and the three built up a lead of nearly a minute into the finish. In the sprint, Elli surprised himself by beating the Italian Champion, Commesso, and was suitably elated: "I am very happy to win this stage. To beat Salvatore Commesso in a sprint finish is not easy," he said.

He took over the yellow jersey from Olaf Pollack (Ger), yesterday's prologue winner, and also leads the points competition. Tomorrow, the riders face a shorter, 125 km stage around Capetown, that ends with the steep climb of Signal Hill.

Results

1 Alberto Elli (Ita) Deutsche Telekom                4.58.01
2 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco-Valli&Valli 
3 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) Gerolsteiner 		0.01
4 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Deutsche Telekom            	0.51
5 Christian Wegman (Ger) Saeco-Valli&Valli
6 Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner
7 Lars Michaelson (Swe) FdJ
8 Robert Hunter (RSA) Promix
9 Kosie Loubser (RSA) IBM
10 Rudolph Wentzel (RSA) Minolta

General classification after stage 1:

1 Alberto Elli (Ita) Deutsche Telekom                5.00.11
2 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) Gerolsteiner 		0.08
3 Salvatore Commeso (Ita) Saeco-Valli&Valli         	0.09
4 Robert Hunter (RSA) ProMix       			0.57
5 Rodney Green (RSA) HSBC               		1.04
6 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Deutsche Telekom            	1.06
7 Christian Wegmann (Ger) Saeco-Valli&Valli        
8 Lars Michaelsen (Den) FdJ             		1.07
9 Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner    		1.09
10 Nicholas White (RSA) HSBC             		1.10

Points classification:

1 Alberto Elli (Ita) Deutsche Telekom   		15 pts
2 Salvatore Commeso (Ita) Saeco-Valli&Valli		12  
3 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) Gerolsteiner			10  

Mountains classification: 

1 Salvatore Commeso (Ita) Saeco-Valli&Valli
2 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) Gerolsteiner	
3 Alberto Elli (Ita) Deutsche Telekom  

Hot Spots sprint classification:

1 Robert Hunter (RSA) ProMix
2 Olaf Pollack (Ger) Gerolsteiner
3 Malcolm Lange (RSA) HSBC