News for April 9, 2001Recent results and new features 85th Ronde van Vlaanderen newsFastest ever Ronde87 riders finished the 2001 edition of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, won by Tacconi Sport's Gianluca Bortolami in an eight man sprint. The former runner up in Paris-Roubaix and winner of the Leeds Classic and the Meisterschaft von Zurich found enough in his legs to outsprint Erik Dekker (Rabobank) and Denis Zanette (Liquigas) in a record average speed of 43.58 km/h. The previous best was 43.225 km/h in 1971 when Dutchman Evert Dolman won. Gianluca Bortolami bio
Born: August 28 1968 at Locate Triulzi, Italy Principal wins 1994 Stage Tour de France (Rennes) 1997 Giro del Piedmont 1998 GP Chiasso 2001 Ronde van Vlaanderen Post-race comments
Gianluca Bortolami (Tacconi Sport, 1st) "I helped Museeuw win Roubaix, and across the line here I was congratulated by Museeuw. I never thought I would win - it's a dream come true." "I began the day by having problems. I chased after 20 km because my bike broke in two, and I had to use the spare. Then I tried really hard to remain in the front." "In the group we all had a chance to win. I had at least a small chance in a sprint. I passed Zanette in a very narrow space. If he had moved his line, I would have been blocked. Dekker was very strong, but he missed by a few centimetres." "I have felt good since the beginning of the season, especially since the first stage of the Driedaagse van de Panne. The day after, I gave up in order not to get sick." Chris Peers (Cofidis, 6th): "I also fell heavily at the beginning and my bike broke. We've had a really bad day. We had to waste too much strength to chase, so we couldn't be there in the finale."
Ludo Dierxkcsens (Lampre, 8th), who led up many of the climbs: "I had a lot of fun, but I suffered a lot. I was trying to make the group a bit smaller...I was in front because you can see where you are going." "Dekker was always saying "I can't, I can't". There are always those who profit from others..." On the Muur: "I was setting the tempo for Sciandri. I went after Zanette in the last kilometre, because I thought Sciandri might have finished it off."
Andrei Tchmil (Lotto, 9th): "I had everybody on my back. Something just didn't go right. We had the strength in the first part of the race with Eeckhout there. We were 10 seconds behind the leaders and we didn't catch them. I worked hard but we never caught them back because we didn't work together." "I tried to go, but I always had Mattan on my wheel who was protecting Chris Peers." "The race was very hard. Vainsteins gave it some stick on the Berendries but then we just let some guys go who we shouldn't have." Nico Mattan (Cofidis, 11th): Personally, it was not a good race. I had bad luck puncturing just before the Eikenberg, and then I fell at the top. The eight riders had gone - I missed the bus." Walter Planckaert (Lotto Director): "We were the favourites because we've been dominating the races lately. Nico Eeckhout animated the race in the beginning. Tchmil had to finish it - I think they all looked too much to him. You can't be successful every day." Eight riders testedThere were eight riders subjected to UCI drug testing at the finish of the Ronde van Vlaanderen today. The winner Gianluca Bortolami, along with Romans Vainsteins, Geert Van Bondt, Nico Mattan,Eric De Clercq, Christophe Mengin, Bjarke Nielsen and Malte Urban were asked for urine samples. Three of the riders (Vainsteins, Van Bondt, Mattan) were also blood tested by the UCI in the morning. The dual controls do not necessarily mean that anything was out of the ordinary, according to the UCI. Fontanelli high35 year old Fabio Fontanelli (Mercatone Uno) was the only cyclist to record a hematocrit higher than 50% before the start of the Ronde. The Italian was not allowed to race, and his team followed suit in the early stages after several were involved in falls. Fontanelli, who is a teammate of Marco Pantani, won a stage of the 1993 Giro d'Italia, going on to win three more Giro stages in 1996, 1997 and 1998. He also won GP Pino Cerami (1995) and Paris-Camembert (1999) in his 30 or so career wins. In 1996, Fontanelli failed a drugs test in the Amstel Gold Race (testosterone). If he fails the EPO urine test, he will be the first rider to do so.
41st Vuelta a Pais Vasco
The Hors Category Vuelta a Pais Vasco (Tour of the Basque Country) will see 152 riders from 19 teams take part in the 5 day race. The big favourite will be Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) who is in superb form after winning Semana Catalana and the Brabantse Pijl last week. Notable absentees include Roberto Heras, Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani - the latter is suffering Bronchitis, while the former will ride the Circuit de la Sarthe in France starting Tuesday. Others who could challenge Boogerd include Andreas Kloeden (Telekom) who is supported by Jan Ullrich. Davide Rebellin (Liquigas) is also a threat, and Francesco Casagrande, Stefano Garzelli, and Alex Zulle might try something. The race finishes on Friday with a flat 10 kilometre time trial, somewhat different to last year when there was a hill in it. The toughest stage is the second last (stage 4), 182 kilometres including three category 1 climbs. The Stages
Fignon prolongs contractFormer Tour de France winner turned race organiser, Laurent Fignon, has prolonged his contract with Eurosport TV as a cycling consultant for major races. Fignon will continue commentating on the Tour de France and World Championships with the world's biggest sports channel. It was thought that Fignon might go to France TV for this role, but that will be continued by Bernard Thévenet.
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