63rd Gent-Wevelgem (1.HC)Belgium, April 11, 2001Live ReportStart time: 1150 CET 1625 CET - 203 km/13 km to go Welcome to cyclingnews.com's coverage of the 63rd Gent-Wevelgem. We pick up the action with just over 15 kilometres to go in the 215 kilometre race. Apologies for not starting sooner (technical problems). The stiuation: 5 riders have broken away from the leading group: George Hincapie (US Postal), Nico Mattan (Cofidis), Steffen Wesemann (Telekom), Arvis Piziks (CSC) andLeon van Bon (Mercury). They 38 seconds on the chasing group, and should win the race. The nine chasers: Thor Hushovd (CA), Daniele Nardello (Mapei), Erik Zabel (Telekom), Romans Vainsteins (Domo), Chris Peers (Cofidis), Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa), Gabriele Balducci (Tacconi), Biagio Conte (Saeco), and Nico Eeckhout (Lotto). 1633 CET - 209 km/6 km to go The five leaders now have 55 seconds on the chasing group, which is not really working that well. Mattan knows this parcours like the back of his hand, and has to be one of the favourites for the win. However, Leon van Bon and Arvis Piziks can both sprint as well...not to mention Hincapie and Wesemann. 1636 CET - 212 km/3 km to go Piziks is fighting for Mattan's wheel, as the Belgian will surely try a solo attack. The gap is now one minute. Mattan attacks, but is brought back by Hincapie. 1638 CET - 213 km/ 2km to go Hincapie attacks, with Piziks and van Bon. Wesemann and Mattan are dropped, but they get back on. Piziks throws in a strong counter-attack! Wesemann chases him down. Van Bon looks to be the freshest... 1639 - 214 km/1 km to go Piziks attacks again with less than 1 km to go, but is caught by Wesemann. Hincapie and Van Bon go head to head...it's close between the two, but Hincapie gets it! 1640 - 215 km/0 km to go George Hincapie can't believe it. "I want to make sure...really...I've been needing the win, you know. My directors and the managers had confidence in me. It's been a long time since I won. I know I can win, I have to have everything right. I hope it means more victories to come." The commissaires confirm his win, and George gives a big smile. "Now I guess I believe it," he says. "It was very tactical - I had to chase down Nico Mattan and a lot of the guys who attacked." A favorite for Paris-Roubaix now? "That's one of my main things - Of course I want to win it."
Results 1 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service 5.00.50 2 Leon van Bon (Ned) Mercury 3 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom 4 Arvis Piziks (Lat) CSC-World Online 5 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis 6 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 7 Chris Peers (Bel) Cofidis 8 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 9 Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom 10 Gabriele Balducci (Ita) Tacconi 11 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 12 Biagio Conte (Ita) SaecoResults and report |