1st BMC San Francisco Grand Prix - 1.4San Francisco, USA, September 9, 2001Live Report Results and report Start list Race history PreviewBy Tim Maloney, cyclingnews.com correspondent Sunday's inaugural San Francisco Grand Prix, presented by BMC Software, will return world road class cycling to California for the first time since the Coors Classic in 1987. Heading the field will be three time TdF champ Lance Armstrong and a solid USPS team. Armstrong will be racing in a UCI road event in the USA for the first time since 1998's First Union USPRO Championships. The tough urban circuit offer s a distance of 129.5 miles/209 km, with ten large laps of 10.2 m/16.5 km and five finishing circuits of 5.5 m/8.9 km. Each large circuit includes two short but very steep climbs; Fillmore St. up from Union St. and Taylor St. from Columbus Ave., as well as lots of ups and downs, bumpy city streets and tight turns. The circuit starts and finishes on the Embarcadero at the foot of Market Street in front of SF's Ferry Building at 9:00am, and winds through the Marina and North Beach neighbourhoods of the City by the bay. Challenging Lance and his USPS team will be tough, but with such a long and tough event in September, a few dark horses may make trouble for USPS in the final. Vassili Davidenko of Navigators is also in form and may have the strength to put himself in contention after 120 miles of tough racing. Ditto for PCT leader Trent Klasna of Saturn, who has had a few knee problems of late, but the Saturn boys have a very strong team and if Klasna has his legs, the rangy San Diegan will be a real contender. USPRO Champ Freddy Rodriguez of Domo Farm Frites has done little this season since his win in Philly, and will not have any team support as he is riding as part of a mixed team with De Nardi-Pasta Montegrappa of Italy, but the tough Emeryville Resident will have plenty of home town support. De Nardi has some fit riders; two time Jr. World Champ Giuseppe Palumbo and speedy Jan Bratkowski have been riding well in Italy of late. Saeco has a good young team, with former Autotrader.com director Mike Neel on board as sport director. Strong Swiss rider Armin Meier and speedy Nicola Gavazzi have a shot, with Saeco's American rider Justin Spinelli showing good form. With huge crowds expected in SF, no matter who wins, the first San Francisco Grand Prix will be a welcome addition to the American race calendar. If you can't make it to the race and want to know what's going down in San Fran, log onto Cyclingnews for regular live updates of the action, from the start to finish. Coverage starts at approximately 8:45am local time (17:45 Central European Time/01:45 Australian East Coast Time). Start ListUS Postal Service Mercury
1 Lance Armstrong (USA) 11 Derek Bouchard Hall (USA)
2 George Hincapie (USA) 12 Gord Fraser (Can)
3 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) 13 John Peters (USA)
4 Tyler Hamilton (USA) 14 Chris Pic (USA)
5 Steffen Kjaergaard (Nor) 15 Michael Sayers (USA)
6 Stephen Barthe (Fra) 16 Scott Moninger (USA)
7 Robbie Ventura (USA) 17 Floyd Landis (USA)
8 Dylan Casey (USA) 18 Chris Wherry (USA)
9 Kenny Labbe (USA) 19 Chris Horner (USA)
20 Henk Vogels (Aus)
Saturn Aguardiente Nectar
21 Michael Barry (Can) 31 Raul Montana (Col)
22 32 Alexis Rojas (Col)
23 Chris Fisher (USA) 33 Jose Luis Vanegas (Col)
24 Harm Jansen (Ned) 34 Victor Hugo Gonzalez (Col)
25 Trent Klasna (USA) 35 Ismael Sarmiento (Col)
26 Tim Johnson (USA) 36 Jhony Ruiz (Col)
27 Mark McCormack (USA) 37 Rigoberto Ibanez (Col)
28 Frank McCormack (USA)
29 Soren Petersen (Den)
30 Eric Wohlberg (Can)
Prime Alliance Navigators
41 Michael Creed (USA) 51 Chris Baldwin (USA)
42 Steve Larsen (USA) 52 Siro Camponogara (Ita)
43 Aaron Olsen (USA) 53 Vassili Davidenko (Rus)
44 Ryan Miller (USA) 54 Oleg Grichkine (Rus)
45 John Walrod (USA) 55 Glen Mitchell (NZl)
46 Jonas Carney (USA) 56 Kirk O'Bee (USA)
57 Adham Sbeih (USA)
58 Burke Swindlehurst (USA)
59 Brendan Vesty (NZl)
60 Mark Walters (Can)
Corona Mastercard 7 Up Colorado Cyclist
61 Siddharta Camil (Mex) 71 Charles Dionne (Can)
62 Domingo Gonzalez (Mex) 72 Ryan Guay (USA)
63 Juan Luis Gonzalez (Mex) 73 John Lieswyn (USA)
64 Aaron Ojeda (Mex) 74 David McCook (USA)
65 Gerardo Castillo (Mex) 75 Kevin Monahan (USA)
66 Octavio Corona (Mex) 76 Juan Pineda (USA)
67 Jose Robles (Mex) 77 Oscar Pineda (USA)
68 Cuhitaluac Ayala (Mex) 78 Andrew Randell (Can)
79 Clark Sheehan (USA)
80 Doug Ziewacz (USA)
Jelly Belly Net Zero
81 Kirk Albers (USA) 91 Jamie Paolinetti (USA)
82 Jason McCartney (USA) 92 Michael Johnson (USA)
83 Mariano Friedick (USA) 93 Matthew Yates (NZl)
84 Norm Carter (USA) 94 Ryan Barrett (USA)
85 Jonathan Erdeyli (USA) 95 Graeme Miller (NZl)
86 Brian Forbes (USA) 96 Mike Tillman (USA)
97 David Johnson (USA)
98 Jason Bausch (USA)
99 Michael Johnson (USA)
100 Joshua Taylor (USA)
De Nardi Pasta Montegrappa Zaxbys/Defeet
101 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) 111 Scottie Weiss (USA)
102 Jan Bratkowski (Ger) 112 Chris McGovern (USA)
103 Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) 113 Dirk Friel (USA)
104 Guiseppe Palumbo (Ita) 114 Jacob Fetty (USA)
105 Tom Anderson (GBr) 115 Luke Stockwell (Aus)
106 Rossano Bosi (Ita) 116 Roberto Gaggioli (Ita)
107 Fred Rodriguez (USA)
Lombardi Sports Cannondale Wheelworks
121 John Van Heel (USA) 131 Jon Hamblen (USA)
122 Tim Larkin (USA) 132 Chris Peck (USA)
123 Patrick Heaney (USA) 133 Jonathan Page (USA)
124 Dean Meyer (USA) 134 Curt Davis (USA)
125 John Hunt (USA) 135 Shawn Milne (USA)
126 Ben Jaques Maynes (USA) 136 Matthew Svatek (USA)
137 Don Mills (USA)
Saeco Macchine Per Caffe Flanders Prefetex
141 Luca Barla (Ita) 151 Ronny Assez (Bel)
142 Oscar Cavagnis (Ita) 152 Christoph Roodhooft (Bel)
143 Brad Davidson (Aus) 153 Christian Selin (Fin)
144 Nicola Gavazzi (Ita) 154 David Plas (Bel)
145 Armin Meier (Swi) 155 Pelle Kil (Ned)
146 Justin Spinelli (USA) 156 Youri Deliens (Bel)
Webcor/Alto Velo
161 James Mattis (USA)
162 Dario Falquier (USA)
163 Ted Huang (USA)
164 Tim Noakes (USA)
165 Peter Armitage (USA)
166 John Kelly (USA)
167 Thomas Frischnecht (Swi)
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