News for April 17, 1997

We have a debate - controversy at last!

From: H. Dwightin Subject: Paris - Roubaix

Dear Bill,

In reply to your article of 16 April (from Trevor Warwick) concerning Paris-Roubaix. I must say that I totally disagree with his comments about Guesdon being towed up to the finish and the fact that him winning the sprint wont win him any friends. I was actually there to see the race at all the vital points including a lot of the cobble sections, the forest of Arenberg and the finish at the Velodrome. For a start the race was so dry the dust was like a sand storm in the middle of the Sahara - God knows how the riders could continue racing in almost complete blindness let alone the amount of crap going down their throats. Secondly Paris - Roubaix is not a race one can be towed around, guaranteed if you are in the front bunch entering the Velodrome you have worked your bollocks off to get there. Just because no one recognised him at taking pulls at the front doesn't mean he had a free ride to the finish, anyway is it his job to be the one to bridge the gaps to the breakaway when you have the likes of Museeuw and Sorensen in your group? Thirdly the move he pulled on the Velodrome off the last bank was one of sheer brilliance, any decent track rider would be proud of such a move, just because most of the top guys were looking at each other doesn't mean he should take a golden opportunity!! In my view Moncassin should be the one who should face the music, his Director Sportif should be almost giving out lashings - for the second time in a week he has given away prised opportunities to win just because he hasn't used his head.

After the race Museeuw was heard to say congratulations to Guesdons win and that he certainly took the opportunity with open arms - these guys are professionals not amateurs racing in a weekend race, where sitting in and winning the sprint has become an every day occurrence, you can guarantee that Guesdon wouldn't have been there for the sprint if he hadn't of worked hard for it, give the guy credit he deserves!!

Roger's Paris-Roubaix Report Update

Jaermann eased his pace to allow Pretot and Bonetti to join him, at km74, and the trio entered the first sector of pave (zone 23 -- 2,200m -- km 100) 5 minutes up on the peloton which had swallowed up Steinhauser. On the first sectors of pave ( zones 23 through 20) the full Rabobank team went to the front of the peloton pulling back the break's lead to 3.10 at the first feed at Solesmes (km115). By Valenciennes (km143.5) after a further four sectors of pave (zones 19 through 16) the lead was only 50 seconds.

On the way out of Valenciennes, with the crucial sector of pave (zone 15 -- 2,400m) through the forest of Arenberg only 10km ahead, 11 riders attacked out of the peloton -- Andrea Tafi (Mapei), Servais Knaven (TVM), Leon Van Bon (Rabobank) Wim Feys and Nico Eeckhout (Lotto), Davide Casarotto (Scrigno), Stuart O'Grady (GAN), Michael Lafis (Telekom), Ludovic Auger (BigMat), Stephane Cueff (La Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne) and Jacky Durand (Casino). Meanwhile, the lead group of three entered Arenberg still clear, an exciting event for Arnaud Pretot. "In fact I was only following Roger Legeay's orders -- that no escape of more than two should be without a GAN rider. So I was opening the ground for Fred [Moncassin] and took up the lead with Jaermann and Bonetti on the first sector of pave, at Troisville. That in itself was a big thrill for me."

In the course of the passage through the forest, though, Pretot, Jaermann and Bonetti were caught and passed by the 11 counter-attackers who left the zone with O'Grady and Tafi slightly in the lead. However, they did not press their advantage and the 11-man break came together again with the peloton 42 seconds behind.

In the next few kilometres various counter-attacks out of the peloton were attempted including those from Rolf Sorensen (Rabobank) and Denis Zanette (Aki). Up front, meanwhile the break was getting smaller. first, Auger crashed heavily when his front wheel slipped on a bend at Hornaing (km167) breaking a collar-bone and possibly sufffering a minor cranial fracture. Others couldn't hold the pace. By km170 there were only eight left -- Tafi, Knaven, O'Grady, Durand, Eeckhout, Feys, Van Bon and Lafis and after the difficult zone 12 of pave at Tilloy (2400m -- km179) there were only five -- Tafi, O'Grady, Durand, Knaven and Feys. At Orchies, with 80km to go their lead was 1.45.

Once again it was Rabobank that did most of the chasing and the break was swallowed up at Martinsart, just after zone 8 of pave, with 50km to go to form a lead peloton of about 40 riders. In the heat of the chase, at Phalempin (52km), GAN team-leader Frederic Moncassin punctured but was paced back to the peloton by Stuart O'Grady and Francois Lemarchand after getting a wheel from Eros Poli.

On zone 6 at Ennetieres (2,600m -- 45km to go) Johan Museeuw (Mapei-GB) attacked, taking with him team-mate Stefano Zanini, Moncassin and Henk Vogels (GAN), Andrei Tchmil, Marc Wauters and Jo Planckaert (Lotto), Rolf Sorensen (Rabobank) and Max Sciandri (La Francaise des Jeux -- Sciandri had crashed twice earlier in the race). Only a couple of kilometres later, on zone 5 (1,400m) Museeuw punctured and was reabsorbed by the peloton which was at 25 seconds to the eight-strong break at Templeuve with 34km to go. Immediately, Mapei organised a chase for Museeuw with Franco Ballerini (sick with a fever the previous night -- his room-mate Gianluca Pianegonda had the same problem and scratched from the race) and Bart Leysen making major contributions.

In front, with about 32km to go, Vogels attacked and built a solo lead, with Wauters and Sciandri in hot pursuit. Only Wauters was able to get up to him and the rest of the lead group were soon reabsorbed by the Mapei-led chasers. Vogels and Wauters held onto a precarious lead until the end of zone 3 (1,800m) with 19km to go.

Just before the difficult pave of the carrefour de l'Arbre (zone 2 -- 2,100m) with some 17km to go, Moncassin attacked with only Tchmil and Museeuw able to go with him. Museeuw is out of luck again, with the trio clear he punctures on the pave of Gruson (sector 2) 14km from the finish.

With just over 6km to go at the exit of the last zone of pave (Hem) Tchmil and Moncassin had a slender lead of 18 seconds over six chasers: Museeuw, Sorensen, Casarotto with two Lotto -- Wauters and Planckaert -- seeking to control them and Frederic Guesdon (La Francaise des Jeux) biding his time. Guesdon does only a couple of pulls on the front. After the race Museeuw reckons that was OK since Guesdon wasn't one of the favourites. At 5km the lead is 14 seconds and Tchmil attempts to get clear on a false flat building a tenuous gap on Moncassin which the GAN rider is able to claw back.

At the 1km mark Moncassin and Tchmil's lead is down to 5 seconds and they are picked up by the chasers just outside the velodrome. At the back of the group onto the track, Guesdon stormed through to take the sprint by more than two lengths...

Wien-Rabenstein-Gresten-Wien - Austria 2.5

The teams of MAPEI and TVM, Pavel Tonkow (RUS) and Bo Hamburger (Dan) Vladimir Pulnikow (Ucraine), Vassili Dawidenko (RUS), Fausto Dotti, Roberto Menegotto und Daniele Nardello (all Italy). Nardello has won Milano - Torini.

Tour of Vaucluse (2.5)

Results of Paris-Roubaix MTB

 1. Filip Meirhaeghe (BEL, Espace Card)
 2. Manin (FRA, MBK)
 3. Van der Poel (Netherlands, Rabobank)
 4. Vandendriessche (BEL)
 5. Delion (FRA, Team Lapierre)

Finish News

There is a lot of cycle racing action in Finland this year. The first big race will take place in Turku on April 27. It's the 40th edition of the TS-kortteliajo.

Lars Michaelsen