|
1996 Results and Reports
Stage One Stage 1, Harelbeke - Zottegem 174 km:1. Christophe Mengin (Fra) 3.48.36 2. Marco Milesi (Ita) 0.15 3. Jo Planckaert (Bel) 0.30 4. Alexandre Gonchenkov (Rus) 5. Carlo Bomans (Bel) 6. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) 7. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) 8. Hans De Clercq (Bel) 9. Johan Capiot (Bel) 10. Marc Wauters (Bel) s.t. 11. Dirk Baldinger (Ger) + 0.41 12. Davide Casarotto (Ita) 13. Denis Zanette (Ita) 14. Tom Desmet (Bel) 15. Johan Museeuw (Bel) 16. Michael Blaudzun (Den) + 0.46 17. Ludwig Willems (Bel) 18. Bert Dietz (Ger) 19. Michael Rich (Ger) + 0.54 20. Mauro Bettin (Ita) + 3.45 21. Geert Van Bondt (Bel) 22. Dario Nicoletti (Ita) 23. Axel Merckx (Bel) 24. Giancarlo Raimondi (Ita) 25. Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) + 5.00 next stage - 222 kms from Zottegem to Koksijde GC after Stage 11. Christophe Mengin (Fra/La Francaise des Jeux) 3.48.26 2. Marco Milesi (Ita) 0.19 3. Jo Planckaert (Bel) 0.36 4. Carlo Bomans (Bel) 0.37 5. Alexandre Gonchenkov (Rus) 0.40 6. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) 7. Tritan Hoffman (Ned) 8. Hans De Clercq (Bel) 9. Johan Capiot (Bel) 10. Marc Wauters (Bel) s.t. Stage 2, Zottegem-Koksijde, 222 km:1. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) TVM 2. Djamolidine Abdujaparov (Uzb) Lotto 3. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) Roslotto 4. Marco Zanotti (Ita) Aki 5. Rob McEwen (Aus) Rabobank 6. Federico De Beni (Ita) Brescialat 7. Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Scrigno 8. Andy Desmet (Bel) Ipso 9. Jann Kirsipuu (Est) Casino 10. Francesco Arazzi (Ita) Brescialat all s.t. 11. G. Lombardi 12. N. Minali 13. D. Zanette 14. G. van Bondt 15. N. Loda Overall:1. Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise des Jeux 2. Marco Milesi (Ita) Brescialat + 0.19 3. Jo Planckaert (Bel) Lotto + 0.36 4. Carlo Bomans (Bel) Mapei + 0.37 5. Alexander Gontsjenkov (Ukr) Roslotto + 0.40 6. Philippe Gaumont (Fra) Cofidis 7. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM 8. Hans De Clercq (Bel) Palmans 9. Johan Capiot (Bel) TVM 10. Marc Wauters (Bel) Lotto all s.t. Stage 2 Report Thirteen (1) riders came in hospital after a big fall during the descent of the Kemmelberg. Hendrik Redant has a broken elbow. Some other riders: Michaelsen, Blandzun and Gerrit de Vries (with a consussion of the brain).For Hendrik Redant this fall may be the end his prof-career. He was planning to stop after the pre-season to become assistent-teamleader for his sponsor. Redant (34) was prof for 11 years. His biggest success was the victory of Paris-Tours in 1992. Ferrigato didn't start on Wednesday; so there were 183 riders on the start. The doctor in hospital expect that Hendrik Redant need around 4 weeks for recovery. Redants wife told on Belgian television the reason of the fall: "One of the riders lost his bidon during the descent of the Kemmelberg; so the riders behind him fell". The Kemmelberg is in the route for the Gent-Wevelgem next week. The peloton saw a special supporter/mate during the stage. Frank Vandenbroucke was looking to the race. He is training again after his knee-injury and expects to be back in the Tour of Aragon over two weeks. Djamolidine Abdujaparov rides his bike with his head low in thought. The Uzbek was just beaten by Dutch Jeroem Blijlevens on the sprint. Abdujaparov rarely laughs and he speaks little, only when he wins, so imagine when he loses. 'Abdu' and Blijlevens arrived together to the narrow straight of pavi which touches the North Sea. Followed immediately behind by Massimo Strazzer, who launched the sprint at 200 meters and Marco Zanotti. Mario Cipollini and Nicola Minali lost their chance, since they were not in the first group. The middle stage, the longest (222 kms.), traditionally touches the trademark climb of Ghent-Wevelgem, Mt. Kemmel. Usually Mt. Kemmel is an important test, specially with the Tour of Flanders coming up on Sunday and Ghent Wevelgem, one week later. Whoever has dynamite in their legs, will try to light the fuse already at the Three Days of La Panne, also to send a message to their rivals. Yesterday, the first one to go by the was Belgian Johan Capiot, in front of his escape companions, Calcaterra, Medan, Pauwels, Pontier and Aggiano. And at about two minutes the group with World Champion, Johan Museeuw who was setting the tempo. The Flemish from Mapei-GB, who fell on the sprint at Milano-San Remo, still feels diffused pain and today will decide if he will race the Tour of Flanders, but my impression is that I am very well. On the descent of the Kemmel there was a disbandment on the back of the group, which caused a dramatic fall. The escape by Capiot and Calcaterra was caught along the windy flats which headed to the sea and also Belgian Erwin Thijs' adventure was very short lived. And the finish by the compact group was resolved in a sprint, with Jeroem Blijlevens being the fastest. Frenchman Cristophe Mengin remains the leader at 19" over Marco Milesi, from Brescialat-Oyster. More on the Kemmel CrashYesterday's second stage of the Three Days of De Panne was overshadowed by a major crash on the descent of the Kemmelberg. Some 20 riders were felled, the most seriously affected being Belgian Hendrik Redant (TVM) and Dutchman Gerrit De Vries (Team Polti). Redant had planned to retire from racing after Amstel Gold on April -- to take up a position in the TVM team management -- but suffered an open fracture of the elbow and so is almost certain to have finished his pro career in this unfortunate way. De Vries appears to have the most worrying injury, with facial damage and severe concussion. Doctors say he will have to stay in hospital at Ieper (Ypres) under observation for at least a week.The peloton, in hot pursuit of a break by Johan Capiot, Francois Medan, Frederic Pontier, Giuseppe Calcaterra, Elio Aggiano and Karl Pauwels, was led at high speed up the Kemmelberg by Johan Museeuw (showing that doubts about his strength that he had expressed the day before were no longer justified), Jo Planckaert and Andrei Tchmil. It then hurtled at high speed down the cobbled descent. One report has it that an unidentified rider threw off a water bottle -- to lighten his load -- that rolled back onto the road spilling its contents and turning the already difficult cobbles into a skating rink. I'm dubious about this interpretation. Maybe the bottle vibrated out of the cage on the cobbles. Why should anyone want to lighten his load going downhill? Anyway, De Vries was the first to fall, with the rest of those who crashed tumbling over him. The other riders to receive serious injuries were Ivan Luna (Refin), Nico Eeckhout (Lotto), Marzio Bruseghin (Brescialat) -- all with fractured arms or wrists -- and Andrea Chiurato (Batik), Christian Salvato (Refin) and Torsten Schmidt (Roslotto) who all suffered concussion without losing consciousness. Stage 3a, De Panne-Koksijde 122 km1. Fabrizio Guidi (Italy) Scrigno 2. Max Sciandri (Gbr) Francencaise des Jeux 3. Erik.Dekker (NL) Rabobank 4. Wilfried Peeters (Belgium) Mapei all s.t. 5. Claudio Camin (Italy) Brescialat + 0.06 6. Marco Milesi (Italy) Brescialat 7. Andy Desmet (Belgium) Ipso 8. Biagio Conte (Italy) Scrigno 9. Emmanuel Magnien (France) Festina 10. Nicola Loda (Italy) MG 11. Andrej Tchmil (Ukr) Lotto 12. Tom Desmet (Belgium) Collstrop 13. Carlo Bomans (Belgium) Mapei 14. Max Van Heeswijk (NL) Rabobank 15. Denis Zanette (Italy) Aki all s.t. |