Heerlen Profronde

Race Report

My mate Hans and I went over to Heerlen for the big night. We had a lot of fun working out how the organisers would fix the race. The event is held in the centre of the town and on each corner of the parcours there were bars, awful hamburger-type places and loud music coming out of speaker systems. The automatic music is occasionally replaced by a "cabaret-type" schmaltz band, usually two or three with lots of taped and canned music singing "baby, baby, don't you feel the heartbeat" and that sort of material. It is loud and over the top.

The crowd waited outside the civic hall hoping to get a glimpse of the riders as they came in. The lesser lights from Foreldorado-Golff (a local team from Gulpen, a nearby village) and the like don't mind cruising in amongst the crowd. The big names (Ullrich, Heppner etc) were not seen.

At 8.45 the action starts. The night was cold (for me) - 17 degrees and wet. Typically miserable Limburg weather. The organisers claimed over the announcing system that there were 60,000 spectators - a record for a post Tour Crit. Who knows whether the claim was true. Who cares. The night was for staged outcomes anyway.

So after an hour of buildup as all sorts of reklame-caravan vehicles (advertising cars and trucks) parade around the parcours throwing out useless paper and other objects, the crowd suddenly realise that they have been duped - and Ullrich, who they have waited 2 hours or more to see come through the crowd is hustled in a back way and is suddenly being driven around in the back of an open BMW.

Then the introductions, the parade lap and we are off. 46 laps for 80 kms. The rain is steady and the riders take a while to get going at any speed at all. Several attacks are made - Ullrich, McEwan and another are the first to go. But none really stay away.

At one stage Max Van Heeswijk riding for Rabobank gets away and builds up a 42 second gap and takes a succession of premies to get the lead in the overall leader's prize of a thousand guilders (about $A800). Giovanni Lombardi (Telekom) got second in that prize. Another noticable driver is Adri Van Der Poel (Rabobank) who won at Chaam earlier in the week. He is trying to push his fitness out for the start of the Cyclo Cross season in a few weeks.

With about 6 laps to go a decent size group including Ullrich get clear and build up about a 20 second gap. Ullrich had previously punctured but was allowed a lap out.

With about 2 laps to go Micheal Boogerd, the Dutch National Road Champion and Ullrich go clear by about 10 seconds. Another group behind them is still well clear of the peloton which will soon be taken off the course.

Into the final corner, Ullrich looks to have Boogerd's measure. Hans said to me - who will win? I said - how can they not let the national champion win. Playing on the fact that both of them are national champions, and that Hans thought Ullrich would be given it, he said "that's right, a national champion".

As the final screaming from the overactive announcer could be determined - we heard Ullrich and I applauded Hans's impeccable judgement. And then, at the death, we heard, Boogerd, Micheal Boogerd, uitstekend!! - and I thought .....

Anyway, to put it all in perspective - the chase group hardly looked like they were chasing once Boogerd and Ullrich slipped so easily clear - it was warm by local standards (17 degrees) and Ullrich never took his long sleeves off and never really looked like he was working - the field largely stayed together. And then we had a popular result and everyone saw Ullrich.

That is what these farces are all about. But as I said to Hans. The biggest farce is that all of us were standing out in the rain, oohing and aahing, taking photos, looking up race numbers and exchanging all sorts of useless information about attacks, sizes of gaps, and what have you. Everyone has to have dream, even when you are away in Limburg.

And the money - Ullrich got a penalty of 50 Dutch guilders because he forgot his license and the starting money for Ullrich in Heerlen: 48,000 Dutch guilders (about $A40,000)

For some exclusive photos go to the August Photos Page

The local press, the Dagblad de Limburger covers this race as follows.

"They had more than two hours wait outside the Schouwburg (civic hall). They were hoping to see the riders and also the new German sport's idol, Jan Ullrich who had contracted to ride the Heerlen Profronde. There was Gisela and Hermann Schmeidtke from Frankfurt who had their pen and paper ready to get the signature of the Tour winner.

Their wait was in vain. Jan Ullrich was taken by the Organisers of the Limburgs criterium to the start by another route. Ullrich has said that "I will be happy to come to Heerlen, but spare me the hassles with the crowd that happened at Boxmeer (an early week crit where he had been swamped by the crowd)."

Via an underground car park near the Schouwburg Ullrich and his girlfriend Gabi and his teammate Jens Heppner was taken to the area where they could change. The VIP's were allowed in this area and along with enthusiastic wifes of the sponsors they clapped Ullrich as he appeared. By any standards it was only a small amount of applause given the small number of people there.

The Tour winner stood for photographs. Camera's clicked and TV cameras zoomed. Ullrich signed in at the KNWU table. His girlfriend Gaby would stay inside during the race. "I do not ride a bike" she said. "I must be near to Jan though". Jens Heppner said "In Heerlen, there is more chance to look around. The people are not as intense as other places."

While the riders were preparing for the race inside the civic centre, the fans stood outside in the rain waiting. Many German fans wore the maillot jeune to the race. (Bill notes: there were shops selling these for 80 guilders. Rip off. And the exchange rate for the night was 1 DM = 1 Guilder. Big exchange losses to the Germans buying this trash).

Also Gisela and Hermann Schmeidtke waited unaware that Ullrich was going to be taken through a back route to the start, some 150 metres from the civic centre. They said "We have come 700 kms in our car to see this. And now Ullrich is not going to come out among us. But our journey is nothing given the distance they rode in the Tour de France."

After the Criterium in Roosendaal on Monday, Ullrich will have a day's rest. Wolfgang Heppner, Jen's father, has been the chauffer for the riders all week since the end of the tour. The former East German is enthusiastic about the Dutch post-Tour criteriums. "The Dutch public are especially warm towards out riders. I hope that the German organisers also start doing this sort of thing." he said.

Gerrie Van Gerwen, who coordinates the Dutch professional racing calendar, said that the crowds had increased because of Ullrich. "Wherever he starts there are more than two time the crowds than last year".

Ullrich rides the first race in Germany since the Tour on the 10th August in Hamburg. Among the crowd will also be his father Werner Ullrich. Since leaving his wife (Marianne) to bring up Jan as a kid, he has not spoken to his son more than one time. That was in 1993 when Jan Ullrich won the world amateur championship.

Race distance - 80 kms:

 1. Micheal Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank	     1.50.07
 2. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Telekom
 3. Raymond Meijs (Ned) Foreldorado-Golff	0.08
 4. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM			0.09
 5. Patrick Jonker (Aus) Rabobank
 6. Servais Knaven (Ned) TVM
 7. Jens Heppner (Ger) Telekom
 8. Gerrit de Vries (Ned) Polti
 9. Lucien de Louw (Ned)
10. John den Braber (Ned)			0.15