News and Race Reports for August 7 1995
1. '95 Leeds Classic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Leeds Classic, the seventh World Cup race of the season, provided a
challenging course to the 128 starters this morning. The 231km distance
held many climbs and changes of direction, and the open countryside
provided little shelter from any wind. The temperature was warm for English
conditions - about 26 degrees celcius. Many top riders decided not to ride
today so most of the interest centered on the World Cup fight between
Laurent Jalabert (Once) and Meseeuw (Mapei).
The early part of the race was dominated by the Polti team. Two riders,
Brasi and Martinelli broke away on one of the first climbs and opened up a
good lead. With 5'30" over the bunch Martinelli tired and had to drop back
leaving Brasi alone at the front. He extended this lead to six minutes at
one point but as the field started to chase in earnest the gap decreased
rapidly.
As the field climbed the largest hill of the day Brasi's lead had all but
disapeared. The Once team was doing the chasing, with Zuelle, Jalabert,
Stephens and one other teammate near the front. However as a group of
riders attacked only one Once rider went with them (Bruyneel I think). The
other riders included Jaermann, Lanfranchi, Totchnig and Caruso. They soon
caught and dropped Brasi but couldn't open up a significant gap over the
field - Lanfranchi did most of the work and the others were happy to
follow. Near the top of the hill Bugno countered with Jalabert and Escartin
hanging on to his wheel. They also catch and drop Brasi and soon close up
to the five leaders. The field is not far behind however and soon
everything is back together again. There is about 25 riders left at the
front now.
Both the Mapei and Once teams have 4-5 riders among the leaders, and MG has
about 3-4 as well. It looks certain the win will come from one of these
teams.
There follows a somewhat nervous phase, where everyone seems to be watching
one another, and this allows Elli (MG) to attack followed by Caruso (ZG
Mobili). The two work well together, this combined with the nervousness in
the field means that they soon open up a gap of 40". ONCE takes up the
chase but without any real commitment.
Then there's a surprise. Maximillian Sciandri, the captain of the MG team
at his 'home' race today, attacks the field and goes about chasing his
teammate Elli. This must have been a thought out plan by MG or Sciandri was
feeling very good, either way it seemed a very risky tactic to attack with
his teammate in a comfortable position on the front of the race.
Scandri seems strong enough to keep the field at bay and starts to close in
on the two leaders. Once and Mapei lead the chase but seem visibly slower
than the front three riders. Indeed, as Sciandri nears the two leaders
their lead has grown to 1'20".
The question of the tactics employed is answered as Sciandri catches Elli
and Caruso. Elli seems most surprised to see his captain coming from behind
and eases the pace to let him get on. This doesn't please Sciandri at all
who gestures wildly at Elli to carry on riding at full speed. Obviously
Sciandri's attack was a reaction from him personally without any planning
on part of the team. What would be the reaction in the evening if Caruso
went on to win?
Caruso himself also seems somewhat uncertain what to do in the company of
the two MG riders. At first he sticks on their wheels and leaves the work
to them, but after a talk with the team manager he also takes part in the
work again.
The three leaders approach the finish to start the first of three extra
laps (of 8km) around Leeds. As the field is led in by the Mapei team
they're already 1'39" down. The leaders continue to work well together and
despite some hard chasing in the field from Mapei and Once the gap remains
the same until the last lap. As the leaders start the last 8km the field is
still 1'30" down and the win looks certain for the MG team.
As the pace of the leaders drops somewhat on a small rise, Sciandri attacks
Curaso at the end of his lap and immediately opens up a gap. Curaso seems
to realize he has no hope of catching Sciandri and winning with Elli on his
wheel and lets the Englishman go. As soon as Sciandri has enough of an
advantage Elli and Caruso start working together again to try and save the
second and third places.
There is no stopping Sciandri now and he powers on to the finish to enjoy
his first World Cup win. At the line the others are not even in sight.
It's turned into a good year for the former sprinter, with a win in the TdF
and now a World Cup victory to his credit - and that in his 'home' race.
As the two chasers line up on the straight Caruso jumps out from behind
Elli with a powerful sprint. Elli hangs on though, and come again as they
near the line, but Caruso manages to take second in front of the MG rider.
The fantastic team performance of the MG team is made complete moments
later as Fabio Baldato leads in the bunch in front of Museeuw to take
fourth.
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2. Notes: Leeds Classic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Sciandri wants to ride the world road race championship in Colombia in
an attempt to earn Olympic selection for the Atlanta Games -- for Britain.
* "I will start thinking about selection after the next World Cup race
in Spain. First I want to enjoy this success. It is something special to
win in England. I was really motivated, because I was here and because of
the world selection business.The world course is going to be really hard. I
would be confident about it if in October I had the same condition as I
have now. I will make a decision at the end of the month," said Sciandri
after his victory today.
* The next Cup race is the San Sebastian Classic next Saturday.
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3. Results: Leeds Classic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leeds Classic (World Cup race), 233 kms, 6 Aug 95:
1. Max Sciandri (Britain) Maglificio MG 06:00:20
2. Robert Caruzo (Italy) ZG Mobili +44 secs.
3. Roberto Elli (Italy) Maglificio MG s.t.
4. Fabio Baldato (Italy) Maglificio MG 53
5. Johan Museeuw (Belgium) Mapei GB
6. Laurent Jalabert (France) ONCE
7. Andrei Tchmil (Russia) Lotto
8. Maurizio Fondriest (Italy) Lampre
9. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Italy) Saeco-Mercatone Uno
10. Mauro Bettin (Italy) AKI-Gipiemme
11. Andrea Ferrigato (Italy) ZG Mobili
12. Arvis Piziks (Latvia) Novell
13. Rolf Aldag (Germany) Deutsche Telekom
14. Gianluca Bortolami (Italy) Mapei GB
15. Jens Heppner (Germany) Deutsche Telekom
16. Paolo Lanfranchi (Italy) Brescialat
17. Stefano Colage (Italy) ZG Mobili
18. Gianluca Gorini (Italy) AKI-Gipiemme
19. Marco Milesi (Italy) Brescialat
20. Frank Vandenbroucke (Belgium) Mapei GB all same time
'95 World Cup standings (after seven races):
1. Museeuw 124 pts.
2. Mauro Giannetti (Switzerland) Polti 100
3. Jalabert 86
4. Tchmil 79
5. Baldato 77
6. Fondriest 72
7. (=) Michele Bartoli (Italy) Saeco-Mercatone Uno 65
7. (=) Sciandri 65
9. Franco Ballerini (Italy) Mapei GB 58
10. Francesco Frattini (Italy) Gewiss Ballan 50
11. Stefano Zanini (Italy) Gewiss Ballan 47
12. Claudio Chiappucci (Italy) Carrera 46
13. Jesper Skibby (Denmark) TVM 44
14. Elli 41
15. Bortolami 36
16. (=) Gianni Bugno (Italy) Maglificio MG 35
16. (=) Davide Cassani (Italy) ZG Mobili 35
16. (=) Heppner 35
19. Beat Zberg (Switzerland) Carrera 33
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
4. Tour of Denmark (6/F)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tour of Denmark (6/Final), 126.1 kms, 6 Aug 95:
1. Nicola Minali (Italy) 2:48:34
2. Christian Andersen (Denmark) 2:48.38
3. Jesper Skibby (Denmark) 2:48.40
4. Lars Michaelsen (Denmark) 2:48.42
5. Michel Conelisse (Netherlands)
6. Bo Hamburger (Denmark)
7. Wiebren Veenstra (Netherlands)
8. Freddy van der Werff (Netherlands)
9. Soeren Petersen (Denmark)
10. Magnus Ljungblad (Sweden) all s.t.
General Classification (Final):
1. Bjarne Riis (Denmark) 21:21.34
2. Hamburger 21:22.36
3. Kaspars Ozers (Latvia) 21:23.39
4. Nicolai Bo Larsen (Denmark) 21:25.57
5. Frank Hoej (Denmark) 21:26.19
6. Jelle Nijdam (Netherlands) 21:26.43
7. Peter Meinert (Denmark) 21:32.03
8. Axel Merckx (Belgium) 21:32.43
9. Jimmi Madsen (Denmark) 21:32.50
10. Markus Andersson (Sweden) 21:32.59
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
5. RAAM (quickie)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6 Aug 95 -- Seana Hogan of San Jose, CA, won for the 4th consecutive
time in the 2,904-mile Race Across America (RAAM) yesterday (Saturday),
finishing with a record time of 9 days, 4 hours, 17 minutes. Rob Kish of
Port Orange, FL, won the men's race for the third time Friday in 8 days, 19
hours and 59 minutes.