The jersey has changed, but not the man. Italian Roberto Gaggioli blew kisses to the crowd as he won the First Union Grand Prix, pulling away from Americans Fred Rodriguez and Norm Alvis in the final 75 meters to take home the $15,000 prize.
Maybe more appropriately, Gaggioli was the freshest survivor of the 120-mile race through Atlanta's downtown. "When Roberto went, I just didn't have anything left," Rodriguez said. "That was it."
Alvis said the same. Rodriguez of the US National Team finished second, two seconds behind, and Saturn's Alvis third, six seconds behind. Montgomery-Bell's Darren Baker was fourth, 17 seconds behind.
Chann McRae of the US National Team was fifth, winning the sprint of a group of nine riders 1:17 behind. Coming just a week after a brutally tough Tour DuPont, many in the 135-rider field were still feeling the effects. "It will take a couple of weeks for people to get their good legs back," Motorola's Frankie Andreu said.
Gaggioli, the former Coors Light sprinter now riding for the Guiltless Gourmet, didn't ride in DuPont. Instead, Gaggioli said, he trained just as hard. But that's Gaggioli, flambouyant while filling bulletin board fodder.
Still, the affects of DuPont on the field were obvious, especially in the final selection. Alvis initiated the final breakaway with eight miles left in the race, counter-attacking after the lead group of 14 riders chased down USA's Chann McRae and Latvian Juris Silovs. "We went pretty hard," McRae said. "When we got caught, Fred went."
McRae and Silovs spent 10 miles away. "When the Latvian and Chann went away, it took a long time to get them back," Alvis said. "I realized people didn't have the gas left to go. So I figured it was time to go." Gaggioli, Rodriguez and Saab's Andy Bishop followed, but Bishop got dropped. The rest could not.
It was a strong day for the US National Team, which had three riders in the final group of 17 that left everyone else behind. That group split from a pack of 30. Motorola's Lance Armstrong was in that group, but with teammates Andreu and George Hincapie in the lead group, Armstrong didn't chase.
Andreu and Hincapie faded in the final miles, the result of their work at the Tour DuPont. "I guess I was still tired from DuPont," said Hincapie, who finished seventh. Andreu agreed that he lost his edge in the final miles. "We were all pretty tired," Andreu said. "Lance was tired, too, because he didn't train much all week."
Still, Motorola was a main animator throughout the 16 laps on the 7.5-mile circuit. Hincapie and Andreu were in most of the main selections. "We spent all day keeping the race together," Andreu said. "Nobody else would chase, and it was constant attacking. If we'd attack, then they'd sure all chase. We did a lot of work and in the end we paid for it."
Andreu finished 12th at 1:23. The pace was fast from the start, picking right up where the frantic DuPont style left off. On the third lap, Bart Bowen of Saturn and John Lieswyn of the US National Team escaped. They got 34 seconds on the group, but were joined by four others including Andreu, Marty Jemison of Montgomery-Bell, Alexandr Kedruk of Ukraine and Thomas Craven of Chevrolet-LA Sheriff.
When that group came back after eight miles of freedom, Jemison and Jeff Evanshine of the US National Team attacked. That duo quickly got 20 seconds up the road. They stayed away for two laps before Michael Carter of Navigators, Derek Bouchard-Hall of Shaklee, Declan Lonergan of Saab, Paul McCormack of Saab, Jeff Rutter of Scott Bikyle Flyers, Alan McCormack of Guiltless Gourmet and Hincapie joined them.
The nine-man breakaway had a 1:20 lead until Armstrong decided to carry the entire field to them. Once back together, the attacks continued, and 60 miles into the race another group of 17 escaped including Armstrong, Bowen, Bishop, McRae, Silovs, Gaggioli, Baker, Andreu, Hincapie, Alvis, Chris Horner of Nutra-Fig, Dirk Friel of Guiltless Gourmet, Oleg Galkin of Ukraine, Mike McCarthy of Saturn, Mark McCormack of Saab and Matt Koschara of Navigators.
Missing the group was Rodriguez. "I worked hard to try to chase, but I couldn't bridge," Rodriguez said. "Then a group of my guys came up and they just towed me up to the group." Lieswyn, Evanshine, John Peters and Chris Wherry helped get Rodriguez to the lead group, which bulged to 30 when that chase group arrived.
Others in that group included Steve Hegg of Chevrolet-LA Sheriff and Bobby Julich of Motorola. But continuing with the trend, there was no rest for the weary. "It was just constant attacks," Baker said. "Everyone was trying to get away." The rest of the field realized the race was up the road and backed off.
FIRST UNION GRAND PRIX
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
MAY 14, 1995
FINAL
PL BIB
1 43 GAGGIOLI, Roberto - ITA GUILTLESS GOURMET 4:28:33 2 122 RODRIGUEZ, Fred - USA U.S. NATIONAL TEAM 4:28:35 @2 3 21 ALVIS, Norm - USA SATURN 4:28:39 @6 4 31 BAKER, Darren - USA MONTGOMERY-BELL 4:28:50 @17 5 121 MCRAE, Chann - USA U.S. NATIONAL TEAM 4:29:50 @1:17 6 132 SILOVS, Juris - LAT LATVIAN NATIONAL TEAM 4:29:52 @1:19 7 115 JOLIDON, Jacques - SUI UNIVAG CONDOR BLACKY 4:29:53 @1:20 8 15 HINCAPIE, George - USA MOTOROLA 4:29:54 @1:21 9 54 MCCORMACK, Mark - USA SAAB 4:29:54 @1:21 10 51 BISHOP, Andy - USA SAAB 4:29:56 @1:23 11 1 HEGG, Steve - USA CHEVROLET-L.A. SHERIFF 4:29:56 @1:23 12 12 ANDREU, Frankie - USA MOTOROLA 4:29:56 @1:23 13 22 BOWEN, Bart - USA SATURN 4:30:01 @1:28 14 107 MCDONOUGH, Brian - USA SHAKLEE 4:30:17 @1:44 15 75 KOSCHARA, Matt - USA NAVIGATORS 4:31:51 @3:18 16 170 WOZNIAK, Jerzy - POL INDEPENDENT 4:31:58 @3:25 17 25 MCCARTHY, Mike - USA SATURN 4:33:16 @4:43 18 94 MILLER, Graeme - NZL SCOTT BIKYLE FLYERS 4:33:16 @4:43 19 125 LEISWYN, John - USA U.S. NATIONAL TEAM 4:33:16 @4:43 20 116 JOLIDON, Jocelyn - SUI UNIVAG CONDOR BLACKY 4:33:16 @4:43 21 129 WHERRY, Chris - USA U.S. NATIONAL TEAM 4:33:16 @4:43 22 44 PRIOLI, Tony - USA GUILTLESS GOURMET 4:33:16 @4:43 23 56 POWELL, Donnie - USA SAAB 4:33:16 @4:43 24 35 HAMILTON, Tyler - USA MONTGOMERY-BELL 4:33:16 @4:43 25 41 FRIEL, Dirk - USA GUILTLESS GOURMET 4:33:16 @4:43 26 161 POHLMAN, Dirk - USA INDEPENDENT 4:33:16 @4:43 27 141 GALKIN, Oleg - UKR UKRAINE NATIONAL TEAM 4:33:16 @4:43 28 123 EVANSINE, Jeff - USA U.S. NATIONAL TEAM 4:33:16 @4:43 29 14 JULICH, Bobby - USA MOTOROLA 4:33:16 @4:43 30 104 ENGLEMAN, Michael - USA SHAKLEE 4:33:16 @4:43 31 11 ARMSTRONG, Lance - USA MOTOROLA 4:33:16 @4:43 32 110 EYK, Patrick - NET SHAKLEE 4:33:16 @4:43 33 23 FORTNER, Scott - USA SATURN 4:35:40 @7:07 34 69 SMITH, Brian - GBR PLYMOUTH 4:35:40 @7:07 35 91 ACCIAVATTI, Rob - USA SCOTT BIKYLE FLYERS 4:35:49 @7:16 36 36 JEMISON, Marty - USA MONTGOMERY-BELL 4:36:03 @7:30 37 142 CHUBAR, Anatoli - UKR UKRAINE NATIONAL TEAM 4:36:35 @8:02 38 128 YENKEY, Chris - USA U.S. NATIONAL TEAM 4:36:54 @8:21 39 37 MCCOOK, Dave - USA MONTGOMERY-BELL 4:36:54 @8:21 40 48 WIATR, Krystof - POL GUILTLESS GOURMET 4:36:54 @8:21 41 39 SCHOMMER, Craig - USA MONTGOMERY-BELL 4:36:54 @8:21 42 131 VAINSTEINS, Romans - LAT LATVIAN NATIONAL TEAM 4:36:54 @8:21 43 114 HIRS, Daniel - SUI UNIVAG CONDOR BLACKY 4:36:54 @8:21 44 7 MIERZEJEWSKI, Andrzej - POL CHEVROLET-L.A. SHERIFF 4:36:54 @8:21 45 71 ALLEN, Hunter - USA NAVIGATORS 4:36:54 @8:21 46 127 ESPINOZA, Jeorge - USA U.S. NATIONAL TEAM 4:36:54 @8:21 47 157 KRZYZOSTANIAK, Robert - POL INDEPENDENT 4:37:35 @9:02 48 55 MCCORMACK, Paul - IRL SAAB 4:37:35 @9:02 49 9 PIERCE, Jeff - USA CHEVROLET-L.A. SHERIFF 4:37:35 @9:02 50 42 MCCORMACK, Alan - IRL GUILTLESS GOURMET 4:37:35 @9:02 51 158 LANTZ, Michael - USA INDEPENDENT 4:38:56 @10:23 52 85 CROWE, David - USA ATHENS-BANDAG 4:40:16 @11:43 53 106 KIRIK, Vladimir - USA SHAKLEE 4:40:16 @11:43 54 68 PRICE, Scott - USA PLYMOUTH 4:40:16 @11:43 55 112 HAUSER, Reto - SUI UNIVAG CONDOR BLACKY 4:40:16 @11:43 56 133 LUSES, Kaspars - LAT LATVIAN NATIONAL TEAM 4:40:16 @11:43 57 126 MOSELEY, Clay - USA U.S. NATIONAL TEAM 4:40:16 @11:43 58 46 STARR, Oliver - USA GUILTLESS GOURMET 4:40:16 @11:43 59 96 RUTTER, Jeff - USA SCOTT BIKYLE FLYERS 4:40:16 @11:43 60 76 NORTON, Rick - USA NAVIGATORS 4:40:16 @11:43 61 74 DYKES, Brian - USA NAVIGATORS 4:40:16 @11:43 62 176 STERNBERG, Joe - USA INDEPENDENT 4:40:16 @11:43 64 108 STUBENRAUCH, Peter - USA SHAKLEE 4:40:16 @11:43 65 143 VEREVKO, Vitali - UKR UKRAINE NATIONAL TEAM 4:40:16 @11:43 66 164 SEMENCHINE, Nikolai - RUS INDEPENDENT 4:40:16 @11:43 67 136 KALVERS, Maris - LAT LATVIAN NATIONAL TEAM 4:40:16 @11:43 68 47 WASHKEVICH, Chris - USA GUILTLESS GOURMET 4:40:16 @11:43 69 160 PATTENGILL, Derby - USA INDEPENDENT 4:40:16 @11:43 70 32 CUBRIC, Radisa - USA MONTGOMERY-BELL 4:40:16 @11:43 71 83 PIC, Chris - USA ATHENS-BANDAG 4:40:16 @11:43 72 172 JOHNSON, Andrew - USA INDEPENDENT 4:40:16 @11:43 73 130 PETERS, John - USA U.S. NATIONAL TEAM 4:40:16 @11:43 74 146 KEDRUK, Alexandr - UKR UKRAINE NATIONAL TEAM 4:40:16 @11:43 75 73 CABLE, Phil - USA NAVIGATORS 4:40:16 @11:43 76 65 MILLER, Drew - USA PLYMOUTH 4:40:16 @11:43 77 45 SPEAKS, Steve - USA GUILTLESS GOURMET 4:40:16 @11:43 78 78 CARTER, Michael - USA NAVIGATORS 4:40:16 @11:43 79 163 SEDGWICK, Dale - USA INDEPENDENT 4:40:16 @11:43 - 2 ELLIOTT, Malcolm - GBR CHEVROLET-L.A. SHERIFF DNF - 3 COPELAND, Jim - USA CHEVROLET-L.A. SHERIFF DNF - 4 CRAVEN, Thomas - USA CHEVROLET-L.A. SHERIFF DNF - 5 HEMPSALL, Simeon - GBR CHEVROLET-L.A. SHERIFF DNF - 6 KLASNA, Trent - USA CHEVROLET-L.A. SHERIFF DNS - 8 MONINGER, Scott - USA CHEVROLET-L.A. SHERIFF DNF - 16 SWART, Steve - USA MOTOROLA DNF - 24 KIEFEL, Ron - USA SATURN DNF - 26 MCCORMACK, Frank - USA SATURN DNF - 27 MCKINLEY, Scott - USA SATURN DNF - 28 SWIFT, Tim - USA SATURN DNF - 29 VENTURA, Robbie - USA SATURN DNF - 30 WALTON, Brian - CAN SATURN DNS - 33 GERLACH, Chad - USA MONTGOMERY-BELL DNF - 52 LONERGAN, Declan - IRL SAAB DNF - 53 MANN, Dave - GBR SAAB DNF - 61 ANTHES, David - USA PLYMOUTH DNF - 63 EBEYER, Tom - USA PLYMOUTH DNF - 67 IDZOREK, Thomas - USA PLYMOUTH DNF - 77 SEAMAN, John - USA NAVIGATORS DNF - 79 BEAMAN, Edward - USA NAVIGATORS DNF - 81 SEVENER, Steve - USA ATHENS-BANDAG DNF - 82 KING, Paul - USA ATHENS-BANDAG DNF - 84 COX, Tim - USA ATHENS-BANDAG DNF - 86 OYSTER, Bill - USA ATHENS-BANDAG DNF - 87 LEMAIRE, Eric - USA ATHENS-BANDAG DNF - 92 BINGHAM, Skylere - USA SCOTT BIKYLE FLYERS DNF - 93 COPE, Simon - GBR SCOTT BIKYLE FLYERS DNF - 95 OELKERS, Ryan - USA SCOTT BIKYLE FLYERS DNF - 102 BOUCHARD-HALL, Derek - USA SHAKLEE DNF - 111 CHASSOT, Richard - SUI UNIVAG CONDOR BLACKY DNF - 113 DELPHIS, Jean-Pierre - FRA UNIVAG CONDOR BLACKY DNF - 117 NIEDERBERGER, Herbert - SUI UNIVAG CONDOR BLACKY DNF - 124 MERCER, Scott - USA U.S. NATIONAL TEAM DNF - 134 RIZI, Tadeus - LAT LATVIAN NATIONAL TEAM DNF - 135 BELOHVOSTIKS, Raivis - LAT LATVIAN NATIONAL TEAM DNF - 137 BALODIS, Tai - LAT LATVIAN NATIONAL TEAM DNF - 144 CHUKHLANTSEV, Igor - UKR UKRAINE NATIONAL TEAM DNF - 145 MULIAR, Iuri - UKR UKRAINE NATIONAL TEAM DNF - 151 BOWEN, Bobby - USA INDEPENDENT DNF - 152 BUNCH, Charles - USA INDEPENDENT DNF - 153 FRYER, Jim - USA INDEPENDENT DNF - 154 GATEWOOD, Thomas - USA INDEPENDENT DNS - 155 JACKSON, Bob - USA INDEPENDENT DNF - 159 MURRAY, Michael - USA INDEPENDENT DNS - 162 SANBORN, David - USA INDEPENDENT DNF - 165 SPANGENBURG, Skip - USA INDEPENDENT DNS - 166 THORNTON, Robert - USA INDEPENDENT DNF - 167 TUCKER, Sean - USA INDEPENDENT DNF - 168 TALLEY, John - USA INDEPENDENT DNF - 169 WIKE, John - USA INDEPENDENT DNF - 171 VALLIERE, Jeff - USA INDEPENDENT - DNF - 173 MELNIK, Michael - USA INDEPENDENT - DNF - 174 MORTIMER, Anthony - NZL INDEPENDENT - DNF - 175 SLAWOMIR, Pietraszek - USA INDEPENDENT - DNF - 177 HOLTZ, Alexander - USA INDEPENDENT - DNF - 178 BARRETT, Ryan - USA INDEPENDENT - DNF - 179 WRIGHT, Steve - USA INDEPENDENT - DNF - 180 GREEN, William - USA INDEPENDENT - DNF - 191 ABRAHAMS, Paul - USA NUTRA-FIG DNF - 192 HORNER, Chris - USA NUTRA-FIG DNF - 193 WORDIN, John - USA NUTRA-FIG DNF