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86th Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) - CDM
Belgium, April 7, 2002
Results World Cup standings Live report
Tuscans rule in Flanders
Tafi Powers To Win While Cipollini Keeps World Cup
By Tim Maloney, European Editor
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It's sometimes said that life begins at 30, and for Andrea Tafi (Mapei-Quick Step), the gregarious Tuscan from Fucecchio, his win today in the 86th edition of the Tour of Flanders was his 30th career victory and his fifth World Cup win ever. Today, Tafi was reborn again as a top rider as he powered in alone up the Halsesteenweg in Meerbeke for a huge win. After some wrote him off after a lost 2001 season beset by injury and only one win, Tafi is back big-time.
Andrea Tafi focused on a big spring classics push this season year, starting the year early with races in Australia and Malaysia. "I never thought I could win today," the emotional Tafi said in a post race interview. "Now I'm really happy to win Flanders and I have to thank our team who rode great and especially Daniele Nardello. Today I was up against a really good Museeuw and Van Petegem - now I'll try to keep it going for Paris-Roubaix."
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Tafi must now be considered a real favourite for Roubaix; besides his 1999 win, he has also been 2nd ('98) and 3rd ('96) before. But pre-race favourites Peter Van Petegem (Lotto-Addeco) and Johan Museeuw (Domo-Farm Frites), third and second respectively today were both looking PO'ed on the podium in Meerbeke today about Tafi's win; both undoubtedly thinking of the lack of key team-mates like Tchmil and Vainsteins who might have helped them quash Tafi. Undoubtedly both Museeuw and Van Petegem will have something to say about Tafi's quest for a repeat win next weekend in Paris-Roubaix.
Nonetheless, one month from his 36th birthday, Tafi is still riding stronger than ever, as is his neighbour in Tuscany, Mario Cipollini. At 35, Cipo is another old Tuscan bike racer who has gained new life; after his tremendous Milano-San Remo win a few weeks ago, Cipo had a great ride today for his best-ever ToF finish, powering in ahead of Erik Zabel to win the group sprint for 9th place and maintain his lead in the 2002 World Cup.
It was a bright, windy spring day for today's ToF, but the easterly wind didn't made things too difficult for the Tour of Flanders peloton, and the sun and spring-like conditions brought out huge crowds all along the parcours, looking for a good race after last year's anticlimactic edition. As the race rolled through Gistel (Johan Museeuw's home town) after an hour or so of racing, a four man break got away and eventually got a big lead, with 32 year old Erwin Thijs (Palmans-Collstrop) lasting the longest up front, becoming Flanders' working-class hero of the day.
Thijs, a decidedly Larry Lunchbox type of rider from Tongeren is known as good climber [he finished second in last Sunday's Brabantse Pijl] and buoyed by the support of the enthusiastic beer and frites fuelled crowds, Thijs eventually stayed away for 209km. But his dream ended outside of Geraardsbergen as he was caught and soon dropped by the front group.
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This year's ToF really gelled with 55 km to race, after Mapei's Paolo Bettini made hard tempo up the Koppenberg, the 7th of 16 climbs in the race. Once over the top, eventual winner Andrea Tafi made one of his innumerable attacks du jour and provoked a selection with Enrico Cassani (Domo-FF) covering for team leader Johan Museeuw and USPS rider George Hincapie, who had great legs all day.
By the next climb, the Taaienberg, the eventual winning break had formed, with three-time ToF winner Museeuw, '99 winner Peter Van Petegem (Lotto-Addeco), Gabriele Missaglia (Lampre-Daikin), crafty 37 year old Dane and '97 ToF winner Rolf Sørensen (Colnago-Landbouwkrediet) and Italian champion Daniele Nardello (Mapei-Quick Step) all up the road for good with 50km to race.
Tafi was like the battery bunny; the Mapei man attacked again and again while either Van Petegem, Museeuw or Hincapie would pull him back. Behind the lead 'kopgroep', Rabobank's Belgian battler Marc Wauters, Coast's finger lickin' good Dane Frank Høj and Nico Mattan (Cofidis) tried to close down the 20" gap, but Mapei's Zanini and Bodrogi, Domo-FF's US champ Fred Rodriguez and Lance Armstrong were there to close down any chase.
With 5 climbs and 35 km to race, Erwin Thijs was 2'30" ahead of the first chase group, with the second group containing Zanini, Rodriguez & Armstrong just 20" back. Tafi continued to power away at the front, and with three climbs to go on the Tenbosse and Thijs struggling just 1' up the road, Tafi upped the ante with 25km to race with another massive attack. Van Petegem and Cassani reeled him in, but the effort clearly took its toll on the Domo-FF man.
Thijs was caught on the run-in to Geraardsbergen with 18km to go after a noble 200km+ break and as he drifted to the back of the group, Tafi saluted Thijs with a little tap.
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At the base of the penultimate climb, the tough cobbled ascent of the Muur of Geraardsbergen, Cassani rode hard tempo to set up the inevitable attack from his team-mate Johan Museeuw. Passing through screaming crowds in the central square of town, Museeuw made his move as soon as the cobbles began.
Johan shattered the group, provoking a counter move by Tafi and then Van Petegem, who led over the top from smooth riding Hincapie and the slightly gapped Museeuw, with Nardello and Tafi bringing up the rear. Once over the top of the terrible Muur, the front group came back together and with 15km to the finish, and then there were five...
Cassani had sacrificed himself for Museeuw and he and the surprising Missaglia were quickly adrift, while up front, Nardello and Tafi gave Mapei the numbers advantage.
Only one climb to go, the long drag up the Bosberg where Museeuw tried an attack, but helpful Nardello countered the frustrated Domo man. Museeuw had good legs, but not great legs and just couldn't make a difference when it counted today. Then it was the fast 12km run-in to Meerbeke and time for looky-loo.
Museeuw, Van Petegem and Hincapie knew that if they made a move, helpful Nardello would pull them back and set up a classic counter move for Tafi. Van Petegem almost got away for good with 8km when he broached a wave of camera motos up ahead, then grabbed a huge gap off their draft as they accelerated, but once again, Museeuw and Hincapie pulled back the seemingly reluctant Van Petegem.
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Things were looking good for a Mapei win now as Meerbeke loomed. Tafi saw two of his supporters on the right side of the road with a "Tafi" banner and took heart; he was the strongest in the break, so he dropped back to the tail of the group and put on his furbo-turbo, waiting for just the right moment to launch his last salvos. With 5km to race, Van Petegem was nervous; he kept looking back at Tafi but in a moment's inattention, Tafi launched yet again at the 4km mark, Van Petegem let him go and Museeuw and Hincapie just couldn't close the gap alone.
The Tuscan got 50 meters gap - just 5 seconds lead - and there he stayed...but looky-loo-itis struck again. No one wanted to sacrifice their chances pulling back Tafi, who was just gaining momentum as the finish line got closer.
As the three chasers and Nardello made the sweeping right onto Halsesteenweg with 1.5km to race, they all realized that Andrea Tafi, pounding his 53x11, had made his finally attack of the day stick, and would thus win the 86th Tour of Flanders. The large, and very partisan Belgian crowd realised this too, and watched in stunned silence as Tafi rode the last 500 metres to victory.
Museeuw beat Van Petegem for second spot, while an excellent George Hincapie finished 4th. George was in the race all day, and his support from team-mate Armstrong and the entire USPS squad was solid, but with major classics players like Tafi & Co. just ahead of him, Hincapie can be satisfied with a good day at the office and hope to move up a notch next week at Paris-Roubaix.
Photo's by AFP
- Mario Cipollini (Acqua e Sapone) - talks to a colleague before the start
- Lance Armstrong - and his teammate Antonio Cruz (USPS) on one of the many sections of cobbles
- Johan Museeuw (Domo) - attacking on the Muur van Geraardsbergen
- Andrea Tafi - rides on the Muur van Geraardsbergen
- Andrea Tafi (Mapei) - drives the breakaway with Van Petegem, Hincapie and Nardello following
- Peter Van Petegem (Lotto) - rides in the breakaway, with Tafi on his wheel
- Andrea Tafi - punches the air in victory
- Andrea Tafi - raises his arm in victory
- Andrea Tafi - yells in triumph as he takes his first Ronde Van Vlaanderen victory
- Andrea Tafi - kisses his RVV trophy
- Mario Cipollini - was impressive for 9th spot
- The final podium - Johan Museeuw (2nd), Andrea Tafi (1st) and Peter Van Petegem (3rd)
Results
1 Andrea Tafi (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 6.53.00 (38.354 km/h) 2 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 0.21 3 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 4 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service 5 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 6 Rolf Sörensen (Den) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 1.12 7 Enrico Cassani (Ita) Domo-Farm Frites 8 Gabriele Missaglia (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 1.14 9 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 2.37 10 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom 11 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis 12 Robert Hunter (RSA) Mapei-Quick Step 13 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team Coast 14 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Tacconi Sport-Emmegi 15 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 16 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 17 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Domo-Farm Frites 18 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Lampre-Daikin 19 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 20 Matthew Wilson (Aus) La Francaise des Jeux 21 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) CSC-Tiscali 22 Servais Knaven (Ned) Domo-Farm Frites 23 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis 24 Tom Boonen (Bel) US Postal Service 25 Markus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 26 Matthias Buxhofer (Aut) Phonak Hearing Systems 27 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) CSC-Tiscali 28 Marco Serpellini (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 29 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 30 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak Hearing Systems 31 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Bonjour 32 Frank Hoj (Den) Team Coast 33 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 34 Raphael Schweda (Ger) Team Coast 35 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) CSC-Tiscali 36 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 37 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Emmegi 38 Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Lampre-Daikin 39 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 40 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis 41 Dmitri Konyshev (Rus) Fassa Bortolo 42 Denis Zanette (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 43 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) iBanesto.com 44 Christophe Mengin (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 45 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Mapei-Quick Step 46 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 47 Constantino Gutierrez Zaballa (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 48 Nicolay Bo Larsen (Den) Gerolsteiner 49 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 50 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 51 Maximilian Sciandri (GBr) Lampre-Daikin 52 Rolf Huser (Swi) Team Coast 53 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 54 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 55 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 56 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 57 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 58 Mario Scirea (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 59 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service 2.59 60 Massimo Giunti (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 61 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Team Telekom 2.59 62 Andreas Klier (Ger) Team Telekom 63 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 4.48 64 Marco Milesi (Ita) Domo-Farm Frites 5.01 65 Stephan Schreck (Ger) Team Telekom 5.22 66 Rolf Aldag (Ger) Team Telekom 67 Stefan Adamsson (Swe) Team Coast 9.14 68 Matthé Pronk (Ned) Rabobank 10.13 69 Hendrik Van Dyck (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 15.25 70 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 71 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 72 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 73 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole 74 Jacky Durand (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 75 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 76 Bekim Christensen (Den) Team Coast 12.25 77 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) iBanesto.com 78 Steffen Weigold (Ger) Gerolsteiner 79 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 80 Fabian De Waele (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 81 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 82 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 83 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Bonjour 84 Guido Trenti (USA) Acqua e Sapone 85 Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 86 Christopher Jenner (Fra) Credit Agricole 87 Christian Vandevelde (USA) US Postal Service 88 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal Service 89 Matthew White (Aus) US Postal Service 90 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 91 Franck Perque (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 92 François Simon (Fra) Bonjour 93 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bonjour 94 Glenn D'Hollander (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 95 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Team Telekom 96 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Fassa Bortolo 97 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Lotto-Adecco 16.42 98 Diego Ferrari (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Emmegi 99 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Lotto-Adecco 100 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Domo-Farm Frites 101 Julian Usano Martinez (Spa) Kelme 102 David Derepas (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 103 Tom Steels (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 104 Claude Lamour (Fra) Cofidis 105 Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 106 Torsten Nitsche (Ger) Saeco-Longoni Sport 107 Jimmi Madsen (Den) CSC-Tiscali Starters: 192 Classified: 107
World Cup standings after round 2
1 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 120 pts 2 Andrea Tafi (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 100 3 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Domo-Farm Frites 79 4 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 70 5 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 61 6 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis 55 7 Markus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 51 8 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service 50 9 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 36 10 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Mapei-Quick Step 36 11 Rolf Sörensen (Den) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 32 12 Tomas Konecny (Cze) Domo-Farm Frites 32 13 Enrico Cassani (Ita) Domo-Farm Frites 30 14 Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 28 15 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Tacconi Sport-Emmegi 25 16 Gabriele Missaglia (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 24 17 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre-Daikin 24 18 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Emmegi 20 19 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom 16 20 Mario Manzoni (Ita) Index-Alexia 16 21 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Mobilvetta Design-Formagg 15 22 Robert Hunter (RSA) Mapei-Quick Step 14 23 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Index-Alexia 14 24 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team Coast 13 25 Mauro Zinetti (Ita) Index-Alexia 12 Teams classification 1 Domo 21 pts 2 Mapei 12 3 Lampre 12 4 Lotto 11 5 Alexia 9 6 Tacconi 8 7 Cofidis 7 8 Rabobank 7 9 Acqua e Sapone 7 10 Team Coast 5
