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2002 Road World Championships - CM
Hasselt-Zolder, Belgium, October 8-13, 2002
World Championships news for October 14, 2002
Edited by Jeff Jones and Chris Henry
Day 6 wrap up
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As far as bunch sprints go, the one to decide the 2002 World Road Championships was one of the best. Coming at the end of an incredibly fast and aggressive race, the sprint was prepared perfectly by the Italian team, who had controlled the race for nearly the entire second half. Di Luca, Sacchi, Scirea, Bettini, Petacchi, Bortolami and Lombardi were all involved on the final lap, with the King himself Mario Cipollini finishing it off with 200m to go. Cipo powered over the final uphill part of the finishing straight off Lombardi's wheel, keeping Robbie McEwen and Erik Zabel at bay all the way to the finish.
In doing so, Cipollini became Italy's first pro World Champ since Gianni Bugno in Benidorm, 1992. The Italians could be justly proud of their success, as they were the strongest team in the race, and more importantly rode like they were. Each member of the team raised their arms as they crossed the line, knowing that they had all done their bit to put Cipollini on the highest step of the podium.
Cipollini is no spring chicken at 35 years, but he will surely carry the rainbow jersey with pride in 2003, and continue his winning ways. He currently has 180 wins as a pro, and this year alone has won Milan-San Remo, Gent-Wevelgem, stages in the Vuelta and Giro, and now the World Road Championship.
Full results & report
Live report
Photos
Comments from the course
Mario Cipollini (Ita, 1st)
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"Today I has some very special feelings during the race. It was such an important race for me that I started with so much tension and concentration. Sure, I felt like that before Milano-San Remo, but to take the start of a World Championship with the mission to win it is another thing. For the entire Italian national team, it was a day of intense emotions. It was almost like I was in a trance today; in the sense that I knew that I had to give my utmost today and never make a mistake."
"[Italian coach] Ballerini did a great job with the team. From our first moments together, there was a united atmosphere in the team. Sure, there might have been moments where some things could have unraveled but this group really got along well. Today was a great moment for the Italian team; we did great work and the riders selected showed that they are real professionals. Everyone on the team did their job in an exceptional manner and I have to thank them all."
"Each lap felt like a lap on a velodrome not a (13km) circuit and the race seemed to go for minutes not hours. The last kilometre was relatively easy. When we came onto the racetrack, I was behind two riders (Petacchi and Lombardi) who were incredibly strong and really knew how to do their job well. They brought me to the right point, just where I asked them to and I went with everything I had. When you have teammates like the ones I had today - well, we can all be satisfied today."
"For a moment, right after the finish, I didn't know if what was happening was a dream or a reality," the newly rainbow clad and gold medalled even more Super Mario explained. "I'm sure I'll need some more time for everything that happened today to sink in."
Alfredo Martini (Former Italian technical director)
"This was a fantastic day for the Italian team - it would be difficult to find a performance to equal their work, especially in a very difficult race like today's. And Cipollini was grandissimo - like an aeroplano."
Robbie McEwen (Aus, 2nd)
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Robbie McEwen became the first Australian to win a medal in the Professional World Road Championships, taking silver behind an unstoppable Mario Cipollini today. He explained the finale as follows.
"In the last kilometre, I came out of the last corner in about 8th place. Petacchi and Lombardi were pulling the sprint for Cipollini and when that's happening, there's one place you've gotta be: on Cipo's wheel. So I knew that and I went about getting on his wheel but that was a difficult job because Erik Zabel was there." (referring to his shoulder shove of Zabel)
"I had seen at the recent Vuelta (Tour of Spain) that Erik couldn't get around Mario so it was pointless to sit on his wheel."
"We didn't quite have a boxing match, but that's the way you have to go about preparing a sprint. It's the world championship sprint and it was nothing. I've been involved in a lot worse than that in the past."
"It's tough and so I ended up spending a lot of time out in the wind (fighting for position with Zabel) instead of on (Cipo's) wheel. That cost me a lot today; I'm not going to say that it cost me the win, but there could have been more."
"When I finally got the position (Giovanni) Lombardi accelerated at the front and then when Cipo went I didn't have the jump to go with him. That meant I had to wind it up and by the time I did it was too late."
"I could see the world championship, it was just there," he said gesturing at the ground just in front of him. "It's a bit frustrating to be so close and yet so far away from it"
"To beat the best sprinters in the world in the world championship there is no room for error and everything has to be perfect. If it had been I know I could have won but today there was no more perfect sprint than Mario's."
McEwen praised the effort of the entire Australian team. "In world championships in the past we have turned up and said 'let's see what happens. But today we went out and made it happen. Things went basically how we wanted them to go and we had a clear plan because an Aussie team can always pull together. We would have liked to have led out the sprint ourselves at the finish but with the Italians using stage winners of major tours (Lombardi & Alessandro Petacchi) as lead out men the pace was just too high for Stuey and Cookie (Stuart O'Grady & Baden Cooke) to get set up."
"If you had asked me at the start of the season if I would like to win the Tour de France green jersey and the silver at the world titles I would definitely have signed up for that," finished McEwen who then headed off to the team hotel to celebrate his success with the Australian team.
Erik Zabel (Ger, 3rd)
"Mario Cipollini won because he simply is the fastest man in the World; I myself have no problem with that. It's a real pity that Robbie McEwen had to make it into a boxing match though," an angry Zabel told the press after the race.
"In the last corner before the finish I was rudely pushed out of Mario's wheel by McEwen. I had two choices: we both came off the bike or I would leave my spot. It is a pity that the UCI rules only allow complaints about facts which happen in the last kilometre. I am not unhappy because I lost but I am sad I wasn't able to defend my chances honestly because of McEwen."
Reacting to Robbie McEwen's statement that he would have been able to beat Cipollini if he would have been in his wheel right away, Zabel's comment was short and to the point. "Poor excuse. We all know no-one was going to beat Cipollini!"
Stuart O'Grady (Aus, 13th)
"The young guys role was to work the front half of the race and they really came through 100 percent. It was then up to the rest of us to get Robbie in behind Cipo."
"I was communicating with Robbie in the final kilometres and rode him up to the front few with two kilometres to go and then it was basically him and Zabel locking horns for Cipo's wheel," added O'Grady who along with Cooke finished in the front group. "For an Australian to get the silver medal in the pro race at the worlds behind Cipollini is phenomenal and you can't possibly be disappointed with that."
Matt White (Aus, 135th)
Matt White (Aus) was 135th today, but the likeable Sydneysider had nothing to be ashamed of as he was the primary workhorse of the Australian squad. "We're happy with the result today," White told Cyclingnews from the steps of the Mapei team bus, on loan to Team Australia for the day. "Our best guys were in the final so that's what counts. My form is good; last week in Paris-Tours I was suffering but today I came up - it's a good day to come up, the World Championships!"
"We had the same goal as the Italians today, to make it a sprint and they were impressive - the best team in the race."
White also told Cyclingnews that he'll be back at US Postal next year. "I've re-signed for next year and I'm really happy with that."
Shayne Bannan (Australian coach)
"It went well today; we planned to look after Robbie as much as possible and it went to plan - all but Cipollini. But to have all three on the podium (Cipo, McEwen and Zabel) is great for cycling. The boys couldn't have done any more and Robbie gave himself every chance in the finish, but Cipollini is a better rider today."
Guido Trenti (USA, 16th)
"Things went well today but in the final, we only had two riders so there was not much we could do. We had worked so hard to stay in the front that when the last lap came, me and Fred were just too tired to work a lead-out."
"I was very happy with this experience - there is a very good atmosphere among the American team. The race itself was disappointing in that the course wasn't hard enough. But I felt good about being in the final breakaway with Cipollini and the rest of the strongest riders....We were outnumbered by the Italians, who were extremely organized."
When asked if he wants to continue riding with the Americans, Trenti enthusiastically answered, "YES! If the Americans are happy with me, I'm very happy with them!"
Also see: Guido Trenti interview
Fred Rodriguez (USA, 23rd)
"The finish was really hectic and it was just me and Guido (Trenti) - I had done too many efforts to try and stay in the first 20 guys today. With Italy having 10 guys and Spain and Belgium and Germany, it's impossible (to stay in front)."
Steve Johnson (USAC Director of Athletics)
"This team did exactly what they came to do, and they did their jobs well. The idea from the get-go was to put together a team of riders to support Freddie, and we assembled a pretty strong team to support him through to the end."
"There were no real surprises here. With five laps to go in the race, most of the dominant riders were established in the front peloton, with the weaker riders out of the race, which was a testament to the high speeds. Dylan, Freddie, Antonio and Guido were all part of that front group."
Antonio got caught up in the big crash near the finish, which was really frustrating for him. The crash happened on the final sweeping turn...with about 50 guys fighting for position, somebody went down in the front group and 35 to 40 guys went down, all spread out across the road. Thirty to 35 guys made it to the front, including Guido and Freddie. In the final sprint, it's every man for himself, and with the average speed in the 35-40 mph range, everyone was going as fast as possible."
On Guido Trenti's performance, Steve Johnson said that "We're very happy with Guido, and we'd absolutely like to work with him again in the future."
David O'Loughlin (Irl, 65th)
David O'Loughlin was caught behind the big crash in the middle of the field with less than 3 km to go. "With all the big teams driving the speed, I tried hard to keep my position and conserve energy," said O'Loughlin "I just knew there was going to be a crash and tried to move up but there was nothing I could do as the whole road was blocked."
"The last few laps were very fast but I wasn't in any danger of going out the back. We were in the biggest gear 53 x 11."
It's nice to be here," he said referring to his bad fortune this season. "Last August I didn't think I would be here."
Bad luck for Freire
Defending World Champion Oscar Freire saw his hopes of another rainbow jersey disappear with just 2 km to go in the race as he had problems with his front wheel on the descent of the Pitshelling. Freire was well placed up until that point, right behind Cipollini, Zabel, and McEwen. Having made it past the crash with 3 km to go, Freire can consider himself very unlucky. Freire finished the race in 156th position, 3'54 behind the winner.
Final medals table after Day 6
Italy finished well on top of the medal table at these World Championships, a testament to their cycling depth. The Italians claimed three gold medals - Mario Cipollini (men's RR), Francesco Chicchi (U23 RR) and Anna Zugno (Jr Women's TT), one silver and one bronze medal. Russia finished in second place with two gold medals - Zoulfia Zabirova (Women's TT) and Mikhail Ignatiev (Junior Men's TT) and a silver. Sweden, France, Netherlands, Colombia and Lithuania all picked up a gold apiece.
Gold Silver Bronze Total Italy 3 1 1 5 Russia 2 1 - 3 Sweden 1 - 1 2 France 1 - - 1 Netherlands 1 - - 1 Colombia 1 - - 1 Lithuania 1 - - 1 Switzerland - 2 2 4 Germany - 2 2 4 Australia - 2 1 3 Spain - 1 2 3 Finland - 1 - 1 Portugal - - 1 1
