Brief Report:
Cofidis rider Francesco Casagrande (Ita) showed great strength at the end
to win the Clasica San Sebastian. He was instrumental on the final climb
in forming the winning break and then powered a group of three riders,
with Axel Merckx (Polti) and fellow Italian Leonardo Piepoli (Saeco)
over the last 32 kms into San Sebastian. He easily won the sprint
contested between the three. Both Casagrande and Merckx achieved their
best career results in this race today.
The early action came from Credit Agricole's Cedric Vasseur
who built up an 11 minutes lead over the peloton. This was the
first World Cup event for the old GAN team as Le Credit Agricole.
The Dutch TV commentator said: "Nu blauw is groene" referring to
the beautiful deep green colours of the new team.
Vasseur was hunted down at the 160 kms mark after a group of
6 caught him. Soon after the main bunch came together and it
was looking like the final climb of Alto de Jaizkibel (an
8 kms climb at 5 per cent) would be the decisive section
of the race. The only issue was that the descent is fast but
still leaves 32 kms from the end. A breakaway would still have
to work hard to stay away if the peloton got organised.
Prior to the ascent there were futile attacks by Le Credit
Agricole's Stephane Petilleau then Fabio Roscioli and finally
Laurent Desbiens. The climb of the last hill began with Cofidis
on the front (Meier) driving a group with all the contenders:
Olano, Tafi, Armstrong, Casagrande, Bolts, Rebellin to name a few.
With about 75 per cent of the climb done, Casagrande went hard
to the left of the road and only a handful of riders could get his
wheel, including his final breakaway companions and Julich and
some others. Only the three remained as Casagrande put on the
pressure. They had about a minute on the others over the top
although the chasing group was splintered by now. Jalabert, who
had looked good on the early stages of the climb, went over
around 1.28 down with a small group including Patrick Jonker
from Australia.
The descent was fast and Casagrande worked well with the other two.
As they made their way into San Sebastian, a group of 4 riders
including Nardello, Tafi, Sciandri, and Casero were presenting the
only threat but they were about 1.00 down. Casagrande showed clear
signs of frustration as Merckx and Piepoli decided to sit his wheel,
forcing him to do all the work. The tactic failed and in the sprint
Casagrande was clearly too strong. There was daylight between him
and Merckx with Piepoli 2 second adrift.
Tafi was very strong in the next sprint to take 4th but was a minute
down.
Despite earlier indications the top two in the Tour, Marco Pantani
and Jan Ullrich did not start.
San Sebastian-San Sebastian, 232 kms:
1. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Cofidis 5.43.35
2. Axel Merckx (Bel) Polti
3. Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale 0.02
4. Andrea Tafi (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 1.15
5. Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi
6. Max Sciandri (GB) La Francaise des Jeux 1.20
7. Angel Luis Casero Moreno (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros
8. Leon Van Bon (Ned) Rabobank 1.43
9. Udo Bolts (Germany) Deutsche Telekom
10. Giuseppe Di Grande (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi
11. Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale
12. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Polti
13. Bobby Julich (USA) Cofidis
14. Marty Jemison (USA) US Postal
15. Alessandro Baronti (Ita) Cantina Tollo
16. Abraham Olano (Spa) Banesto
17. Roland Meier (Swi) Cofidis
18. Stefano Cattai (Ita) Ballan
19. Peter Farazijn (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
20. Prudencio Indurain (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros
21. Franck Vandenbroucke (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi
22. Alberto Elli (Ita) Casino
23. Fernando Escartin Coti (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca
24. Santiago Blanco (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros
25. Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Banesto 1.43
26. Leonardo Guidi (Ita) Polti 4.32
27. Paolo Valoti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 4.35
28. Christophe Mengin (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 4.59
29. Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale
30. Stefano Colage (Ita) Cantina Tollo
31. Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Cantina Tollo
32. François Simon (Fra) Credit Agricole
33. Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Cantina Tollo
34. Christophe Rinero (Fra) Cofidis
35. Maurizio Fondriest (Ita) Cofidis
36. Stephane Barthe (Fra) Casino
37. Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Vitalicio Seguros
38. Franco Ballerini (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi
39. Francisco Cabello Luque (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca
40. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank
41. Victor Moratilla Solera (Spa) Estepona
42. Jose Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Banesto
43. Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Riso Scotti
44. Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi
45. Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
46. Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
47. Alvaro Gonzalez Galdeano (Spa) Euskatel-Euskadi
48. Ramon Gonzalez Arrieta (Spa) Euskatel-Euskadi
49. Simone Borgheresi (Ita) Mercatone Uno
50. Pascal Herve (Fra) Festina
51. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) Mercatone Uno
52. Oscar Pozzi (Ita) Asics
53. Jose Javier Gomez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca
54. Melchior Mauri Prat (Spa) ONCE
55. Cesar Solaun (Spa) Banesto
56. Francisco Javier Mauleon Unsain (Spa) ONCE
57. Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Asics
58. Luis Perez Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE
59. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONCE
60. Michele Bartoli (Ita) Asics-CGA 5.07
61. Luca Scinto (Ita) Asics
62. Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
63. Filippo Baldo (Ita) Ballan 8.48
64. Tyler Hamilton (USA) US Postal
65. David Tani (Ita) Asics
66. Dmitri Konyshev (Rus) Mercatone Uno 10.54
67. Inigo Chaurreau Bernadez (Spa) Euskatel-Euskadi 11.17
68. Christian Henn (Ger) Telekom
69. Leonardo Guidi (Ita) Polti
70. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) Polti
71. David Garcia Markina (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros
72. Oscar Freire (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros
73. Michael Blaudzun (Den) Telekom
74. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Casino
75. Matias Cagigas (Spa) Estepona
76. Bruno Cenghialta (Ita) Riso Scotti
77. Nicola Loda (Ita) Ballan
78. Claus Michael Moeller (Den) TVM
79. Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskatel-Euskadi
80. Rolf Aldag (Ger) Telekom
81. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Spa) Euskatel-Euskadi
82. Fabio Baldato (Ita) Riso Scotti
83. Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank
84. Alberto Lopez De Munain (Spa) Euskatel-Euskadi
85. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino
86. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) Casino
87. Laurent Madouas (Fra) Lotto-Mobistar
88. Angel Edo (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca
89. Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca
90. Amilcare Tronca (Ita) Ballan
91. Jorg Jaksche (Ger) Telekom
92. Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
93. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Festina
94. Wladimir Belli (Ita) Festina
95. Kevin Livingston (USA) Cofidis
96. Nico Mattan (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi
97. Francesco Frattini (Ita)
98. Ivan Gotti (Ita) Saeco
99. Geert Van Bondt (Bel) TVM
100. Alexander Gontsjenkov (Ukr)
101. Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal
102. Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
103. Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Credit Agricole
104. Philipp Buschor (Swi) Saeco-Cannondale
105. Roberto Petito (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale
106. Bo Hamburger (Den) Casino
107. Andrei Teteriuk (Kaz)) Lotto-Mobistar
108. Stefano Zanini (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi
109. Dario Frigo (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale
110. Michele Coppolillo (Ita) Asics-CGA
111. Geert Verheyen (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar
112. Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Rabobank 15.58
113. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole
114. Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Saeco-Cannondale
115. Marco Velo (Ita) Mercatone Uno
116. Maarten den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank
117. Sergio Barbero (Ita) Mercatone Uno
118. Germano Pierdomenico (Ita) Cantina Tollo
119. Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Mercatone Uno
120. David Etxebarria (Spa) ONCE
121. Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux
122. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM
123. Inaki Aiarzaguena Urkidi (Spa) Euskatel-Euskadi
124. Roberto Laiseka Jaio (Spa) Euskatel-Euskadi
125. Marcelino Garcia Alonso (Spa) ONCE 16.54
126. Juan Carlos Vicario (Spa) Estepona
127. Arnaud Pretot (Fra) Credit Agricole
128. Cedric Vasseur (Fra) Credit Agricole
129. Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank
130. Jose Francisco Jarque Canelles (Spa) Estepona
131. Stephane Petilleau (Fra) Credit Agricole
132. Francisco Cerezo (Spa) Estepona 16.54
Finished: 132
Complete Starting List
Polti Mapei
1 Rebellin 11 Mattan
2 F. Guidi 12 Vandenbroucke
3 Merckx 13 Tafi
4 Crepaldi 14 Ballerini
5 L. Guidi 15 Zanini
6 Jaksche 16 Di Grande
7 Sacchi 17 Nardello
8 Zinetti 18 Figueras
ONCE Telekom
21 Jalabert 31 Bolts
22 Díza 32 Bolts
23 Etxebarria 33 Frattini
24 M. García 34 Aldag
25 Mauri 35 Serrano
26 Pérez 36 Totschnig
27 Sierra 37 Blaudzun
28 Mauleón 38 Henn
Festina Saeco
41 Zulle 51 Gotti
42 Belli 52 Petito
43 Brochard 53 Savoldelli
44 Dufaux 54 Frigo
45 Hervé 55 Mazzoleni
46 Bortolami 56 Piepoli
47 Rous 57 Mori
48 Hall 58 Burschor
Rabobank TVM
61 Boogerd 71 Van Petegem
62 Van Bon 72 Asmaker
63 Lotz 73 Van Dyck
64 Moerenhout 74 Lafis
65 Dekker 75 Moller
66 Vierhouten 76 Voskamp
67 Den Bakker 77 Bo Larsen
68 Jonker 78 Van Bondt
La Francaise des Jeux Banesto
81 Berzin 91 Olano
82 Heulot 92 Garmendia
83 Sciandri 93 Odriozola
84 Guesdon 94 Peña
85 Magnien 95 Beltrán
86 Mengin 96 Osa
87 Bouyer 97 Solaun
88 Jan 98 García
Le Credit Agricole Mercatone Uno
101 O'Grady 111 Pellicioli
102 Seigneur 112 Konyshev
103 Simon 113 Podenzana
104 Vasseur 114 Velo
105 Voigt 115 Forconi
106 Backstedt 116 Borgheresi
107 Petilleau 117 Garzelli
108 Pretot 118 Barbero
Casino Kelme-Costa Blanca
121 Gougot 131 Escartín
122 Elli 132 Heras
123 Hamburger 133 Rubiera
124 Massi 134 Cabello
125 Agnolutto 135 Edo
126 Barthe 136 Gómez
127 Chanteur 137 Pascual
128 Vinokourov 138 González
Riso Scotti Lotto-Mobistar
141 Baldato 151 Tchmil
142 Brognara 152 Vahn Hyfte
143 Palumbo 153 Verbrugghe
144 Spezialetti 154 Verheyen
145 Di Biase 155 Madouas
146 Brignoli 156 Farazijn
147 Pistore 157 Teteriouk
148 Cenghialta 158 Van De Wouwer
US Postal Cofidis
161 Armstrong 171 Julich
162 Jemison 172 Casagrande
163 Vaughters 173 Fondriest
164 Vandevelde 174 Livingston
165 Llaneras 175 Meier
166 Hamilton 176 Rinero
167 Serrano 177 Desbiens
168 Teutenberg 178 Plaza
Asics-CGA Vitalicio Seguros
181 Bartoli 191 Blanco
182 Roscioli 192 Buenahora
183 Bettini 193 Casero
184 Coppolillo 194 García
185 Pozzi 195 Indurain
186 Tani 196 Ferrigato
187 Simeoni 197 Freire
188 Scinto 198 Benítez
Cantina Tollo Ballan
201 Valoti 211 Buenahora
202 Baronti 212 Gontchenkov
203 Bellini 213 ?
204 Colage 214 Baldo
205 Gentili 215 Cattai
206 Mazzanti 216 Loda
207 Pierdomenico 217 Tosatto
208 Leproux 218 Tronca
Euskaltel Estepona
221 Arrieta 231 Vicario
222 A. Galdeano 232 Jarque
223 I. Galdeano 233 Cerezo
224 Chaurreau 234 Bermejo
225 Zubeldia 235 Moratilla
226 Aiarzaguena 236 Miranda
227 Laiseka 237 Cagigas
228 López de Munain 238 Villanueva
Route
San Sebastian 0
Alto de Orio 21
Zarautz 24
Meagas 30
Azpeitia 50
Azkarate 58
Bergara 80
Udana 102
Legazpia 107
Beasain 124
Legorreta 134
Alegia 140
Tolosa 145
Anoeta 149
Astigarraga 171
Oiartzun 180
Lezo 192
Jaizkibel 200
Hondarribia 212
Irun 214
Renteria 224
San Sebastian 232
Past Winners
Year First Second Third
1981 Marino Lejarreta (Spa) Jones Ruperez
1982 Marino Lejarreta (Spa) Rodriguez Delgado
1983 Claude Criquielion (Bel) Coll Dietzen
1984 Niki Rüttimann (Swi) Dietzen Prieto
1985 Adrie Van der Poel (Ned) Gaston Fernandez
1986 Inaki Caston (Spa) Lejarreta Fernandez
1987 Marino Lejarreta (Spa) Arroyo Echave
1988 Gert-Jan Theunisse (Ned) Aja Rooks
1989 Gerhard Zadrobilek (Aut) Antequera Rominger
1990 Miguel Indurain (Spa) Jalabert Kelly
1991 Gianni Bugno (Ita) Delgado Fondriest
1992 Raul Alcala (Mex) Chiappucci Bowmans
1993 Claudio Chiappucci (Ita) Farensin Voupi
1994 Armand De las Cuevas (Fra) Amstrong Della Santa
1995 Lance Armstrong (USA) Della Santa Museeuw
1996 Udo Bölts (Ger) Cattai Podenzana
1997 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gontchenkov Kolage
1998 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Merckx Piepoli
1981 Lejarreta 230 kms in 6.09.24 at 37.357
1982 Lejarreta
1983 Criquelion
1984 Ruttiman 244 kms in 6.11.10
1985 Der Poel 244 kms in 5.52.32
1986 Gaston 244 kms in 5.53.53
1987 Lejarreta 244 kms in 6.19.19
1988 Theunisse 244 kms in 6.09.36 at 39.6
1989 Zadrobilek 244 kms in 6.24.10 at 38.1
1990 Indurain 248 kms in 6.19.59 at 39.16
1991 Bugno 238 kms in 6.04.28 at 39.2
1992 Alcala 234 kms in 5.58.17 at 39.2
1993 Chiappucci 238 kms in 5.47.51 at 41.1
1994 Las Cuevas 238 kms in 5.24.44 at 45.3
1995 Amstrong 234 kms in 5.31.17 at 44.0
1996 Bolts 227 kms in 5.45.55
1997 Rebellin 234 kms in 5.47.22 at 39.73
1998 Casagrande 232 kms in 5.43.35
Past winners from Mario Stiehl, Berlin
|
