Tour of Lombardy - as I see it
Steve Bak
Sunday 10th October 1993 The Tour of Lombardy
Today is the final race (though see footnote) in the World Cup. This morning
the standings are:-
Fondriest 229
Museeuw 137
Sciandri 89
Chiappucci 80
Volpi 75
Ballerini 73
Sorenson 68
Van der Poel 52
Hepner 51
Jaerman 50
Fondriest cannot now be caught and has already won 1st place. 2nd place is,
however, wide open as Museeuw is not riding today.
The 87th Tour of Lombardy has been run since 1905 and today's course remains
the same as the last two years so the riders should know it well.
In the first climb of the race Areostea's Pascal Richard attacked to
spearhead a small break of four or five which have stayed away for more
than 100km with the help of Chiappucci, albeit by only a small gap
(maximum 45") of 20" or so. Bugno and Sorenson have dropped
out.
37km to go
A group of four riders are 32" up on a chasing group, around 20 strong.
The leaders are:
Pascal Richard Ariostea
Giorgio Furlan Ariostea
Claudio Chiappucci Carrera
Ivan Gotte Gatorade
Maurizio Fondriest (Lampre) and Maximillian Sciandri (Motorola) are leading
the chasing bunch.
35km to go
The leaders are not working too well together, with Gotte in particular
doing little work. Into a climb and Chiappucci sets the pace, the two
Ariostea's content to follow him and Gotte struggling to stay with them.
In the chasing bunch Sciandri has eased about 100m off the front - this
may be an attempt to bridge up to the leaders.
32km to go
Over the top of the climb the four are still together and Sciandri has
them in his sights. A nice piece of downhill and Max has caught them.
He goes past Gotte on the back then setlles into 4th position for a
little breather. After a minute os so Sciandri moves up to the front and
has a few words with each of the others as he drops back past them. One
of the Ariosteas drops back and has a word with Gotte, no doubt asking
him to contribute a little more to the break. It looks like the newcomer
is trying to organise a gap-opening session!
Sciandri moves well off the front. This doesn't appear to be an attack,
I think more of a warning to get their act together or he goes alone. He
has no wish to leave this bunch behind. A minute or so later, the five
are working together - including Gotte.
26km to go
A lone rider has gone off the front of the chasers - it is TVM's Robert
Millar. He is more than 15" ahead of the chasing bunch and can see the break
ahead at about 20" on him. This is a good time for Robert to make his move as
the last climb of the day is coming up and Robert's climbing skills are well
known.
The last climb of the day goes up through a largish village with Chiappucci
setting the pace, much to the delight of the crowd outside the houses. Much
excitement is evident on the sidelines with figures shouting and jumping up
and down! - you know, as the Italians are wont to do! :-)
Richard, Sciandri and Furlan stay close, Gotte is struggling to stay with
them. Millar is try to bridge across. This is a steepish climb. I see a good
shot of Sciandri's block, it looks like he's out of the saddle on a 39x24
and has one lower gear left to go at. He uses it as he sits back down.
Shock, Horror! Chiappucci has been dropped!!! The two Ariosteas have put the
hammer down on the upper part of the hill and are 10" clear of Sciandri who
is 5" clear of Claudio. Gotte has Gonnee.
Now for the downhill. The roads are often narrow. The roads are wet and it
is Autumn - the leaves are falling! And it is downhill all the way to Monza.
On the downhill, Chiappucci catches up to Sciandri and they team up to
chase down the leading duo who are now 15" ahead. Behind them are no other
riders for at least 45" It looks like Millar failed to bridge and Gotte
was truly blown.
9km to go
The leading pair of Furlan and Richard are trying hard to stay away. The
gap is now 10" and they are struggling. Richard must be tired, he started
the action 150km back and has been in the front of it for all that time.
Furlan is doing more of the work. Sciandri and Chiappucci are sharing the
work 50-50 it looks like they should catch them soon
This is one of Ariostea's last ever races. The ceramic tile manufacturer
has been in the forefront of road racing for 10 years and will quit and
the end of the season. It would be nice for them if the pair could take
1-2 in this race.
The leaders are trying their best to keep up the gap. The last thing either
of them want is the 6'2" 166lb figure of Maximillian Sciandri lining up
with them on the finish straight. And Chiappucci neither, since no-one
ever knows what Chiappucci will do! (or won't do?)
5km to go
Furlan and Richard's efforts are showing results. They have not only held
their lead but managed to increase it to 17" Their team car comes alongside
for a pep talk. Things must be looking good for them because their car
is allowed to be there, in front of the chasing duo. The next big bunch are
about a minute and a half behind.
1km to go
The Ariosteas have kept their lead and are coming up to the finishing
straight. They are easing up to prepare for the sprint. I think they have
decided to battle it out. Richard deserves the win after starting the break
and leading it all day but Furlan has also been in it a long time and has
worked harder to keep the pair away in these last 20km. Its each man for
himself now.
Both riders are doing a lot of looking around to see where the chasers are
as each tries to avoid the other getting in his wheel. Furlan ends
up leading as the speed rises with 500m to go. He can't do anything about
it except take the pace up to sprint speed and hope Richard doesn't have
anything left to come back with. But Richard has a little left yet and
pulls out at 200m, easing up to his team-mate. As they approach the line
I *think* (that's right I don't actually know!) the Richard just pipped
Furlan by a few inches.
A few seconds behind, Max Sciandri and Claudio Chiappucci are side by side as
they hit sprint speed too. At 400m, Claudio drops into Max's wheel for a
pull. At 200m he pulls out and goes for it, moving up Max's side as they
approach the line. A brave try Claudio - no-one could critisise you for
failing to beat Sciandri in the sprint!
The next bunch to come in are four strong and being led by Skibby who sprints
for 5th place. He doesn't get it, a Novemail rider beating him to the line
(Charley Mottet, maybe?)
The next group of 14 are led in by Fondriest who is now the World Cup winner.
*****************************
It is unclear to me if this is the last round of the world cup. On the TV
and in the press, the points situation is discussed as if the final TT next
week doesn't count. If not, why is it part of the World Cup - or is it? The
World Cup is supposed to be 10 rounds and this is Round 10.
Also unclear to me is why Volpi still has 75 points. He took 25 at San
Sebastion and 50 at Leeds. Being disqualified from his Leeds win surely
takes these off. Also, this makes all the other points scores unclear as
Sciandri and Fondriest also figured in the win there.
Steve
Aaron Shtromas
so, again italians missed capturing the "race of falling leves".
btw, the last italian to win it was argentin, in '87.
minor corrections - gatorade riders's name is ivan gotti (not gotte).
and the world cup is 12 races, not 10, with montreal being cancelled.
aaron
--
Software Engineering Group
Project Agora
IBM Research
Phil Rogacki
>
>Sunday 10th October 1993 The Tour of Lombardy
> . . . [excellent report deleted] . . .
>Steve
Thanks, Steve, for a great race report! Not only is it nice to get
race reports so quickly, but detailed and well-written, too. Good job!
Phil Rogacki
ph...@genasys.com
Glenn W. Gale
If someone has this Lombardy report please post it! We've been having
system problems here and I missed it. Thanks very much.
-Glenn