From: jfrench@alias.com (Jonathan French)
Subject: GPTeleglobe
Organization: Alias Research Inc., Toronto ON Canada
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 19:59:14 GMT

So here is my first posting to the net; and considering the prompt postings
by you all, I thought I'd try my hand at it too. I tried posting once alrea
dy, so bear with me if this got posted twice.

## ------------------------------------------------------------------------
## WORLD CUP - G.P. Teleglobe (Montreal)
## ------------------------------------------------------------------------

## ------------------------------------------------------------------------
## Conditions: Temperature 6C. at race time. Sunny and clear.
##	       Humidity    75%.
## Distance:   240km (or so, I didn't get the exact distance.)


## Teams: Areostia
	  Buckler
	  Telekom
	  RMO
	  Subaru-Montgomery
	  Motorola
	  Lotto
	  Lotus-Festina
	  Gatorade
	  Tulip
	  Helvetia
	  PDM
	  CLAS
	  ONCE
	  Z
	  Castorama
	  Carrera
	  Coors Light
	  
## ------------------------------------------------------------------------
## SUMMARY
## ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   The Teleglobe was anticipated to be a contest between those high in the
world cup standings, but, as has happened in the past, there was a suprise
winner. Fredrico Echave (CLAS) outsprinted his two breakaway companions,
Davide Cassani (Areostea) and Luc LeBlanc (Castorama). But as the morning
started it looked like anyone who could bear the 14 climbs up the infamous
2km Mount Royal would have a chance.

## ------------------------------------------------------------------------
## PRE-RACE
## ------------------------------------------------------------------------

   We were fortunate enough to know where the riders were staying, and so
made a point to park near the hotel, to watch the rider sign-in and gene-
ral mayhem. Upon arrival, riders were already milling about inside the
hotel, with Sean Kelly and Martin Early chumming around after breakfast,
Phil Anderson and Stephen Hodge exchanging g'days, and Raul Alcala look-
ing somewhat serious. Considering he was ranked 3rd at the time in the
World Cup, this was understandable. After the riders had received their
leg embrocation (as it was so cold) they lazily ran the gauntlet of
paparrazzi at the side entrance to the hotel, the better known riders get-
ting big cheers, and of course, the numerous domestiques passing by pret-
ty much unnoticed. After more milling about in the side alley with the
entourage of riders, camera crews, mechanics, directeurs, and sundry hangers
on (like myself), the race caravan made its way a couple of km's up the 
road to the course start finish.
   For those not familiar, the course consists of 2 loops, one through the
downtown core of Montreal, and one up Mount Royal and through the Universite
de Montreal. The climb up Mont Royal is very long and averages 8-9 percent.
There is one short climb, the polytechnique, in the Universite, which is 16
percent, with lots of technical decents and undulations in between. Many
riders have said in past Velo-News's that it is the toughest circuit course
in the World Cup, and I'm not one to argue with that.

## ------------------------------------------------------------------------
## RACE
## ------------------------------------------------------------------------

   I tried to keep track of who did what on what lap, but I'm sure those
who will read Velo-News will point out to me my errors. Hopefully not too
many.

Lap 1 saw the riders just trying to warm up, as it was so damn cold. The
pack stayed together, with riders exchanging pleasantries. Jacky Durand
(Castorama) though towed the pack almost the entire way around the first lap,
foreshadowing some juicy Castorama action later on...
The second lap was pretty much more of the same, with a few ambitious (or
stupid) riders testing with some accellerations of the front. One of these
was Chrisophe Cappelle (Z) (I think...) but no one was in the mood for a
200km breakaway, in case an attack actually stuck. By lap 3 however, some
more serious business was at hand, with a group of 5 eventually going away,
consisting of Frans Massen (Buckler), Gudetnov?? (Carrera), Bruno Cornillet
(Z), Guido Winterberg (Lotus-Festina), and a Helvetia rider (I think it was
Soigner). The peloton was willing to let them go, and with many of the
heavy hitting teams involved, the gap rose quickly to 3+ minutes. And as a
result they proved they would stay away for several laps. At one point,
around lap 8, the teams involved were shutting down the pace so well that
the gap had grown to 5:00. But there was a big team still with stakes in
the World Cup not represented in the break. That was ONCE, and the rider
was Laurent Jalabert. So, as we had seen so many times during the tour,
Jalabert had his men go to the front, and they really put the boot to it.
It was very impressive to see how high a tempo they rode, with 4-5 ONCE
jerseys always at the front, in TTT fashion, for the next lap+. The 5
escapees however, were getting time splits, and Massen for one, decided
their tempo wasn't high enough either. They cranked it up a notch, and
proceeded to drop Soigner and Winterberg.
  Eventually, as the time gaps dropped further, Massen was forced
to solo off his break, but as the final laps approached, the peloton 
regrouped. The race really got cooking on lap 11(or 12) as the pace was
forced on Mont Royal again, leaving about an 18 rider break, containing
Lance Armsrotng (Motorola), Luc LeBlanc (Castorama), Fredrico Echave
(CLAS), Thomas Wegmuller (Lotus-Festina) among others. Wegmuller was
the first to have a go, and he went clear with Beat Zberg (Helvetia).
It was easy to see who was the strongest, and of course it was Wegmuller.
He was doing most of the work, and taking absolutely monster pulls. Zberg
was barely holding his wheel half the time, even on the flats. And predict-
ably, Zberg couldn't hold the pace (let alone contribute to it!) and was
dropped. Wegmuller, although looking super-strong, drifted back to the
main pack also, but it seemed only so he could get some other riders to
collaborate with. Those two riders were Cassani (Areostea) and Echave.
They got a decent gap on lap 13-14 but it was still bridgeable... just.
  The final lap saw Wegmuller, Cassani, and Echave contributing, but they
were in for some company, as LeBlanc lay down a massive attack on the first
pitch of Mont Royal, from the the chase group of 15, and from which no one 
could equal. LeBlanc bridged by the top of the climb, and the Quebec fans
were going as nuts on the circuit as though it was one of their native
sons. Things went even more insane when LeBlanc attacked again, in the
downtown loop of the circuit, one the way back to the finish. But Casssani
was having none of it, and all four proceeded to play cat and mouse up
the loop towards the finish. The tempo was still high enough to drop Weg-
muller, who seemed like he was paying for his earlier efforts. So, the 
3 remaing riders, Echave, Cassani, and LeBlanc rode the last kilo mostly
looking at each other. As they rode up Pine Avenue, and over the brow,
Echave was looking like the sacrificial lamb, winding it up at about
250 meters, with Cassani tuked in behind and LeBlanc at the rear. But to
many spectators suprise, Echave just kept finding more reserves and Cassani
never came around him, with LeBlanc not really challenging and taking in
third. My personal for a top three, Wegmuller, came in to cheers for his
effort and a well deserved fourth place.

I wish I could tell you who won the sprint for the main chase group, but
it was pretty crazy by then, and hard to see. So you will have to check
your next Velo-News. (no I don't work for them, I just like the mag...)

So I hope I got all the names, teams, riders, laps, and events right, but
I'm sure you'll find some discrepancies... But what the heck, it's prompt,
right?...


## ------------------------------------------------------------------------
## POST-SCRIPT
## ------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Ever wonder what you do after you've ridden 240k and climbed god-knows-
how-many-vertical-feet? Well, just before I left, about an hour after the
race, there was a gaggle of about 35 suspiciously gaunt looking guys walk-
ing down deMaisonneuve Ave for a night on the town.

And they were all wearing various team windbreakers and oversized jeans...







					Jonathan French
					Alias Research Inc.
					Toronto, Canada.
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.racing