From: seales@stilton.cs.wisc.edu (Brent Seales)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles
Subject: Races results:  Paris-Roubaix
Date: 13 Apr 92 14:39:02 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin, Madison -- Computer Sciences Dept.



		          The Hell of the North
			    The Paris-Roubaix
			 Sunday, April 12 1992
				France


	   ---------------------------------------------------
	   "It was my best day this year,"  Greg Lemond 
	   concedes, "but Gilbert, he was fantastic!"

	   "It was a little bit easier to control the race 
	   with the headwind." "I saw many riders who were 
	   tired, and there were none in the group who seemed 
	   to be able to go, apart from Van Hooydonck, Museeuw, 
	   and Verhoeven.  And so I was very, very motivated."

	   "His victory [and my part in it] is a 'thank you'... 
 	   it is even more beautiful when it is a team!"
	   ---------------------------------------------------



The 90th Paris-Roubaix began Sunday morning with a medium tailwind that allowed 
4 riders to escape early and average more than 45 kilometers in the first hour 
and over 48 in the second.  The four riders?  Three from Ariostea (!) including 
Lietti, Joho, and Jaermann, accompanied by Pagnin (Lotus).  Perhaps because of 
Jacky Durand's (Castorama) incredible Tour of Flanders breakaway last week, 
and certainly because of the 3 riders all from Ariostea, the peloton never 
allowed the quartet more than a 5 minute lead.  Five riders attacked from the 
peloton at the 98 km mark, with the break in front holding to a shrinking 4'20"
lead.  By the time the lead group reached Troisvilles (100 km), at the entrance 
to the first section of pave, the counter-attackers Seigneur, Wegmuller, 
Krieger, Tafi, and Schur had gained time on the lead group, trailing by 3'50".
The peloton stepped up the pace and was then 4'30" behind the leaders.

Apart from the punctures of Capiot and Vanderaerden, who returned to the peloton
without problems, the main peloton behind the lead group of four and the chase 
group of five was together at Valenciennes (148 km).  At the front, the 
situation was evolving.  Lietti cracked on the pave of Quievy (km 115) and 
Joho on the pave of Querenaing (km 133).  At Petite-Foret (km 150) after the 
Trench of Arenburg, the situation was like this:  Jaermann and Pagnin in front,
and then six men (Seigneur, Tafi, Joho, Wegmuller, Schur, and Ludwig Willems, 
who bridged alone on the paves de Quievy) at 1'10", and the peloton at 2'25", 
having absorbed Krieger.  At the Trench d'Arenberg (km 156) Duclos-Lassalle 
left the peloton accompanied by Van Poppel.

Van Slycke joined Duclos and Van Poppel at Helesmes (km 167) at the moment
where the two riders made contact with Jaermann, Wegmuller, Willems, Tafi, 
Schur, Joho and Seigneur, who were all now regrouped.  Pagnin diappeared
because of two punctures.  Thus at the 167 km mark there is a group of 10 
riders in front of the peloton.

On the paves of Wandignies, Duclos-Lassalle, Van Poppel, Van Slycke, Wegmuller 
and Jaermann leave the five other riders,  who progressively fall back to the 
chasing peloton.  At Warlaing (km178) Jaermann can't hold on but is revived 
when he drops back between Tafi and Willems who are still between the lead
group and the peloton.  This leaves Duclos, Van Poppel, Van Slycke, and 
Wegmuller out in front.

The peloton now has a 2'18" deficit, which changes to 2'30" at the exit of the
section of pave at Sars-et-Rosieres (km 183) where Casado falls a second time 
and where Jacky Durand is dropped for the first time.  The gap increases 
again to 2'50" before melting to 2'10" after the pave of Orchies (km 197), 
where team Buckler, Jelle Nidjam and especially Van Hooydonck brace themselves.
The Belgian Van Hooydonck begins his work on the pave de Bersee. against an 
unfavorable wind.  The other favorites leave him to assume the task of his 
pursuit.

At the exit of the sector of Bersee (km 207),  Wegmuller is eliminated
from the lead group with a puncture, and leaves the trio of Duclos-Lassalle, 
Van Poppel, and Van Slycke.  The peloton also loses Durand and Vanderaerden, 
and is led away by the power of Van Hooydonck, Kelly, Museeuw, Lemond and 
Ballerini, chasing at only a 1'20" deficit.  Lemond is beginning to put on
the brakes to control the chase, aware that Duclos-Lassalle is in front with
only two other riders.  At Seclin, with a new more favorable wind, the 
Panasonic team takes the opportunity to begin a new pursuit.

In the front, Duclos-Lassalle attacks (km 222) and leaves Van Poppel and
Van Slycke, and immediately gains 30" on the paves de Ennevelin (km 228).
Duclos-Lassalle, therefore, finds himself in front with 46 kilometers 
to go.

At Cysoing (29 km before the finish) at the point where Van Poppel and Van 
Slycke are retaken by the peloton, there is still a 1'40" gap between Duclos
and the peloton.  Duclos is in front alone, with the peloton all together
behind.  Verhoeven, and then Rezze, attempt to counter-attack and reel in
Duclos, but are controlled by team Z led by Lemond, Capelle, and Colotti.  
Van Hooydonck experiences the same failure at the farm of Creplaine (19 km 
before the finish) as does Museeuw, tailed by Lemond, at Camphin-en-Pevele, 
where the lead of Duclos is at 1'07".  Olaf Ludwig, on the other hand, 
successfully escapes the peloton alone before the intersection of l'Arbre 
(17 km arrive).  At the exit of the Gruson, at 14 km to Roubaix, it is clear 
that Ludwig poses a major threat to the lead of Duclos-Lassalle.  Team Z is 
controlling the peloton, but Ludwig is alone and chasing hard, gaining time 
on Duclos, who leads Ludwig by 50" with 14 km to go.  His lead then shrinks 
to 38" with 6 km to go, 32" at 5 km, and then just 28" with only 4 kilometers 
to the finish!

But when Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle comes into the final vicinity of the 
velodrome, his lead stabilizes as he smells the victory that is only moments 
away.  He finds renewed strength and staves off the approach of Ludwig to 
enter the stadium alone, surrounded by hundreds of cheering French fans who 
are blind with joy as they witness the solo victory tour of the 37-year-old 
Frenchman who has beaten a peloton full of younger riders to the finish of 
the Hell of the North!

And so after the many random punctures on the pave and a wind that changed 
from favorable to unfavorable as the race unfolded, the final 10 kilometers 
saw 37 year old Paris-Roubaix Veteran Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle out in front 
alone, with a mere 1' lead over the peloton, and Ludwig chasing solo with a 
deficit that shrank to only 28" with 4 kilometers to go.  Duclos, however, was 
too close to be denied, and when he smelled the velodrome he accelerated and 
claimed the victory.  The 1992 Paris-Roubaix was Duclos' 12th finish, his first
in 1978 when he finished 28th.  To put that in perspective, recall that in 1980 
he finished second to Francesco Moser!

Ludwig just held on to finish second, 1'22" after Duclos.  The peloton, 
controlled throughout the last 40k by Greg Lemond, Christophe Capelle and 
Jean-Claude Colotti of team Z, finished immediately behind Duclos with Capiot 
winning the sprint for third.

The Final Classification
267.5 km in 6h 26' 56" (average speed of 41.48 km/h)

1.  Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (Z)		6h 26' 56"
2.  Ludwig (Panasonic)			 at 1' 22"
3.  Capiot (TVM)
4.  Pieters (Tulip)
5.  Colotti (Z)
6.  De Wilde (Telekom)
7.  Museeuw (Lotto)
8.  Verhoeven (PDM)
9.  Lemond (Z)
10. Redant (Lotto)
11. Ballerini (MG Boys)
12. Nijdam (Buckler)
13. Yates (Motorola)
14. A. Van der Poel (Tulip)
15. Tchmile (MG Boys)
16. Holm (Tulip)
17. Bauer (Motorola)
18. E. Van Hooydonck (Buckler)
19. Schurer (TVM)
20. De Wolf (Gatorade)
21. Sergeant (Panasonic)
22. M. De Clercq (Buckler)
23. Rezze (RMO)
24. W. Peeters (Telekom)
25. Ribeiro (RMO)
26. Hanegraaf (Panasonic)
27. Van Holen (Tulip)
28. M. Madiot (Telekom)
29. Kelly (Lotus)
30. Talen (Pan.)
31. De Koning (Pan)			at 1' 52"
...
35. Capelle (Z)				   2' 22"
39. Fignon (Gatorade)			   3' 44"
44. Durand (Castorama)			
51. Van Slycke (Lotus)			   3' 57"
54. Abdojaparov (Carrera)		   7' 28"
55. Lauritzen (Motorola)
59. Wegmuller (Lotus)
60. Van Poppel (PDM)
64. Bishop (Motorola)			  12' 16"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This year we are seeing an assault by the French riders, who have now
obtained victories in the Paris-Nice stage race, the Tour of Flanders, and
the Paris-Roubaix.  And in fact, age and experience at the moment are reigning,
with Jean Francois-Bernard, Sean Kelly, and Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle all 
over 30 years old.

Greg Lemond won many French friends with his strong control of the chasing
peloton during the final kilometers of the race.  It is almost certain that
without his help Duclos could not have held off the chase in the final moments
of the race.  And Greg is showing that he is in fact "en forme," a force, I 
hope, that will prove to be unbeatable in Paris in July.

There is much more in l'Equipe to translate, with 4-5 pages devoted to the
coverage of the Paris-Roubaix.  But one thing that cannot be translated into 
words for you is the expression on the face of Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle as he 
crosses the finish line in the velodrome in Roubaix, his face deeply creased 
with the breadth of his smile.

Brent
From l'Equipe, Monday 12 April 1992

P.S.  I have not yet seen the coverage of the Paris-Roubaix that was aired
on channel 2 live on Sunday afternoon.  I was out racing with the other 80 
riders here in the Cote d'Azur who were riding in a 75 kilometer road race.
When faced with the choice of watching or doing, I must do.  But, then again, 
I have the video to see later this week...
Look for the report of my second amateur race in the Riviera later this
week.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brent SEALES                   INRIA Sophia-Antipolis - Project Robotvis
Tel: (33) 93.65.78.XX      Office: XX=37   Fax: XX=45   Secretary: XX=30
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