Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 10, 1994 TAG: 9405100068
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Dennis, the first rider on the first mountain time trial in Tour history, became the accidental Tourist when he headed into the unknown on the windy trip down Mount Chestnut. He's nicknamed "Chicken" but wasn't. He was wearing No. 13.
The Australian kangarooed over his handlebars, and his Tour ended in a hospital, but he wasn't the only one among the thousands who turned out who flipped over the event.
Or, as they say Down Under, "It was a smashing good time."
Spectators lined the 22.9-mile course that wound from the Salem Civic Center up the mountains and down to the Roanoke City Market. If there was a mentioned measure of disappointment, it was only in that some viewers didn't see what they expected. A time trial doesn't have a peloton, a big pack of riders.
That's just one of those mistakes that happens when someone sees something for the first time. Don't feel bad. It happened to some of the best cyclists in the world around lunchtime, too. On an unforgiving, foreign course, seeing was believing.
"The course was certainly the most challenging time trial I've ridden in," said Lance Armstrong, whose third-place finish was made possible by a trip he'd made earlier in the day. "I rode it on my bike about 9 o'clock [Monday] morning. That definitely helped.
"It's a completely different ride on a bike than it is in a car. I would not have wanted to go down that descent if I hadn't gotten a look at it."
Scott Mercier knew that. The Colorado rider had cycled the course on two previous trips to town, including one with fellow Saturn team members last week. He didn't know, however, that Dennis had taken a header.
"I didn't know that had happened until the finish," said Mercier, who was the second cyclist to finish in less than 1 hour and finished seventh. "If I had known he'd crashed, I'd have really been nervous.
"I just took it easy down the descent because I knew what was there. I knew it wouldn't cost me much time because you could go fast enough. And I died at the top of the second climb [Mount Chestnut]. I thought I was going to blow, so I pulled back and then took it easy down the hill.
"I knew someone was going to go down. It just had to happen. That's why I took it easy. I'd rather lose 10 seconds than half of my skin.
"It was a great advantage having ridden it."
Autograph- and photo-seeking fans ran from the City Market across Williamson Road, chasing Greg LeMond after his finish. On this day, he had big numbers - 1:01:37 and 42nd - to go with his big name. Defending champion Raul Alcala placed 24th. Race leader Malcolm Elliott was 54th.
After the cyclist-per-minute start that reminded one spectator of a slowly dripping faucet, the trip was the fastest anyone has gone up and down in the Roanoke Valley since they tore down the "Shooting Star" at Lakeside. Most of the cyclists had no clue how fast anyone would finish. Thirteen cracked the predicted 1 hour, led by a rushin' Russian, Viatcheslav Ekimov, who averaged 23.98 mph.
Ekimov's race biography says his "only weakness is in the mountains." Despite his team affiliation, someone had better check that description on his WordPerfect.
For all of the uncertainty on the course and on the sidelines, the time trial did what the experts said it would do. It separated the field.
Entering Monday's Stage 5, Armstrong, in 18th place, was only 20 seconds behind three-day yellow-jersey wearer Elliott. Armstrong heads into today's Double Burger whopper - 138 miles from Lynchburg to Blacksburg - 42 seconds behind Ekimov, the general classification leader, but now the Texas star is third overall.
The difference between first and 18th place now is 3:06.
The time trial was tough, but fair, and several riders said it was perfect preparation for the three roller-coaster stages next.
"It wasn't risky," Armstrong said. "It wasn't too dangerous."
Some of the riders even enjoyed it as much as the spectators. Mercier admitted checking out the surroundings to see what had bloomed since his first valley visit 3 1/2 weeks ago, when he couldn't help but take note of the ice storm-snapped trees lining the hill climbs.
While pedaling, he managed to read one cycling-smart spectator's sign that said, "It's not France, but it's still pretty."
It also was pretty difficult.
Write to Jack Bogaczyk at the Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, 24010.
by CNB