Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 27, 1995 TAG: 9504270089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WILMINGTON, DEL. LENGTH: Medium
While the 2.98-mile time trial went to Gianluca Bortolami of the Italian team Mapei-GB, who covered the course in 6 minutes, 5.749 seconds, Armstrong was third, only one second behind the leader and one place back of Andrea Peron, his Motorola teammate.
Since fractions will be dropped from ensuing times in the overall race standings, Peron, Armstrong and Viatcheslav Ekimov, the Tour DuPont defending champion who was fourth, start today's Stage 1 road race essentially even.
Ekimov is the man Armstrong has to beat if the 23-year-old Texan hopes to avoid his third straight runner-up finish in the 11-stage, 1,130-mile race and take the $40,000 first-place prize.
Wearing a red and blue teardrop helmet that matched his Motorola uniform colors, Armstrong rode an aerodynamic bike fitted with three-spoke wheels. But the chief difference between his performance and his 25th-place finish of last year, when he lost 37 seconds to Raul Alcala of Mexico, was dry pavement that extracted no penalty for aggressive riding.
So Armstrong cruised through the twists and turns, and muscled the cobblestones of Monkey Hill with cool efficiency and little wasted time.
``I was pleased with it,'' Armstrong said of his ride. ``There wasn't any particular area where I thought I could have done better. I didn't make any mistakes. Two years ago I was third in the prologue. Last year, I was 25th in the rain. I was a little conservative in the corners.''
Ekimov, wearing the same style of headgear, was the last man to leave the start house.
Bortolami, making his racing debut on American soil, not only conquered the course but also beat jet lag, having arrived here only two days ago.
Not so the feisty Peron, an Italian who finished third overall in last year's race. He spent the previous week practicing on the mountainous terrain around Asheville, N.C., where Stage 8 will finish May 4.
Nearly every rider went out on the course hard, but the fan turnout was decidedly sparse in downtown Rodney Square and throughout most of the course, except for the cluster of people who brought folding chairs, beer coolers and a picnicker's aura to Monkey Hill. The crowd was estimated at 12,000.
Of Bortolami, Armstrong said: ``I'm a little surprised. I didn't expect him to ride so well after he just got here.''
Bortolami, 26, who is in his sixth season as a pro, said, ``It was a very, very hard ride with a lot of curves. The cobbles were tough. It was hard to keep up the pace, but in the last kilometer, I went all out.''
Asked if he is capable of winning the race, Bortolami said, ``It will be tough, but I will do my best.''
Three of past five prologue winners have gone on to win the Tour DuPont.
The prologue was doubly delightful for Jim Ochowicz, the Motorola team director, who not only cheered Armstrong, but also had five of his riders finish in the top 11. Along with Peron and Armstrong, Motorola had Frankie Andreu finish 8th, Steve Bauer 9th and George Hincapie in 11th place.
Of Armstrong, Ochowicz said, ``He didn't make a mistake. He had good form and good power on the climb. He knew where he was and what he was doing. He tied the guy he needed to - Ekimov.''
It was the Tour DuPont's closest prologue ever, with the top six riders finished within 2.8 seconds of one another.
by CNB