Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 4, 1995 TAG: 9505040103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GREENVILLE, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
Van Bon, a second-year pro for the Novell team, took the 150-mile road race from Concord, N.C., to Greenville in 5 hours, 52 minutes, 34 seconds on a warm and sunny day.
Jacky Durand of France, winner of last year's 10th stage of the Tour de France, was second. Andrea Vatteroni of Italy was third in the same time in the longest stage of the seventh annual event.
Armstrong of Austin, Texas, finished 28th in the main pack, 8:38 behind the leaders. The 1993 world road-race titlist leads Motorola teammate Andrea Peron of Italy by 2:43.
Viatcheslav Ekimov (Novell) of Russia, remains third, 2:53 behind, with four stages of the 1,130-mile race left.
Van Bon, a points-race silver medalist in the 1994 Summer Olympics, left the pack with four riders after 84 miles. The lead quintet built nearly a 91/2-minute lead through 125 miles.
``It was a big gap, but we weren't even going full speed,'' said VanBon, who moved from 30th to 25th place overall. ``Since the riders in group weren't in contention for the overall title, Motorola and the others were content to let us go. But I thought may be we had started too soon.''
In all, Van Bon and the next four finishers rode for 106 miles in front of the field.
With his teammates surrounding him, Armstrong simply rode with the field conserving his energy for the next two mountainous stages.
``If the gap had gotten to 20 minutes, we would have let them go,'' Armstrong said. ``That's the sport; that's the way it is. It will be a hard day tomorrow, but that's my specialty, in the mountains.''
The remaining field of 100 will ride 127 miles in today's eighth stage from Greenville to Asheville, N.C.
by CNB