ROANOKE TIMES  
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, May 6, 1996                    TAG: 9605060091
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: A-1  EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Below
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
      Published correction ran on May 9, 1996.
         A story Monday about the Tour DuPont's finish in downtown Roanoke 
      incorrectly identified one of the fans at the event. The correct name is
      Pat Jones.

DOWNTOWN RACE WET, BUT WORTH WAIT, FANS SAY

Pat Long probably could consider herself a die-hard cycling fan after Sunday's wet finish of the Tour DuPont's Stage 5 in downtown Roanoke.

The Roanoke woman arrived in front of the Patrick Henry Hotel a little before 3 p.m. and secured a pretty good view along a rail near the finish line. She had just been to the American Women's Show at the civic center - wearing a brown flowered dress and sandals.

But only a few minutes before the cyclists hit the last stretch along Jefferson Street, it started raining heavily, with raindrops that seemed the size of quarters.

Many fans near the finish line scurried for cover under the Patrick Henry marquee. Some had come prepared and squeezed under umbrellas. Others just took it.

"This is great. I loved this," said Long, her hair and dress soaked and makeup running down her face.

She wasn't excited about the rain, but about Lance Armstrong's close Stage 5 finish with thousands of people cheering him on.

"Once you get hyped up, you have to stay out there," Long said.

Roanokers gave the cyclists a pretty lively welcome, rain or no rain.

Dozens came as early as 2 p.m. and lined up to watch a miniature tractor race for toddlers. Hundreds more came around 3 p.m. to watch daredevil cyclists "catch air" in a bike rodeo.

Sponsors of the Tour DuPont set up booths between the Roanoke Public Library and the Jefferson Motor Lodge and handed out lots of free stuff.

Ten-year-old Mark Bauman carried around a plastic Saturn bag with all the stuff he got - a cycling cap, a poster of cyclists and lots of food, including an ice-cold can of Fresca and a banana from Miss Chiquita Banana herself.

Down on the city market, people wearing white and blue Tour DuPont T-shirts were sprinkled among regular Sunday strollers.

Some stores on the market that are normally closed Sundays opened, expecting good business.

Wertz's Country Store had fairly good business in the early afternoon, said store clerk Brian Black.

The store's owner - Ezera Wertz - opens Sundays when there's a festival or something that will draw a big crowd, he said.

By 3:30 p.m., folks began to line up along Jefferson and Campbell where the cyclists soon would be zooming by.

Warren and Denise Carey of Roanoke set up lawn chairs about 50 yards from the finish line. This was their first time at a Tour DuPont event.

Mark Bauman and his dad, Scott, found a spot under an overhang at the Jefferson Restaurant.

"I think we found" the spot, Scott Bauman said. Mark crawled onto his father's shoulders when the cyclists were in sight.

Most of the fans had to rely on an announcer to keep them updated on the race. Those near the sponsor booths could watch Big Mo, a giant television, with live shots of the cyclists.

Chris Klebuel and Selja Pieper of Germany found a television under a media tent. They were cheering for fellow German Marcel Wust, who won the King of the Mountain title for having the best times climbing mountains in Stage 5. Klebuel and Pieper - who are cycling up the East Coast - stopped in Roanoke to see the Tour DuPont while traveling along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

When the announcer told the crowd that the lead pack of cyclists was only a few miles from Roanoke, people sitting on park benches and curbs stood up and squeezed in closer.

Then the rain came. At first, it was light rain. Then it fell harder.

The curbs on Jefferson Street turned into small creeks, sending empty Fresca cans downstream.

The rain tapered off some - just in time for the final stretch of the race. A few who ran for shelter came out to get a better view.

Afterward, fans said the ending was worth getting soaked for.

Roanoker Larry Bowring said the race was much more exciting than the Tour DuPont time trial he watched two years ago in Roanoke.

"I'll give it a 9.5," he said. "It was a close race."

LENGTH: Medium:   86 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  ROGER HART/Staff. 1. A trick rider performs a midair  
          turn during an exhibition for Tour DuPont spectators in Roanoke  
          before Sunday's shower. color. 2. Bruce Wilson attached a small  
          engine to his bicycle and motored around the Tour DuPont activities 
          in Roanoke Sunday afternoon.