ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 6, 1996 TAG: 9605060143
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: NOTES
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
If the Tour DuPont ever decided to put out a soundtrack for the 1996 race, the theme for Stage 5 would have been the Doors' classic ``Riders on the Storm.''
The thunder roared overhead just like the rumbling prelude to Ray Manzarek's bluesy organ playing on that song. Raindrops and hailstones fell with a combination of velocity and ferocity as if they wanted to travel through the ground rather than lightly plop onto it. The wind bellowed and violently rocked VIP tents and made spectators on the bleacher scaffolding uneasy.
The thunderstorm that poured out its soul to riders and spectators in downtown Roanoke on Sunday afternoon may have had an impact on the stage finish - as stage leader Tony Rominger wiped out less than two kilometers from the finish line on Jefferson Street - but it was not the worst meteorological event to disrupt a Tour finish.
In 1992, Herbert Niederberger of Team Spago raced to the finish at Wintergreen beneath lightning more severe than the bolts that flashed in the gun-metal gray thunderheads over the Roanoke Valley.
``It was worse than this, actually,'' said Steve Brunner, the Tour's media and public relations director. ``The lightning that day was scary.''
Nevertheless, Sunday's gulley-washer had riders making strategic decisions on the fly.
``You really have to watch yourself,'' said Stage 5 winner Lance Armstrong, the Tour's overall leader. ``Especially in the corners. You have to be careful when you make your moves. You don't want to be too conservative and then watch somebody take a risk and go by you. Once you're in and out of the corners, it's OK.''
The riders hit rain around the 100-mile mark. Racing down the mountains was a dicey proposition in the torrent.
``Going down, it was raining so hard, you couldn't hardly see,'' said Marcel Wust of the German MX-Onda team. ``If there were no cars in front of you, there was nothing to follow.''
ARMSTRONG'S FINE: Armstrong was fined $650 by Union Cycliste Internationale for skipping a news conference following Saturday's Stage 4 in Greensboro, N.C.
Race policy requires that the rider wearing the yellow jersey must attend a postrace news conference. Armstrong claimed he was too exhausted to attend Saturday's media gathering after finishing 41st during a stage that featured temperatures in the upper 80s and wind gusts in excess of 20 mph.
MISSING IN ACTION: Several prominent riders are not competing in this year's Tour. There are as many reasons for the absences as there are stickers on team vans.
One rider especially conspicuous by his absence is Clark Sheehan of the U.S. Postal Service team. Sheehan, the winner of last year's Stage 8 from Greenville, S.C., to Asheville, N.C., apparently had a dispute with team officials just days before the Tour began and was left off the seven-man squad.
Sheehan had been one of the best stories of last year's Tour after coming back from a freak accident during the 1992 Tour of Mexico when he was hit by a drunken automobile driver who had gotten onto the course. Sheehan suffered a fractured spine in the accident and was told he never would race again.
His 1993 comeback was stunted by another bizarre accident when he was hit with a metal trough during a windstorm while training in Colorado. He recovered, raced well in last year's Tour and was named the Comeback Rider of the Year.
Viatcheslav Ekimov, who won the 1994 Tour DuPont and finished second behind Armstrong last year, is concentrating on racing in Europe and is not entered in this year's Tour. Also absent is Team Saturn stalwart Brian Walton, who was injured several weeks ago in Europe.
SATURN OF ROANOKE: At least one rider from this year's Tour DuPont will race in the Saturn Festival Cup in Roanoke on May 27.
Steve Bauer, a Canadian with Team Saturn, is the only Tour rider who has confirmed he will be back in Roanoke. Teammate Bart Bowen, a past participant in the Festival Cup, won't be back. Past Saturn winner Scott Mercier, who led part of Sunday's stage, isn't expected to return, either.
Walton was to race in the Festival Cup, but his recent injury may dash those plans.
Festival Cup riders will race for a $14,500 purse.
The $2,500 Rock Hill Climb will be held May 26, with some of the points counting toward the Festival Cup championship the next day.
TOUR DuPOINTS: Motorola's Axel Merckx of Belgium, who finished fourth Sunday, is the son of five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx. ... Motorola's Sean Yates of England is racing in his final Tour DuPont. Yates finished 11th overall in 1994 and placed second in four stages from 1989-94. 1970 graduate of the old Pulaski High School, is an independent contractor in Bend, Ore.
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Tony Rominger, the world'sby CNBsecond-ranked cyclist, checks his watch after finishing Stage 5 of
Tour in downtown Roanoke on Sunday. Rominger wrecked less than two
kilometers from the finish, but remained second overall. color.