ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 6, 1996 TAG: 9605060144
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
In the Roanoke Valley's three-year association with the Tour DuPont, the area has become known for treacherous cornering. The dangerous switchbacks of Mount Chestnut, in particular, have sent cyclists careening to disaster.
On Sunday in Stage 5 from Mount Airy, N.C., to downtown Roanoke, another corner added its name to local Tour legend. Only this one isn't nearly as ominous as those in the mountains.
Usually a simple left turn in the city of Roanoke, the corner of Ninth Street and Jamison Avenue changed the complexion of the stage and plunged the hours following the 5:10 p.m. finish into total chaos.
The left turn at Ninth and Jamison was where the race's first- and second-place riders, Tony Rominger and Laurent Madouas, respectively, slid and fell in the rain and hail. That opened the flood gates for overall leader Lance Armstrong to win his third stage of the current Tour. Armstrong has a 51-second lead heading into today's Stage 6, which leaves the Salem Civic Center at 11 a.m. and is expected to finish in Blacksburg at 4 p.m.
``I was scared of the turn,'' said Armstrong, the 1995 Tour DuPont champion. ``I had just enough time to react and get away.''
The crash threatened to push Rominger, the second-place rider entering the stage, back deep into the pack. But other than some nasty scrapes up and down his right side, the Swiss rider wasn't hurt by his fall.
In a surprising move by the race's chief commissary, Gunter Koch, the sixth- through 39th-place riders (a group that included Rominger) were given a time 16 seconds slower than Armstrong's 4:41.19. Motorola's Axel Mercx, Mapei-GB's Federico Echave and Festina's Jean Cyril Robin and Pascal Herve finished right behind Armstrong.
Usually a race leader who crashes in the last kilometer of a stage is credited with the same time as the eventual stage winner. Rominger and Madouas crashed with 1.5 kilometers to go.
But Koch ruled that because of the adverse and unusual weather conditions, any rider in the lead pack who crashed within the last two kilometers was not penalized.
``I think the commissary made a great call,'' said Steve Hegg, the Chevrolet/LA Sheriff rider who is in fifth place, 1:26 behind Armstrong, entering Stage 6.
Jim Ochowicz, Motorola's team director, said he disagreed with the decision, but Union Cycliste Internationale rules do not allow protests of such a ruling.
``If we hadn't done something, it might have discouraged the riders to take extra risks,'' said Brook Watts, the Tour's media field coordinator.
Officials from Cycle Roanoke Valley, Inc., expressed concern when they heard the chief commissary was making a ruling. Two years ago in Charlotte, N.C., the race's chief commissary blasted local organizers for designing the course with a downhill finish, a definite no-no in cycling. The Cycle Roanoke members said they were relieved when they discovered the decision was based on the weather, not the course.
Koch's decision also kept Rominger, the world's second-ranked cyclist, in the field of top contenders. He is 1:01 behind Armstong in second place, while his Mapei-GB teammate, Danielle Nardello is in third, trailing by 1:09.
Rominger's climbing abilities are matched in the Tour DuPont field perhaps only by those of Armstrong, and without him near the top, some lustre would be lost from the remainder of the race.
Rominger, reached Sunday night at his hotel room, said he was watching a movie and preferred not to talk about the accident until Monday. Benjamin Fernandez, Mapei's trainer and medical assistant, said in a statement: ``No problems as a result of the fall. He has some pain in his knees - as could be expected after a crash. He should be in completely normal condition for tomorrow's stage.''
Had Rominger lost ground, it would have been the second consecutive year that a Mapei-GB team member would have slipped in the overall standings because of a crash. In the 1995 Tour DuPont, then-Mapei-GB team leader Gianluca Bortolami wrecked on the way to Blacksburg and lost 23 minutes.
Stage 5, the Tour's first mountain race and by far the most grueling stage thus far, also featured the Tour's first abandonment, or withdrawal. Malcolm Elliott, a member of the Chevrolet/LA Sheriffs team, pulled out around the 60-mile mark, reportedly because of stomach problems. In 1994, Elliott was the overall race leader, but dropped from first to 38th place as a result of the Roanoke Valley time trial.
Three other riders, Saturn's Scott McKinley, Porcelana-Santa Clara's Eloy Santamarta and Amore & Vita's Luca Maggioni did not finish. Nick Gates of the Australian AIS-Giant team, finished outside the stage's time limit. Heiko Salzwedel, AIS-Giant team director, said Sunday night he would ask race officials to reconsider Gates' status.
Armstrong's status in this eighth annual event never has been in question. He has worn the yellow jersey ever since Stage 2 finished Thursday in Richmond, and his performance in Friday's time trial in Raleigh, N.C., had observers pondering his growing potential. Armstrong, however, said he is wary of Stages 6 and 8 (from Bristol to Beech Mountain, N.C.) and the severe climbs they present.
``I have to rely on the strength of my [Motorola] teammates,'' he said. ``The hardest climbs are yet to come. Tony's still a threat.''
On Sunday, the weather was, too.
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. DON PETERSEN/Staff. Lance Armstrong celebrates hisby CNBStage 5 victory in downtown Roanoke. He maintained the overall lead
in the Tour DuPont. 2. ROGER HART/Staff. Lance Armstrong of Austin,
Texas, has won two stages and one time trial in this year's Tour
DuPont cycling race. color.