ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 6, 1996 TAG: 9605060151
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
LANCE ARMSTRONG misses ``that old time trial,'' but German rider Marcel Wust says the new course has ``a lot of character.''
After riding up and down hills for more than 112 miles and nearly five hours, only to peddle headlong into an electrical storm, it's no wonder Lance Armstrong was longing for the old Roanoke time trial.
The riders would have been back in their hotel rooms by mid-afternoon, resting their aching bones and thinking that a little rain might bring a welcome drop in the temperature.
Otherwise, there were no complaints about Stage 5, which took the Tour DuPont from Mount Airy, N.C., to Roanoke, which was the site of a 22.9-mile time trial in 1994 and 1995.
``It wasn't an easy stage,'' said Armstrong, who took over the lead with a little more than a half-mile remaining Sunday to win Stage 5 for the second year in a row. ``Normally, I prefer these kinds of stages.''
It was the first time in this year's event that the cyclists had ridden extensively in the mountains, and there were some surprises, the first at Bull Mountain in Patrick County.
The climb to 1,700 feet was given a Category 4 rating, with a Category 1 rating the most difficult, but ``somehow the categories got mixed up there,'' Armstrong said. ``The first one was the hardest.''
The riders thought the hard part was over when they completed a 2,200-foot Category 2 climb to the top of Cahas Mountain in Franklin County, but the fun was only beginning. To get into Roanoke County, they had to cross Lynville Mountain.
``I don't think anybody realized how hard that last climb would be,'' said Jim Ochowicz, director for the Armstrong-led Motorola team. ``Maybe the fact they'd already gone 100 miles had something to do with it.''
The route covered none of the same ground as the Roanoke time trial, which began at the Salem Civic Center and took the riders over Twelve O'Clock Knob and Mount Chestnut in Roanoke County before beginning a sprint toward downtown Roanoke.
``I lived here for about a week last year,'' Armstrong said, ``and I thought for a while I recognized some of these roads we were doing here today, but that wasn't the case.''
``I knew it was a completely different part of town. But when I was here last year, I did various training rides in the area and I thought possibly I had ridden some of these roads.''
Armstrong was joined at the postrace news conference by German rider Marcel Wust, who was recognized as King of the Mountains on Sunday and held the lead until he was ``rolled up'' during a sprint in Boones Mill.
``It wasn't super hard - well, for me it was - but it had a lot of character,'' Wust said of the stage. ``I really liked the course and I loved the crowd. When I came in, everybody was like, `Marcel, Marcel.'
``And, I was like, `Hey, I'm a legend here. I've never been here and everybody knows my name.' I was going so slow at the end that I could almost wave to everyone.''
Steve Brunner, vice president of race organizer Medalist Sports, Inc., said it is customary for cycling events to change their routes - the Tour De France does it frequently - and that it wasn't certain that Roanoke would be the site of a stage finish in next year's race, although he had heard nothing but good things.
``It's typical of this area,'' Armstrong said. ``Up and down. Never flat. Really never flat. I think we all could have done without the rain, but you guys couldn't help that.
``I'll say it again, I always liked that old time trial, but I wouldn't have wanted to do that in the rain, either.''
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART/Staff. Lance Armstrong (middle), the Stage 5by CNBwinner, celebrates his victory alongside stage runner-up Jean Cyril
Robin (left) of France and Federico Echave of Spain. color.