ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 7, 1996 TAG: 9605070065
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
TONY ROMINGER HAD time and a judge's ruling on his side after a fall Sunday in Stage 5, and leader Lance Armstrong still isn't happy about it.
Not even the creative timekeeping of Tour DuPont officials could help Tony Rominger turn back the clock on Lance Armstrong.
Rominger, the No.2-ranked cyclist in the world, was aided Sunday by an official's decision that cut 52 seconds off his Stage 5 time. On Monday, the Swiss rider was clocked in Stage 6 on Monday by Armstrong, the No.1 rider in the hearts of Southwest Virginians who have wildly cheered him in two victorious finishes on the Virginia Tech campus.
After another impressive showing on the ascent of Salt Pond Mountain toward Mountain Lake in Giles County, Armstrong charged up Happy Hollow Road in Montgomery County and won the mountainous stage from Salem to Blacksburg in 6 hours, 6 minutes, 59 seconds - 1 minute, 10 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Pascal Herve. Rominger finished eighth - 2:48 behind Armstrong - and dropped into third place overall.
Unless Armstrong falls off Beech Mountain, he will win his second consecutive Tour DuPont.
``I think it was done before today,'' Rominger said of the overall race. ``Armstrong is too strong.''
Physically strong, yes, and strong-willed, too. That's why even after turning Rominger into Swiss cheese Monday, even after rolling up an overall lead of 2 minutes, 53 seconds on the nearest competitor, Armstrong still was more than a little miffed that Rominger had been helped Sunday by race commissary Gunter Koch, the chief interpreter and judge of race rules.
``I'm still confused about that decision,'' Armstrong said.
The controversy began as Rominger led Stage 5 heading into downtown Roanoke during a fierce thunderstorm. He crashed while turning onto Jamison Avenue from Ninth Street in Southeast Roanoke, right across from Hardee's. Armstrong teammate Laurent Madouas slid in the same turn and fell on top of Rominger, who scraped his left elbow, left hip and right calf.
``Me, I came in front and crashed,'' said Rominger, who raced Monday with bandages on the injured elbow and leg. ``I was the first one in [and] I fell hard. I don't feel good about it. You never feel good about a crash.''
Under international rules, a rider who crashes in the final kilometer loses no time on its group of riders. Rominger, who finished 1:08 behind eventual winner Armstrong, was given the same time as the pack that trailed the winner by 16 seconds.
According to the detailed information on the course map, the corner where Rominger wrecked is a half-mile (nine-tenths of a kilometer) from the finish, meaning Koch made the proper decision. However, a race observer who measured the distance in an automobile found the distance to be closer to 11/2 miles (approximately 21/2 kilometers). That would make the decision unprecedented.
It was an extreme example of Swiss timing. Some viewed the decision as a way to keep the well-liked Armstrong from running away with the race and the well-known Rominger in contention.
Koch defended the decision in a statement that read: ``So many riders were crashing that we couldn't get all their numbers. We are responsible for the health of riders, and we had to do this so as not to encourage riders to take unneeded risks under such extreme conditions.''
As expected, Rominger agreed with the official. He said a similar decision was made after a pack of riders crashed near the end of a Tour of Spain stage in 1993. Rominger, who was not involved in that accident, won the overall race.
Armstrong, however, was not quite as agreeable before Monday's stage.
``That [crash site] was three or four kilometers'' from the finish, Armstrong said. ``It's black and white. That's the rule.''
Nor was he any more understanding afterward.
``We have rules,'' he said. ``We should stick to them. I like Tony Rominger. I don't want him to get hurt. ... But a rule's a rule.''
After the race, while meeting with Koch, Armstrong sarcastically told the official: ``That Mountain Lake [climb] is really extreme. Maybe we ought to give everybody the same time.''
Koch's response?
``I don't think he thought it was very funny,'' Armstrong said.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ARNE KUHLMANN/Staff. France's Jean Cyril Robin, a memberby CNBof the Festina team, looks back to check his lead in a sprint line
heading through New Castle on Route 311 during Monday's Stage 6 of
the Tour DuPont. color.