Hello,
A few weeks ago, I watched this great doco by CBS on YT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQsJK81rZ4E about the infamous 1988 Paris-Roubaix.
I was way too young to have watched live but this edition is still famous for having crowned an obscure domestique, survivor of the early morning breakaway. As a fan of that race and a historical fanatic, I'm still quite disappointed at what happened then, even though I can't take anything away from Demol, for he deserved his win, of course.
Apparently, the breakaway included the multi-talented young American Roy Knickman, about whom Guimard said he discovered the new LeMond when he contracted him and never really match those expectations. He entered the Aremberg Forest, first, increased the speed but eventually punctured and would never catch the lead group again. The bunch entered the Forest 5 minutes behind, which is - I think - not much.
What happened next? The leaders were staring at each other, but who? I could see Kelly chasing himself despite having a team mate in front, namely Thomas Wegmuller. Adri van der Poel did chase, I think. Who really sucked wheels? What about Fignon? He didn't talk about that race in his book (much to my disappointment) and constantly bragged that he was an aggressive rider. I guess many of you started watching cycling by that time, so I really wanna know what happened then.
By the way, Dirk Demol backed up his win in Roubaix with a win in the Flemish Ardenne Circuit (Omloop der Vlaamse Ardennen), which was a well-known semi-classic back then and has now become the Three Days of West-Flanders.
Thomas Wegmuller was a very powerful time-trialist, who really helped Demol as a derny. He finished 3rd at the Nation GP 1989 (behind Fignon and Mottet, all three using the tri-bars) and made the very same trick in the 1992 Tour of Flanders when he and Durand were morning escapists who survived the return of the top guns. The irony is that my youth idol - Edwig Van Hooydonck - who was fooled by this move, got his revenge a few weeks later at the Tour of Ireland, when he escaped with Thomas Wegmuller in a climb with some 20km to go, resisted the return of the bunch and since Wegmuller can sprint to save his life, Eddy Bosberg caught the stage win. Obviously he would have preferred a 3rd win at the Tour of Flanders.
A few weeks ago, I watched this great doco by CBS on YT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQsJK81rZ4E about the infamous 1988 Paris-Roubaix.
I was way too young to have watched live but this edition is still famous for having crowned an obscure domestique, survivor of the early morning breakaway. As a fan of that race and a historical fanatic, I'm still quite disappointed at what happened then, even though I can't take anything away from Demol, for he deserved his win, of course.
Apparently, the breakaway included the multi-talented young American Roy Knickman, about whom Guimard said he discovered the new LeMond when he contracted him and never really match those expectations. He entered the Aremberg Forest, first, increased the speed but eventually punctured and would never catch the lead group again. The bunch entered the Forest 5 minutes behind, which is - I think - not much.
What happened next? The leaders were staring at each other, but who? I could see Kelly chasing himself despite having a team mate in front, namely Thomas Wegmuller. Adri van der Poel did chase, I think. Who really sucked wheels? What about Fignon? He didn't talk about that race in his book (much to my disappointment) and constantly bragged that he was an aggressive rider. I guess many of you started watching cycling by that time, so I really wanna know what happened then.
By the way, Dirk Demol backed up his win in Roubaix with a win in the Flemish Ardenne Circuit (Omloop der Vlaamse Ardennen), which was a well-known semi-classic back then and has now become the Three Days of West-Flanders.
Thomas Wegmuller was a very powerful time-trialist, who really helped Demol as a derny. He finished 3rd at the Nation GP 1989 (behind Fignon and Mottet, all three using the tri-bars) and made the very same trick in the 1992 Tour of Flanders when he and Durand were morning escapists who survived the return of the top guns. The irony is that my youth idol - Edwig Van Hooydonck - who was fooled by this move, got his revenge a few weeks later at the Tour of Ireland, when he escaped with Thomas Wegmuller in a climb with some 20km to go, resisted the return of the bunch and since Wegmuller can sprint to save his life, Eddy Bosberg caught the stage win. Obviously he would have preferred a 3rd win at the Tour of Flanders.
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