History
Through a long but somewhat chequered history, Paris - Tours remains still one of the great classics. The great enemy, as in Paris - Brussels, is the wind. When it is from the South-West, the race can become a slog - Peter Pieters averaged just 34kmh to win in 1988, the slowest winning speed for 57 years. Conversely, if the wind is behind, the race takes on its role of fastest of all the classics; it was for his winning average of nearly 42kmh that Gustaf Daneels was awarded the first Ruban Jaune in 1936, and that award has remained intimately tied up with Paris - Tours ever since. When Andrei Tchmil won in 1997, he averaged over 48kmh for a race of 250km.
The route and format have varied somewhat over the years; the first part takes in the hills of the Chevreuse Valley before running along the Loire, generally flat and fast. As the roads improved in the 1920s and speeds went up, the event became known as the Sprinters' Classic. To prevent this state of affairs, in 1959 the organisers added a finishing circuit with a hill called l'Alouette, to be covered three times. By supreme irony, the winner, in a solo break, was Van Looy, the quickest sprinter in the race! The next restriction, in 1965, was to limit the riders to just two gears, enforced by having double sided hubs, last used in the 1930s. Somehow sufficient hubs were rounded up for the entire peloton, but to little avail; even more the race became a flat burn up to Tours. That the winners were Reybroeck twice and Karstens speaks volumes about the efficacy of the idea, which was soon quietly dropped.
Throughout the seventies and early eighties, more fundamental changes took place, with the event being reversed, generally as Blois - Chaville. This presented a different character to the race, since now the Chevreuse came at the end of the race, rather than the beginning, and some interesting racing took place. However in 1988, the race reverted to the traditional Paris - Tours, without the Alouette climb, and with the finish on the long, straight Avenue de Grammont - the classic ending to the Sprinters' Classic. (Tom James)
Local Flavour
Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines : the art of living
A charming little town in the Chevreuse Valley, favoured by cyclists, Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines (5.700 inhabitants) ten years ago decided to house the start of Paris-Tours. Hence, over a 48 hour period, an animation takes hold of the town. A real art of living can be felt in Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines, where Paris-Tours returns to its Autumn quarters in a very pleasant atmosphere, especially if the Autumn sun is shining down.
Tours: Sport is second nature
With 137,000 inhabitants, an urban area of 298,000 inhabitants and approximately 30,000 students, the town of Tours, in the heart of the Central Region of France ? of which it is the largest town ? is situated on a major axis of European communication (a motorway ?star? with five branches) and figures among the great economic centres situated less than an hour from Paris (by TGV). Thanks to the recent direct link up with Roissy- Charles-de-Gaulle airport (1h45), the town now has a real international vocation.
Endowed with a remarkably preserved architectural, historical and cultural inheritance, Tours is a town with a captivating charm. A town of art and history, a former Gallo-Roman city, then capital of the kingdom of France, Tours benefits from an exceptional situation in the heart of the famous Loire Valley with its prestigious chateaux. Tours is also a welcoming and friendly town with its gastronomy, encounters through unique events, its symphony orchestra, opera, choral singing, French melodies, contemporary music, theatre, contemporary dance. In total, 14 festivals are proposed yearly to the people of Tours.
Sport in Tours is second nature! Tours and its surrounding areas have the use of exceptional infrastructures : a Sports Centre, one of the biggest in France, a water sports complex, a stadium with more than 13,000 places, three 18 hole golf courses and a Regional Sports Centre. On top of all that, the Town doesn?t forget those for whom sport is synonymous with liberty and discovery : hence spaces for rollerblading and jogging are made available, and an emphasis is placed on the development of sport in defavourised areas. In 1999 the Town also set up a Sports School, which allows young people to try out thirty or so activities, for a very modest fee.
But the hearts of the Tours population also beat to the rhythm of the great events that puncuate the year ? cycling with the Tour de France, Tours being a stage town in 2000, or the Paris-Tours, which celebrated its centenary edition in 1996, without forgetting running races with the 20 km of Tours, the Bicross Indoor international or the Montgolfiades. (Official Site)
Preview
Former bad boy Richard Virenque may have completed his redemption, however on Sunday the Domo rider is likely to be given less freedom of expression in the Paris to Tours World Cup race.
Virenque, 32, shocked the rest of the field to win last year's Paris-Tours, the penultimate race of the season-long World Cup, after an audacious breakaway in the company of feisty French compatriot Jacky Durand.
Welcomed by his huge legion of fans who have supported him through the agonies of the Festina drugs trial two years ago, Virenque's victory had little effect in the standings as Dutchman Erik Dekker was practically assured of overall victory.
This time, the race - held over 257 mainly flat kilometers and where the maximum altitude reaches 200 meters - should be a more managed affair.
Only two points separate current World Cup leader Paolo Bettini (272) of Italy from the man who is considered the greatest one-day classic rider of recent times, Belgium's 'Lion of Flanders' Johann Museeuw (270).
Museeuw has won two of the 10 World Cup races so far in what has been a very successful season for Italian riders, who nevertheless have failed to shine on the bigger races such as the Tour de France.
With Spaniard Igor Astarloa of the Saeco team sitting in third overall on 152 points ahead of the season-ending Tour of Lombardy, on October 19, the two-man race for the title seems to be on.
However both Museeuw and Bettini will not be alone in trying to win one of the oldest races to still feature on the circuit.
The Paris-Tours has been on the go since 1896, when it was open to amateurs, and past winners include Museeuw (1993), German Erik Zabel (1994), Ukrainian-turned-Belgian Andrei Tchmil (1997) and Italian Andrea Tafi (2000).
A look at their respective physiques speaks volumes for the kind of qualities needed to win.
Virenque may not exactly fit the bill - the five-time winner of the polka dot jersey for the Tour de France's best climber would have been swallowed up last year had he been involved in a bunch sprint to the line.
On Sunday, a bunch sprint is the likely outcome, where powerfully-built sprinters like Zabel, Museeuw and McEwan could rub shoulders with Mapei's world road race champion Oscar Freire, Bettini or up and coming Australian sprinter Baden Cooke of fdjeux.com.(AP)
Team News
Saeco-Longoni Sport at Paris-Tours on Sunday
with four worlds riders and the Italian champion
Four national team riders for the world championships and the Italian national champion will represent Saeco-Longoni Sport at Paris-Tours, the penultimate round of the 2002 World Cup.
Naturally everybody will be watching the riders selected for the world championships in Zolder.
The Saeco team leader will be Spaniard Igor Astarloa one of the revelations of this year?s World Cup competition. He will be looking for another good result to defend his third place overall in the world Cup standings which he obtained thanks to great rides in the HEW Cyclassics Cup in Hamburg and the Clasica San Sebastian in Spain.
Along with Astarloa, Directuer sportif Guido Bontempi will also have Italian team member Fabio Sacchi, Lithuanian Marius Sabaliauskas, Austrian Gerrit Glomser, Italian champion Salvatore Commesso, Cristian Pepoli and Joerg Ludewig.
However Danilo Di Luca will not take part in Paris-Tours. After a lot of racing this month, he has decided to rest up and fine-tune his preparation ready for Zolder
DOMO - FARM FRITES
1 - VIRENQUE Richard FRA
2 - CRETSKENS Wilfried BEL
3 - MUSEEUW Johan BEL
4 - VAINSTEINS Romans LAT
5 - VAN BON Leon NED
6 - VAN HEESWIJK Max NED
7 - VANDENBROUCKE Frank BEL
8 - WADECKI Piotr POL
MAPEI - QUICK STEP
11 - BETTINI Paolo ITA
12 - BRAMATI Davide ITA
13 - CLERC Aurélien SUI
14 - FREIRE Oscar ESP
15 - HORRILLO Pedro ESP
16 - HULSMANS Kevin BEL
17 - NARDELLO Daniele ITA
18 - PAOLINI Luca ITA
FASSA BORTOLO
21 - BARTOLI Michele ITA
22 - IVANOV Serguei RUS
23 - KIRCHEN Kim LUX
24 - KONYSHEV Dimitri RUS
25 - LODA Nicola ITA
26 - PETACCHI Alessandro ITA
27 - TOSATTO Matteo ITA
28 - ZANETTE Denis ITA
COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE
31 - PLANCKAERT Jo BEL
32 - CLAIN Médéric FRA
33 - MATTAN Nico BEL
34 - PEERS Chris BEL
35 - TESSIER Jean-Michel FRA
36 - TOMBAK Janeck EST
37 - TRENTIN Guido ITA
38 - VASSEUR Cédric FRA
LOTTO - ADECCO
41 - MC EWEN Robbie AUS
42 - D'HOLLANDER Glenn BEL
43 - EECKHOUT Nico BEL
44 - GARDEYN Gorik BEL
45 - VAN DIJK Stefan NED
46 - VAN IMPE Kévin BEL
47 - VAN PETEGEM Peter BEL
48 - VIERHOUTEN Aart NED
SAECO - LONGONI SPORT
51 - DI LUCA Danilo ITA
52 - ASTARLOA Igor ESP
53 - COMMESSO Salvatore ITA
54 - GLOMSER Gerrit AUT
55 - LUDEWIG Jorg GER
56 - PEPOLI Christian ITA
57 - SABALIAUSKAS Marius LTU
58 - SACCHI Fabio ITA
RABOBANK
61 - WAUTERS Marc BEL
62 - BOOGERD Michaël NED
63 - BOVEN Jan NED
64 - DE JONGH Steven NED
65 - HAYMAN Mathew AUS
66 - KROON Karsten NED
67 - TRAKSEL Bobbie NED
68 - ZBERG Beat SUI
LAMPRE - DAIKIN
71 - BERTOGLIATI Rubens SUI
72 - CORTINOVIS Alessandro ITA
73 - DIERCKXSENS Ludo BEL
74 - MISSAGLIA Gabriele ITA
75 - PICCOLI Mariano ITA
76 - SCIANDRI Maximilian GBR
77 - SERPELLINI Marco ITA
78 - SPRUCH Zbigniew POL
TACCONI SPORT
81 - FRIGO Dario ITA
82 - BORTOLAMI Gianluca ITA
83 - BOSSONI Paolo ITA
84 - FERRARI Diego ITA
85 - GEROSA Mauro ITA
86 - HAUPTMAN Andrej SLO
87 - MINALI Nicola ITA
88 - RADAELLI Mauro ITA
TEAM TELEKOM
91 - ZABEL Erik GER
92 - ALDAG Rolf GER
93 - BARTKO Robert GER
94 - HONDO Danilo GER
95 - HUNDERTMARCK Kai GER
96 - KESSLER Matthias GER
97 - KLIER Andreas GER
98 - SCHAFFRATH Jan GER
TEAM COAST
101 - GUIDI Fabrizio ITA
102 - ADAMSSON Stefan SWE
103 - GIANETTI Mauro SUI
104 - HOJ Frank DEN
105 - KORFF André GER
106 - MICHAELSEN Lars DEN
107 - RADOCHLA Steffen GER
108 - SCHWEDA Raphael GER
TEAM CSC TISCALI
111 - JALABERT Laurent FRA
112 - ASMAKER Olivier FRA
113 - DEAN Julian NZL
114 - HOFFMAN Tristan NED
115 - JALABERT Nicolas FRA
116 - PIIL Jakob DEN
117 - PIZIKS Arvis LAT
118 - VAN BONDT Geert BEL
ACQUA & SAPONE - CANTINA TOLLO
121 - CIPOLLINI Mario ITA
122 - BENNATI Daniele ITA
123 - CONTI Roberto ITA
124 - GONZALEZ Santos ESP
125 - LOMBARDI Giovanni ITA
126 - POSPYEYEV Kyrylo UKR
127 - SCIREA Mario ITA
128 - TRENTI Guido USA
US POSTAL SERVICE
131 - BOONEN Tom BEL
132 - CASEY Dylan USA
133 - CRUZ Antonio USA
134 - EKIMOV Vjatceslav RUS
135 - JOACHIM Benoit LUX
136 - KJAERGAARD Steffen NOR
137 - VANDEVELDE Christian USA
138 - WHITE Matthew AUS
ONCE - EROSKI
141 - ANDRLE René CZE
142 - CARUSO Giampaolo ITA
143 - DIAZ Rafael ESP
144 - FLORENCIO Xavier ESP
145 - JAKSCHE Jorg GER
146 - NOZAL Isidro ESP
147 - PRADERA Mikel ESP
GEROLSTEINER
151 - REBELLIN Davide ITA
152 - HASELBACHER Rene AUT
153 - LANG Sebastian GER
154 - POLLACK Olaf GER
155 - RUSKYS Saulius LTU
156 - SCHMIDT Torsten GER
157 - SCHOLZ Ronny GER
158 - WROLICH Peter AUT
IBANESTO.COM
161 - MANCEBO Francisco ESP
162 - BROZYNA Thomasz POL
163 - FLECHA Juan Antonio ESP
164 - GARCIA ACOSTA Vicente ESP
165 - GUTIERREZ José Ivan ESP
166 - LASTRAS Pablo ESP
167 - OSA Aitor ESP
168 - VILA Javier ESP
CREDIT AGRICOLE
171 - HUSHOVD Thor NOR
172 - FEDRIGO Pierrick FRA
173 - HINAULT Sébastien FRA
174 - JENNER Christopher FRA
175 - MOREAU Christophe FRA
176 - O'GRADY Stuart AUS
177 - POILVET Benoit FRA
178 - VOIGT Jens GER
BIGMAT.AUBER 93
181 - HUNT Jérémy GBR
182 - AUGER Ludovic FRA
183 - BROUZES Niels FRA
184 - LEVECOT Benjamin FRA
185 - MEUNIER Nicolas FRA
186 - SAUGRAIN Cyril FRA
187 - SIVAKOV Alexei RUS
188 - TALABARDON Sébastien FRA
EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI
191 - ARTETXE Mikel ESP
192 - FLORES Iker ESP
193 - GERRIKAGOITIA Gorka ESP
194 - ISASI Inaki ESP
195 - MAYO Iban ESP
196 - SILLONIZ Aitor ESP
197 - SILLONIZ Josu ESP
198 - ZUBELDIA Haimar ESP
BONJOUR
201 - MAGNIEN Emmanuel FRA
202 - GESLIN Anthony FRA
203 - GUILBERT Charles FRA
204 - PERRAUDEAU Olivier FRA
205 - RENIER Franck FRA
206 - ROUS Didier FRA
207 - SALANSON Fabrice FRA
208 - VOECKLER Thomas FRA
FDJeux.com
211 - MC GEE Bradley AUS
212 - CASAR Sandy FRA
213 - CASPER Jimmy FRA
214 - COOKE Baden AUS
215 - DURAND Jacky FRA
216 - GUESDON Frédéric FRA
217 - VOGONDY Nicolas FRA
218 - WILSON Matthew AUS
KELME - COSTA BLANCA
221 - SEVILLA Oscar ESP
222 - GUTIERREZ Ignacio ESP
223 - GUTIERREZ José Enrique ESP
224 - JULIA CEGARRA José Cayetano ESP
225 - MUNOZ David ESP
226 - VALVERDE Alejandro ESP
AG2R PREVOYANCE
231 - KIRSIPUU Jaan EST
232 - AGNOLUTTO Christophe FRA
233 - AUS Lauri EST
234 - BOTCHAROV Alexandre RUS
235 - CAPELLE Ludovic BEL
236 - FLICKINGER Andy FRA
237 - PORTAL Nicolas FRA
238 - TURPIN Ludovic FRA
JEAN DELATOUR
241 - BROCHARD Laurent FRA
242 - AUGE Stéphane FRA
243 - BOUVARD Gilles FRA
244 - DUMOULIN Samuel FRA
245 - FINOT Frédéric FRA
246 - HALGAND Patrice FRA
247 - LAUKKA Joona FIN
248 - OLIVIER Lenaïc FRA
| 
