April 7/02 9:36 am - Tour of Flanders Update

Posted by Editor on 04/7/02
 

Tour of Flanders - World Cup #2

There are about 65 kilometres remaining in this 263 kilometre classic. The situation is that four riders went clear at the 33 kilometre mark - Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner), Alexis Rodriguez (Kelme), Jan Kuyckx (Vlaanderen) and Erwin Thijs (Palmans). Their lead reached a maximum of 20 minutes at the halfway mark, but has been coming down steadily since; currently they are approximately 9 minutes ahead of a front group of 25, with the peloton a further 30 seconds back.

There have been a number of crashes in the peloton, due primarily to the cobbled sections and the narrow roads. U.S. Postal has been particularly active at the front of the pack, working hard for their designated leader George Hincapie. Overall world cup leader Mario Cipollini (Acqua & Sapone) is still in the peloton.
Check back in approximately an hour and a half for the finish.