With only 24 hours before the first rider roars through the streets of the Dutch town of s’Hertogenbosch in the opening prologue stage of the 1996 Tour de France, anticipation in the European cycling community is mounting to fever pitch.
Britain’s Chris Boardman, winner of the prologue in 1994 on a similar circuit in Lille, is the hot favorite to take the first "maillot jaune" of 1996, on a fast, flat 9.4-kilometer circuit that is well-suited to his time trialing skills.
LOTTO AND TELEKOM FINALIZE TEAMS
Belgian team Lotto has named its line-up for this year’s Tour. Australian climber Scott Sunderland will make his first appearance in the Tour de France, after coming close to selection on several previous occasions. He is joined by Paul Van Hyfte, Nico Mattan, Andrei Tchmil, Oleg Kozlitine, Thomas Fleischer, Marc Wauters, Peter Farazijn and Peter Verbeken. Telekom also finalized their Tour squad, while several of the other 21 teams have not yet made their selections. Led by Denmark’s Bjarne Riis, third in the Tour in 1995, the German team will also include top sprinter Erik Zabel, Rolf Aldag, Udo Bolts, Christian Henn, Jens Heppner, Brian Holm, Mario Kummer and Peter Meinert.
MAPEI TO GO IT ALONE?
Rumors concerning a split between the two co-sponsors of super team Mapei/GB have been scorned by Patrick Lefevre, directeur sportif to the Tony Rominger-led squad.
However, GB, a Belgian supermarket chain, has not yet signed a deal for the next two years. "They’re due to meet shortly to take a decision," said Lefevre. Mapei/GB’s squad for the Tour will consist of Rominger, Abraham Olano, Andrea Tafi, Jon Unzaga, Johan Museeuw, Paolo Lanfranchi, Federico Echave, Wilfried Peeters and Arsenio Gonzales.
LEBLANC STAYS COOL
Jean Marie Leblanc, the Tour’s race director, confirmed that he has received a letter containing veiled terrorist threats from Spanish separatist movement, ETA. The letter is said to target the Tour’s showpiece Spanish stage to Pamplona in Miguel Indurain’s home region.
"We are taking it seriously and every precaution will be taken," said Leblanc. In 1992 when the race visited San Sebastian in northern Spain, two press cars were destroyed by fire bombs, which were thought to have been planted by ETA.
IN BRIEF ...
* Dublin and Berlin are vying to host the start of the 1999 Tour de France.
* Legendary French cycling journalist Pierre Chany has died at the age of 73. Chany followed every edition of the race since 1947.
* Festina is to remain on as main sponsor to the French team, led by Richard Virenque, until 1999.
* Tony Rominger’s final Tour acclimatization was spent in Tenerife, training in hot and humid conditions.
* NIKE will provide the clothing for the leader’s jerseys in this year’s Tour classifications categories. In 1997, they will supply all official clothing associated with the Tour.