The 1996 Tour's opening stage was also marred by a series of bad crashes which left several major players, such as Luc Leblanc of Polti and Refin's sprinter Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, struggling behind the main field, although both managed to complete the stage.
Moncassin's superb battling sprint would have ensured victory under any circumstances, but Cipollini's declassification, announced by the race judges an hour after the finish, only served to emphasize the quality of the 27-year-old Toulousien's finish. With 400 meters to go, the smart money would have been on the flamboyant Italian whose sole obstacle appeared to be TVM's Jeroen Blijlevens, but Moncassin, often accused of being accident prone, who backed off after finding himself sandwiched precariously between the aggressive Cipollini and the barriers, surged forcefully and skillfully to pip the Dutch rider on the line.
The opening road stage of the Tour, even though completely flat, was predictably tense and nervous, and although the first 140 kilometers or so passed without incident, the closing hour and a half or racing saw numerous splits in the peloton and a series of falls and near-misses. It also brought the second abandon of the race, as Hernan Buenahora of Kelme withdrew with a broken wrist, after a heavy fall 45 kilometers from the finish. Largely to blame were strong cross-winds, combined with the numerous roundabouts and traffic calming measures which abound in Holland. See Tour News for information about the first rider to drop out of this year's Tour.
For Moncassin, however, his Tour stage win squared the circle after previous disappointments. In 1994, he had crashed out of the Tour - even before the prologue - after bizarrely falling off the stage at the team presentation in Lille and earlier this spring, he crashed into an errant photographer at a stage finish of the Three Days of De Panne.
"It's definitely the best win of my career," he said after the race. "Last year I was always working for Abdujaparov, but with GAN I'm able to take my chances. The team's having a great year and we've all worked very hard to be in top form for this opening week. I'd like to keep the green jersey, but if the chance comes to take more time bonuses and wear yellow, then I'll go for it."
As huge Dutch crowds came to the roadside to cheer the Tour along, the first real moves came 65 kilometers or so from the finish as first Aubervilliers' Cyril Saugrain and then Polti's Rossano Brasi tried their hand on the straight flat roads. Their break was short-lived, although the chase provoked the first of several splits in the main field. With speeds picking up as Dutch teams TVM and Rabobank moved to the front, the crashes came thick and fast.
One of the first to fall was Motorola's Frankie Andreu, who climbed unsteadily to his feet before continuing. Soon Refin was in the war zone with Cristian Salvato and then team leader Abdujaparov writhing in pain at the roadside. Leblanc's spectacular slide into the crowd brought sharp intakes of breath from the largely French press room, but after being briefly knocked out, the former world champion finally got to his feet and set off once more. With Cipollini's Saeco team moving ominously to the front of the field, it was left to Rabobank's Danny Nelissen to uphold Dutch honor and the 1995 world amateur road race champion set off on a courageous lone attack. His lead had peaked at just 20 seconds when he overshot a roundabout and narrowly avoided taking a tumble - but his impetus was lost and the bunch, now in full cry, swept past him with only seven kilometers remaining.
By now the strong cross winds and high pace had split the field even further and as the lead group of 40 or so riders flew under the final kilometer kite there were some notable absentees, including Tony Rominger, Chris Boardman, and Richard Virenque, who found themselves in no man's land, between the front and back of the race.
Ahead, Miguel Indurain, Alex Zulle, Laurent Jalabert, Abraham Olano and Bjarne Riis were hanging onto the sprinter's coat tails and Boardman's much maligned teammate was achieving his finest moment.
Stage One
s'Hertegenbosch-''Hertegenbosch
1. Frederic Moncassin (Fr), GAN 209 km in 5:00:01
2. Jeroen Blijlevens (Hol), TVM
3. Jan Svorada (Czech), Panaria
4. Nicola Minali (It), Gewiss
5. Erik Zabel (Ger), Telekom
6. Fabio Baldato (It), MG/Technogym
7. Arvis Piziks (Lit), Rabobank
8. Stefano Colage (It), Refin
9. Christophe Capelle (Fr), Aubervilliers
10. Mario Traversoni (It), Carrera all s.t.
Abandons:Hernan Buenahora (Sp), Kelme
Bulletin: Mario Cipollini (It) was relegated to last place in the front group (37th) by race judges.
General classification
1. Alex Zulle (Switz), ONCE 5:10:54
2. Evgeni Berzin (Rus), Gewiss at 0:03
3. Abraham Olano (Sp), Mapei/GB 0:07
4. Frederic Moncassin (Fr), GAN 0:09
5. Bjarne Riis (Den), Telekom 0:11
6. Miguel Indurain (Sp), Banesto 0:12
7. Laurent Jalabert (Fr), ONCE 0:15
8. Chris Boardman (GB), GAN 0:17
9. Tony Rominger (Switz), Mapei/GB 0:19
10. Melchor Mauri (Sp), ONCE 0:21
Points: Jan Svorada (Czech) Panaria
Young rider: Paolo Salvodelli (It) Roslotto
Teams: ONCE
Combativity: Danny Nelissen (Hol) Rabobank
Tour News
CONTI DROPS OUT
Panaria's Roberto Conti, winner at Alpe d'Huez in 1994, was the first rider to drop out of the 1996 Tour. Conti failed to start yesterday's prologue after going down with a feverish cold the night before. His withdrawal meant that only 197 riders, not 198 as initially reported started this year's Tour de France.
ONCE PAYS TRIBUTE TO ROJAS
All of the ONCE team rode yesterday's prologue wearing a black ribbon on their left shoulder, in remembrance of their erstwhile teammate Mariano Rojas, who died last weekend following a car crash.
CASARTELLI IS REMEMBERED
The Societe du Tour de France has invited Fabio Casartelli's widow Anna-Lisa and her son Marco to the race finish in Paris to present the best young rider prize, now known as the Souvenir Fabio Casartelli. Offered to riders under 25 years of age when the race starts, 39 of the 197 riders in this year's field are eligible for the prize. Leader of the competition after the prologue is Festina's promising young rider Christophe Moreau, while Lance Armstrong is in second place.
THE ITALIANS ARE COMING!
Twenty-four nations are represented among the peloton at this year's Tour and unsurprisingly, given their current domination of professional racing, almost a third of the peloton is Italian racers. Yet in a striking paradox, none of those 62 Italians can really be said to be contenders for final overall victory. The second best represented nation is France with 38 riders, while Spanish riders fill 23 places in the bunch. For the first time, there is a Japanese rider among the field - Daisuke Imanaka of the Italian Polti team.
CIPO'S HOT SEAT
Italy's extrovert sprint king Mario Cipollini, recently crowned the Italian road race champion, was fined 50 Swiss francs by the race organization after wearing a pair of bright red shorts during the prologue. "Doesn't bother me," shrugged Cipo after hearing the news. "I think I'll wear them every day." True to his word, he was wearing them as he rode to disqualification at the end of today's stage.