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Sunday, 22 April, 2001, 16:12 GMT 17:12 UK
Camenzind sprints to victory
 Oskar winner: Swiss class act's biggest win since 1998
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Oskar Camenzind had the strongest sprint after an attritional 258km of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race on Sunday. It was the Swiss former World Champion's biggest win since his 1998 triumph in the worlds. The Lampre rider beat a top-class group including world number one Francesco Casagrande and three others with previous top five finishes here. Davide Exteberria had launched the final attack, creating the five-man final break, on the penultimate climb with 6km to go.
The effort by the Spaniard from the all-Basque Euskaltel team was ably assisted by Italians Casagrande and Davide Rebellin. Dutchman Michael Boogerd and Camenzind joined the trio on the long haul before a game of cat-and-mouse up the final climb, the Cote d'Ans. Repeated attacks from Casagrande could not shake off the other five, although they did weaken the sprint of Boogerd, the fastest finisher of the quintet in normal circumstances. But the Liege event is no regular event and, once the steep climn had been scaled, Boogerd simply had nothing more to offer in the final 300m sprint to the line. Casagrande is a fast climber, rather than a sprinter, so was also forced to watch the other three, with their greater all-round gifts, race for victory. This time last year Rebellin and Etxeberria lost out in the sprint to Italy's Paolo Bettini. And the Spaniard and the Italian saw history repeat itself when it mattered most, as Camenzind spoilt their day this year. Jersey and zip The Swiss has had relatively barren seasons since he wore the World Champion's rainbow jersey, a garment which many believe comes with a curse. Camenzind had triumphed in awful Dutch weather at the world championships in 1998 before winning the Tour of Lombardy the following week. But the following seasons saw a number of failures, most publicly at the Fleche Wallonne. Frozen fingers meant he could not unzip an item of clothing at a crucial moment. Mapei nightmare Liege-Bastogne-Liege is the oldest of the spring Classics, and also the longest and hilliest. Local rider Marc Streel, riding for Collstrop-Palmans, set a blistering early pace, building up a near 20-minute lead in the early stages. With 70 kilometres to go, a leading pack of 13 were over a minute ahead of the main peloton but that lead was gradually whittled away into the closing stages. The major losers of the race were the world's leading single-day team, Mapei, winners of the team World Cup in 2000 but now well adrift in this year's race. Former winners Bettini and Italian champion Michele Bartoli, a double winner here, missed the crucial breaks throughout the race. Both finished in the second group, 25 seconds adrift - close but nowhere near close enough for the world's richest team. Title race This race was the fourth in the 10-event World Cup series. Latvian series leader Romans Vainsteins sat out this Sunday's ride but will once again wear the leader's jersey at next week's Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands. With almost half of the series gone the title race is wide open, with six riders, including Camenzind, within 17 points of the leader. |
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