|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |
Celestial finish Tchmil wins overall World Cup title
Posted: Saturday October 16, 1999 04:56 PM
BERGAMO, Italy (AP) -- Italy's Mirko Celestino won a five-man sprint Saturday to win the season-ending Tour of Lombardy classic while Belgium's Andrei Tchmil stayed close to the front and clinched the season's World Cup title. Tchmil, a native of Russia, who entered the race with a 60-point lead over over Dutchman Michael Boogerd, finished 14th, among a pack 11 seconds behind the lead group. But he also finished just ahead of the 15th-placed Boogerd, giving him the crown despite having won only one race -- the Milan-San Remo in March, but finishing in the top 25 in all 10 events. Celestino, a member of the Italian team in the road World Championships at Verona last Sunday, won his second World Cup race this season, prevailing at the finish in his hometown. The Italian member of Team Polti edged unheralded compatriots Danilo Di Luca and Eddy Mazzoleni after catching the three early fugitives on the final stretch. Swiss Oscar Camenzind, the 1998 World road Champion and Tour of Lombardy winner, finished fourth ahead of Russian Dmitri Konyshev. Swiss Marcus Zberg, winner of the Milan-Turin race on Wednesday and silver medallist in the world road title at Verona, led the chasing group in sixth place, 11 seconds behind the winner. Celestino completed the 262-kilometer (162.4-mile) course from Varese to this northern city, including three tough climbs, in six hours, 21 minutes, 50 seconds. World time trial champion Jan Ullrich of Germany was forced to stop in the final kilometers with bike chain problems, costing the pre-race favorite his chance while trailing the leaders by only seconds. Newly crowned world champion Oscar Freire Gomez of Spain burts ahead with a breakaway that was overwhelmed by the pack 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) from the finish. Celestino sprinted ahead 200 meters from the finish and fought off the rally of Di Luca and Mazzoleni. "I was in good form following the world race [at Verona] ... it was good to win at home. The sprint was very close but there was no need for me to check for photo finish. I knew I had won," Celestino said
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
