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86th Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) - CDM
Belgium, April 7, 2002
Photography
The race
Fotoreporter Sirotti captured plenty of the action throughout the RVV
- Calm before the storm - these boys have a hard day ahead of them
- The boys from Lampre warm themselves in the Belgian sunshine
- Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo) looks relaxed before the start
- Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo) makes some last-minute adjustments
- The peloton roll out amongst the massive crowds in Brugge's Grote Markt
- The Belgian fans wait anxiously for their heroes
- Mario Cipollini looking splendid in his World Cup leaders' outfit
- Enrico Cassani works tirelessly for his King Museeuw
- Paolo Bettini and Johan Museeuw test each others nerves in the closing stages
- Gabriele Missaglia (Lampre-Daikin) had a great ride to finish 8th
- The peleton grovel their way up the climb of the Muur de Geraardsbergen
- Remnants of the peloton struggle up the Muur de Geerardsbergen
- George Hincapie has a great day on the pave, finishing in 5th place
- Sorensen's super ride - Rolf Sorensen (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) was on the comeback trail in Flanders, eventually finishing 8th
- PVP Power - Peter Van Petegem on fire, but even his team mates couldn't take the heat, leaving him alienated
- The Lion of Flanders unleashes a ferocious attack on the climb, but it wasn't enough to claim the scalp of Andrea Tafi
- Daniele Nardello was the protagonist behind Tafi's win and Museeuw's defeat
- Tafi all'attaco - Andrea Tafi on the attack
- Andrea Tafi's winning trademark punch
- Andrea Tafi's winning trademark punch - Take 2
- I'm the King - Andrea Tafi laps it up
- Everybody clap your hands - Andrea Tafi certainly deserves a standing ovation
- Johan Museeuw crosses the line ahead of Van Petegem, Hincapie and grinning Nardello
- Andrea Tafi still can't believe he's won as he is mobbed by fans
- It's hard to control your emotions when you've won agruably the toughest of all the Classics
- Mario Cipollini had a hard day in the saddle, but the effort was worth it, and keeps his World Cup leaders jersey
- Johan Museeuw's too tired or too pissed off to hold up his own hand, so Andrea does it for him
- Big thigh club - no pure climbers in this lot
- Turning on the hose - the podium boys don't mind wasting some champers on the fans
- Whoops! - Andrea Tafi gets his aim slightly wrong
- Kissing or blowing? - Andrea's doing something with his trophy, the question is what
- Andrea Tafi licks his lips after a very sweet victory
Photo's by Frans Meijer
- A Cofidis rider leads a small group up the Eikenburg
- Andrea Tafi (Mapei) leads the break on the Eikenberg
- Mario Cipollini (Acqua&Sapone) shows off the white uniform of World Cup series leader
- Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo) struggles to escape from a TV motorbike on the Eikenberg
- Large crowds lined the roads as the riders tackled climb after climb
- The early break on the Wolvenberg: Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner), Alexis Rodriguez (Kelme) Jan Kuyckx (Vlaanderen - T Interim), Erwin Thijs (Palmans)
- Ludo Dierckxsens (Lampre-Daikin) receives some encouragement from a spectator on the Wolvenberg
Photo's by AFP
- Mario Cipollini (Acqua e Sapone) - talks to a colleague before the start
- Lance Armstrong - and his teammate Antonio Cruz (USPS) on one of the many sections of cobbles
- Johan Museeuw (Domo) - attacking on the Muur van Geraardsbergen
- Andrea Tafi - rides on the Muur van Geraardsbergen
- Andrea Tafi (Mapei) - drives the breakaway with Van Petegem, Hincapie and Nardello following
- Peter Van Petegem (Lotto) - rides in the breakaway, with Tafi on his wheel
- Andrea Tafi - punches the air in victory
- Andrea Tafi - raises his arm in victory
- Andrea Tafi - yells in triumph as he takes his first Ronde Van Vlaanderen victory
- Andrea Tafi - kisses his RVV trophy
- Mario Cipollini - was impressive for 9th spot
- The final podium - Johan Museeuw (2nd), Andrea Tafi (1st) and Peter Van Petegem (3rd)
The fans
Photo's by Jeff Jones
- Jo Planckaert (Cofidis) - leads the way on his 'quad bike', calling for the fourth member of the team to hurry up.
- Fans in Bruges - await the start of the Ronde.
- All set for the start in Bruges - The anticipation is written on the fans' faces.
- Some of the crowd at Hertsberge - kept waiting for quite some time between the breakaways and the peloton
- What the...? - It certainly ain't superman.
- The leaders - pass through Zwalm, with a 19 minute plus lead.
- An array of fans - at Mater
- Fans - gathered on the corner at Mater
- The hard core VDB fans - at Mater
- A small fan cheers Jan Kuyckx (Vlaanderen) - over the cobbles at Mater.
- Ludo Dierckxsens (Lampre) - leads the way at Mater
- Beat Zberg (Rabobank) - cruising along the cobbles at Mater
- The crowds - watch the riders come up the Oude Kwaremont, using any vantage point available.
- Belgians great and small - on the Berendries.
- Erwin Thijs (Collstrop) - still away on the Berendries
The Koppenberg
Fotoreporter Sirotti has submitted this photo essay of the famed climb.
- A scenic view - from the top of the climb
- A side on view - near the top. Yes, it's pretty steep
- The top - of the Koppenberg
- Up close and personal-like - looking down the Koppenberg.
- Looking up the steepest section - with a close up of the new cobbles.
- A Lotto-Adecco rider - gets ready to tackle the feared slope
- But comes to grief - and that's only the bottom of the climb...
- A quartet of riders - attack the bottom of the Koppenberg
- Almost - but not quite there...
- The hardest part passed - the riders head towards the top
- This is an oft-used way - to get to the top
- Another rider - tries the same tactic
