Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 2, 1995 TAG: 9505020131
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
This time, the devilish switchback of Mount Chestnut hardly had a chance to stick its pitchfork in the Tour DuPont cyclists.
Thanks to plenty of warnings to the field, the dangerous hairpin turn on the descent of the Roanoke County mountain only got close enough to prick a few riders Monday during Stage 5.
``This time, everybody knew about the difficulty of the turn,'' said Karin DeBenedetti, a member of the Tour's medical staff. ``There was a lot of publicity on this one after last year. And, believe me, the word gets around pretty fast.''
Last year, Australian amateur Brett Dennis, traveling much too briskly during the Roanoke Valley time trial, failed to negotiate the near-90-degree curve and skidded deep off the mountainside, suffering a fractured left hip.
DeBenedetti, one of the medical staff members who picked Dennis out of the trees, did her part Monday to make certain there would be no more thrill shows. As each contestant approached the switchback, the iron-lunged Tour official bellowed like a boot-camp sergeant, urging the rider to ``slow down ... slow down ... bad turn ahead.''
If a rider didn't hear DeBenedetti - better hand him a cotton swab for those ears if he didn't - all he had to do was read.
Approximately 100 yards before the turn someone had painted ``WHOA'' on the pavement. Painted inside the turn was the sound advice ``HANG ON.'' And a tombstone marked ``RIP '94'' was drawn at the curve's outer edge, near where Dennis left the pavement.
Dennis, with a metal plate in his left hip as a result of last year's spill, was the sixth rider through the turn Monday. There would be no encore performance for the fans, or for the nurses who adored him during his post-crash stay at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
``I was ready this time,'' Dennis said. ``I had been racing with a German guy [Torsten Schmidt] and he had just passed me back. I saw him get hard on the brakes. I said to myself, `Bleep you, mate. Go on 'cause I'm taking it easy.'''
Despite having its hand tipped, the dastardly downhill turn that snakes through the middle of Paul Grisso's Mountain Top orchards didn't go quietly. Several riders, either through ignorance or the belief that they could make up time on a conservative field, entered the turn too hot and nearly got burned.
Jean-Pierre Heynderickx, one of the first riders to leave the Salem Civic Center, got caught in some loose gravel while trying desperately to brake and laid down his bike before finding the mountain's edge.
At least a half-dozen more riders swept into the turn too fast, got loose while jamming the brakes and skidded perilously close to disaster before making a late save.
Grisso, who rode his own bicycle through the switchback when it was gravel 50 years ago, was one of some 100 fans who had climbed the mountain to watch Monday's action. He was a little bit disappointed.
``I wish they didn't have Mama [DeBenedetti] there telling 'em what to do,'' Grisso, 68, said. ``I want to see a little action, but I doubt anything will happen with all the warnings.
``Now you don't want to ever see anybody get hurt, but these guys are the best in the world. They shouldn't need warnings.
``For next year, I guess we'll have to have some construction done to change the road. We need to put another kink in it or something. These boys just know it too well now.''
by CNB