Ah, so the officials' first impulse, not surprisingly, was a chauvinistic one, but in the end about as fair a decision as one could expect, under the circumstances. I didn't know that a group of three was misdirected in this incident. Wonder how they sorted out the other podium places? "Equal second" and "equal third"?
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
"Silver, Mordecai" <MSilver@iso.com> wrote:
http://thepez.com/
"1949: Major confusion: COPPI ? MAHE ? No, it was not Fausto who was the fastest of the lot. It was Serse Coppi, his brother, who won the sprint of the leading peloton. Though he passed the finish line first, he was not declared the winner. The officials gave the victory flowers to André Mahé, who was leading a group of three (including Moujica and Leenen) that arrived first on the last straight, but was wrongly directed by a race official. By the time they realised, the pursuit group had already finished. Mahé was nevertheless declared the winner, but - after an official protest - Serse Coppi was put ex-aequo with André Mahé, thus winning his one and only classic race. The sequels of a fall in the 1951 Tour of Piemont will put an end to Serse's life."
Mordecai Silver NYC
-----Original Message----- From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos [mailto:jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net] Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 3:06 PM To: Silver, Mordecai; Classic Rendezvous Subject: Re: [CR]Paris-Roubaix
I note Andre Mahe and Serse Coppi "equal first" in 1949. Was this the incident where the leading rider was misdirected off course by an official just before the finish and he and the consequent first finisher declared co-winners? If so, which rider was misdirected? Is this the most contraversial finish, or has there ever been an apparent winner disqualified?
Probably the only reason the famous TdF disqualification for assistance repairing a fork didn't happen half a dozen times in P-R is that such a lengthy repair in a one day calssic would drop one out of the prizes anyway.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
"Silver, Mordecai" wrote: Here are some photos of old Paris-Roubaix winners:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/
Mordecai Silver
NYC