September 26/98 10:16 am - Singleton Wins Gold, Switzerland, Thanks, Vuelta and More

Posted by Editor on 09/26/98
 

Masters Track World Championships - Manchester, England

Gord Singleton, the former Keirin World Champion (and silver medallist in the Sprint) has won another world title at the Masters World's:

750M - Men 40-44

1. Gordon Singleton (Canada) 50.382 seconds
2. Gil Hatton (United States) 50.671
3. Dave Le Grys (Great Britain) 51.116

Among other Canadian results: Rolphe de Gannes was 14th in the 500M time trial (ages 60-64), Ferdi de Gannes 5th in the 65+ 500M and Norman Sheil 8th (same age category). Sheil also has taken a silver medal in the Men's 2000M Individual Pursuit (65+). We knew Gord and some other Canadians were going over (although they were trying to keep it quiet), look for a strong Canadian team in the Olympic Sprint (from what we hear...).

IPC World Cycling Championships
(courtesy Alex Cloutier)

We just received this message from Alex regarding Canadian Tandem results (sighted/blind rider pair).

Some problems on the track: We got 3 new track tandems, but the rear fork was not enough wide to fitting a 23mm tire! The eccentric bottom bracket didn't fit so, we went to a Harley Davidson shop to fix it. And with the new tandems we didn't have lots of time to practice on the track. So the best performance was 5th on the Pursuit and the Flying 200M by the mixte team of Alexandre Cloutier and Julie Cournoyer.

On the road: Saturday was the road race and Sunday the time trial.

Men's road race: Good performance for the less experienced team of Fabien Bergeron and Yvon Provencher - they finished 6th. It was their first international race.

Mixte road race: The only tandem we had finished 3rd behind Spain and Italy.

Men TT: Good work for the Western tandem from BC. Min Van Velzen and Brian Cowie got a really good 2nd place, just 3 seconds behind the Swiss team.

Mixte TT: Alexandre and Julie climbed another step on the podium to finish 2nd behind the Italian Team. Good performances in Colorado Springs for the whole team!


Inside News From Switzerland
(courtesy Lynn Barry)

A women's National Squad is currently riding the Tour de Suisse. They are Leigh Hobson, Lyne Bessette, Heather Cole, Stacy Spencer and Sandy Espeseth from B.C. I have spoken to Heather, but I am sorry I do not have placings. I thought I would pass on an interesting story. As I reported a week ago, Heather had crashed rather badly at the World Cup in the Netherlands. Well her luck has not been much better over the last week. She was taken down twice more at the Netherlands race, as well as got two flats (at the same time). She missed the opportunity to sprint twice due to crashes. She also received a 2 minute penalty for drafting in the caravan, (after chasing for 25K after the flats). Arriving in Switzerland promised to change her luck. Well, at the start of the prologue, the handler let go of her bike, before the starter finished counting down, and she toppled over on the start ramp. Then on stage two, with 90K completed of the 130K stage, her chain broke, while cresting a climb. She finally got a spare bike, and then had to stop again to get her's back, when it was fixed, as the spare was too big. Through all of it she has managed to keep her sense of humour, but she is really looking forward to a few incident free days. (Ed. Note: Okay, now everybody say a few prayers for Heather...). And here are more Canadian results from Switzerland:

Prologue - .6 km

17. Stacey Spencer (Can) 1:04
39. Leigh Hobson (Can) 1:06
50. Sandy Espeseth (Can) 1:06

Stage 1 - Baden, 58 km

40. Leigh Hobson (Can) s.t as stage winner
(Note: we have word that the other Canadians also finished in the pack)

GC (after stage 1)

8. Lyne Bessette (Can) at 0:02
36. Leigh Hobson (Can) 0:06
45. Sandy Espeseth (Can) s.t.


Paul's Dirty Enduro, Ontario
(courtesy Kevin Hill)

Hello there...I was looking through the calender and it read that there was rumours of this Mtn. Biking event. Well, I am here to tell you that it's not just a rumour. The 3rd annual Paul's Dirty Enduro is happening on Sunday Sept. 27th,1998.....that's this weekend. There are 10, 25, 60 and 100km rides and all are one loop. I have done it every year and I can say from experience that the 100km ride is one of the, if not the, hardest rides around Ontario. Last year the winning time was around 6 hrs, and he must have been smoking....After the race my bones were rattling for about a week....But hey, there are free massages happening. The course has changed a bit this year cause Rob wanted to make it harder....So check it out, it is an event not to be missed. Contact Rob or Monique at 905- 797-3246 for times...By the way it's happening in the Ganaraska Forest Conservation area, east of Oshawa, North of Port Hope region.


Thanks!

We received this message from Chrissy Redden. She sent it to us, but we feel that it is for everyone who cheered her (and the rest of the Canadian riders) on this season.

The 1998 mountain bike season is now over for me. I must say that I'm very pleased in the way the whole year turned out, and finishing 7th on the weekend at Mt. St. Anne just topped the year for me. This year was very consistent for me (finishing every world cup and championships between 7th and 10th) and I think this reflects the spectacular support I've had from all of you throughout this season. Thank-you for the material support, mental support, physical support and all around just understanding my dreams.

Thanks again, Chrissy Redden


Vuelta Espana

Stage 20 - Segovia to Puerta de Navacerrada, 203 km

1. Andrei Zintchenko, Russia, Vitalicio Seguros, 5:33:33
2. Roberto Heras, Spain, Kelme-Costa Blanca,
3. Jose Maria Jimenez, Spain, Banesto,
4 Fernando Escartin, Spain, Kelme-Costa Blanca,
5. Lance Armstrong, Austin, Texas, US Postal Service, all s.t.
6. Marco Serpellini, Italy, Brescialat-Liquiga, at 1:07
7. Abraham Olano, Spain, Banesto, 1:09
8. Marcos Serrano, Spain, Kelme-Costa Blanca, 1:18
9. Laurent Jalabert, France, ONCE-Deustche Bank, 1:49
10. Alvaro Galdeano, Spain, Euskatel, 2:01

GC

1. Jose Maria Jimenez, Spain, Banesto, 88.48:17
2. Fernando Escartin, Spain, Kelme-Costa Blanca, at 0:06
3. Abraham Olano, Spain, Banesto, 0:38
4. Roberto Heras, Spain, Kelme-Costa Blanca. 1:34
5. Laurent Jalabert, France, ONCE-Deustche Bank, 1:40
6. Lance Armstrong, Austin, Texas, US Postal Service, 2:49
7. Alvaro Galdeano, Spain, Euskatel, 4:33
8. Alex Zuelle, Switzerland, Festina, 6:44
9. Marco Serpellini, Italy, Brescialat-Liquiga, 7:28
10. Marcos Serrano, Spain, Kelme-Costa Blanca, 7:41


Suggestions Please!

We are getting ready to put up our voting page for the Canadian Cyclists of the Year awards, and we want your suggestions for some additional categories (to the Top Male and Female Riders categories) that we ran last year. Post your suggestions on the Forums, so that they can be debated, and after the Road World's (2 weeks away) we will finalize things and put the voting page up.