July 15/99 12:11 pm - Dierckxsen Wins in Breakaway, Mississauga Results, Cascade Classic
Posted by Editor on 07/15/99
Posties Let Long Break Go
After two very hard days in the Alps, and after US Postal increased leader Lance Armstrong's lead over his nearest competitors to over seven and a half minutes, the peleton allowed a break of 'no-hopers' to get away. The 198.5 kilometre stage from Bourg d'Oisans to St-Etienne had no major climbs (2 Cat. 2's and a Cat. 4), so there was no chance to really break things up. Thus, when a break of 7 formed after the first climb (Col de Parmenie) it was allowed to drift away. In the break were Alex Vinikourov (Casino), Rik Verbrugge (Lotto), Ludo Dierckxsen (Lampre) and Dmitri Konyshev (Mercatone Uno). The top rider in the break was Vinkourov, over 43 minutes down on Armstrong.
US Postal set tempo at the front of the peleton, high enough to discourage further breakaway attempts, but slow enough that the break gradually increased their lead to 6, the 9, then 15, and finally over 18 minutes as the front riders reached the final climb of the day - the Col de la Croix Chaubouret. Dierckxesn attacked the break at that point, gaining a gap of 48 seconds by the summit on a chase group of 4 (including Konyshev, Verbrugge, Vinkourov and Wladimir Belli (Festina). Dierckxsen extended his lead to over a minute on the descent to the finish, taking a solo victory ahead of Konyshev and Vinikourov. Belli was 4th and Verbrugge 5th. The peleton still hasn't finished at this point, and is over 22 minutes down.
Mississauga Wednesday Night Crit Results
(courtesy Peter McCaffery)
EVENT # 14 DATE: July 14th. Handicap event
DISTANCE: 60 KM - 27 LAPS. Av. Sp.: scratch (break) 46.6 KPH. Handicap 45.5
WEATHER: Muggy & overcast to start then sunny and cooler for rest of event. Medium NW wind. 26 C.
The fastest event to date. Both groups rode hard nearly all the way and only a 7 man break managed to catch the handicap group, with Kiro very effectively blocking for eventual winner Kevin Speacht. Amy Jarvis, Intersport, did a very creditable ride in this very fast race, finishing 15th. In the same time as the winner.
| POS | NAME | CLUB | CAT | TIME | PTS |
| 1 | Kevin Speacht | Kiro | 2 | 1:19:30 | 12 |
| 2 | Matthias Schmidt | Exit Realty | 1 | s.t. | 11 |
| 3 | Don Zuck | Pavan | MB | s.t. | 10 |
| 4 | Matt Hansen | Jet Fuel | 1 | s.t. | 9 |
| 5 | Christian Hansen | KHS | 1 | s.t. | 8 |
| 6 | Peter Morse | Trek | 1 | s.t. | 7 |
| 7 | Mark Shaw | Chain Reaction | 3 | s.t. | 6 |
| 8 | ??? | 5 | |||
| 9 | Greg Borden | Schwinn Canada | MB | s.t. | 4 |
| 10 | Rob Sule | Chain Reaction | 3 | s.t. | 3 |
| 11 | Ed Makarchuk | Ind. | 3 | s.t. | 2 |
ALL OTHER ENTRANTS GET ONE POINT. 82 STARTERS, 54 FINISHERS
Congrats to Amy Jarvis 15th. , in main bunch
Cascade Stage Race
(courtesy ?)
Stage One results/GC
1 Floyd Landis Mercury 4:08:30
2 David Clinger Mercury same time
3 Vasiliy Davidenko Navigators 0:28
4 Scott Moninger Mercury 0:28
5 Antonio Cruz L'Equipe Cheval 1:14
6 Patrick Heaney G.S. Lombardis 1:14
7 Thurlow Rogers Mercury 1:14
8 Mark Walters Navigators 1:14
9 Jesus Zarate Mercury 1:14
10 Chris Baldwin Navigators 1:14
11 Brendon Vesty Navigators 1:14
12 Dominique Perras Nutra-Fig 1:14
13 John D. Hunt G.S. Lombardis 1:14
14 Mark Southard Pacific Financial 1:14
15 Ron Schmeer Nutra-Fig 3:09
16 Roy Knickman Mercury 3:09
17 Chris Humbert Net.Now/Cisco 13:07
18 Adam Livingston Nutra-Fig 13:07
19 Aaron Olson Nutra-Fig 13:10
20 Timothy Larkin L'Equipe Cheval 13:52
TEAM GC
1 Mercury 12:25:58
2 Navigators at 02:28
3 Nutra-Fig 17:02
4 L'Equipe Cheval 29:35
5 Pacific Financial 32:38
6 Net.Now/Cisco 42:33
7 Reno Wheelmen 44:23
8 Alto Velo/MCR 44:23
9 Wizards of the Coast 44:23
10 Davis Bike Club 46:21
11 Safeway/Saturn 46:21
KOM
Brendon Vesty 17
Floyd Landis 9
Scott Moninger 7
The 1999 Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon Cascade Cycling Classic was near domination by the Mercury cycling team. The green- and white-clad riders swept three of the top four places in the 111-mile Deschutes Brewery Bachelor ESB Road Race as Floyd Landis finished alone save for teammate David Clinger. Taking advantage of having six riders in the definitive 16-strong early breakaway that formed, the Mercury men sealed the day's stage victory on the descent back into Bend, Oregon. The only team to mount a challenge to the Mercury might was the Navigators team that placed Russian national runner-up, Vasiliy Davidenko third, 28 seconds behind Landis and Clinger.
The Deschutes Brewery Bachelor ESB Road Race starts with a 19-mile climb up Century Drive to Mt. Bachelor ski lodge. Unlike last year's early aggression by 1998 Classic winner, Lance Armstrong, the field stayed together until the first King of the Mountains spring at mile 14. There, the field swept away early solo leader, Victor Ayala (Team Xtreme) and surged away to the second K.O.M. at mile 18. What happened next was described by Chris Baldwin of the Navigators as "a series of attacks. We wanted to have someone with every Mercury rider. Dave [Clinger] and I were the last two to get on the break." The break was a group of sixteen heavy with Mercury and Navigators teammates (ten total!) but without USPro Champion, Marty Jemison. The Postal Service rider had apparently initiated the final surges that led to the breakaway forming but, in the words of one rider, "missed the boat." A cross-wind at the top of Century Drive discouraged the peleton from organizing a chase, and an initial gap of 51 seconds was established after a fast descent.
Realizing their favorable numbers, Mercury quickly drove the break clear of the field. With the twisting road and thickly wooded terrain, the now cooperating leaders--including 1998 amateur champ Patrick Heaney and Nutra-Fig's Dominique Perras--ballooned their lead to 4 1/2-minutes within ten miles; the finish would see Jemison and the rest more than thirteen minutes down.
The lead group continued to hammer away until the Sparks Lake climb. The ascent is not even 1,000 feet, but coming after eighty-two miles of hard riding, it is always an important selection. Soon after starting the climb, Mercury's Clinger started an unassisted acceleration that reduced the lead group to six--Clinger, Landis and Scott Moninger for Mercury versus Navigators' Davidenko, Brendon Vesty and Mark Walters. Then, apparently not letting up after capturing the 3rd and final King of the Mountains points, Moninger powered up and over Mt. Bachelor, forcing the Navigators' hand.
Moninger had a gap of twenty-nine seconds at the top of Mt. Bachelor but looked unlikely to hold that on the upcoming 19-mile descent. But then a strange turn of events put the day and possibly the week into the hand of Mercury.
A small roller that broke up the downward sweep into Bend also was the sudden and spectacular blow-up of Navigators' Mark Walters. Moaning audibly, Walters' distress caused teammate, New Zealander Brendon Vesty, to sit up momentarily. First Clinger and then Landis jumped away with only Davidenko to cover. Moninger was alerted to this change in events and waited for his teammates. Davidenko, veteran of such classics as Milan-San Remo and Tirreno-Adriatico, grimly hung on, knowing what was coming next.
What did come was a series of vicious attacks ten kilometers from the line that saw Landis and Clinger finish clear. Clinger, who had to take a bike change due to derailleur-in-the-spokes trouble, admitted that Mercury "had a plan." The twenty-one year old said that "We have three or four riders climbing really well and knew we could cover all of the moves." With three of the top four, Mercury could now dictate all of the moves.
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