March 6/00 9:03 am - Jeanson in Yellow!

Posted by Editor on 03/6/00
 

Tour de Snowy, Australia

Reports from National Coach Jacques Landry for stages 2, 3 and 4.

Stage 2

Tumut to Talbingo was the first road stage of this race and although short, there was a bit of action.

Up until a couple of kilometres before the foot of the first QOM at 15kms there was not too much action happening. Then, a crash in the first third of the field occurred at the worst time, bringing Sandy Espeseth down. Although OK from the fall, Sandy would make it back to the main group, but it would take a dozen kms and the help of team mate Ann Samplonius. Meanwhile at the front of the race, a battle for the QOM positions was underway between Tracey Gaudry of Timex and Genevieve Jeanson from Canada. With less than a k to go Genevieve managed to break clear of the group and was heading the QOM line when, suddenly, in the last meters Tracey managed to nip the first place from Genevieve thanks to TIMEX team mates obviously all working for Tracey in this tour. So Genevieve only managed to claim a precious 4 seconds instead of 6 on this second category climb.

After that effort, the pack seemed to settle down, giving the dropped riders the chance to get back on in the descent and the rolling sections.

With around 10 kms to go, and all the Canadians in the lead group, a solo effort was made to get away by New-Zealands Jacinta Coleman. That try would be aborted with 2 kms to go when the Timex and Dutch team combined efforts for a grouped pack sprint.

In the end, in a somewhat tricky finish, the fastest rider to cross the line was Anna Wilson, who after yesterday's bonuses and today's would take the leader's jersey off the Dutch shoulders.

Stage 3

The ITT course was nothing like last year's, where the women had to climb up a wall over a dam to cross the finish line. This year it was more of a specialists course with a basic out and back.

At the end of the stage, the best times were clocked respectively by Kristy Scrymgeous of AIS, Tracey Gaudry of Timex and Juanita Feldhahn of AIS, with only seconds separating them. For Genevieve, she would have to settle for a respectable 5th just behind Anna Wilson and 20 seconds down on the first place. I say respectable because all the Aussies are in the peak of their season and have a few races in the legs...

For the other Canadians, Erin Carter would have a good ride with a tenth place finish and Sandy Espeseth, despite her morning crash, would finish 13th. In Ann's case, she would finish 63rd but was not pushing it today, keeping focussed on other objectives.

All in all, after the TT the Canadians are very well positioned with Genevieve sitting in 6th overall, only 43 seconds down. A 43 seconds that will not mean much once tomorrow's stage is done.

Stage 4 is a doozie 110 km, we'll see who's here to win and who's got what it takes to wear the leaders jersey in the final stage in Cooma on Thursday...

Stage 4

Genevieve Jeanson in Yellow !!!

Today, as expected, was meant to be the day to see who would be in contention for the overall, and Genevieve certainly proved herself worthy.

The stage started with a few attacks and breaks from riders not really dangerous on GC. One break consisting of Odessa Gunn of Timex, a Dutch and LiZ Tadich of Jayco got up to 1min30 at the 40km mark. That break started getting smaller once Miss Jeanson decided to stretch her legs in one of the climbs. Immediately, Tracey Gaudry was on Genevieve's wheel and the pack was starting to lose riders.

With about 5 kms to go for the first QOM of the day, Genevieve launched her first real attack that disintegrated the already small field, which also contained Sandy Espeseth. The only rider able to put up a bit of a fight was Tracey Gaudry of Timex, but even her efforts were not enough to catch up to the young Canadian rider.

After the first QOM, the gap was up to 30 seconds, and was not going to decrease. Though there was about 30 kms of rolling hills between the first QOM and the entrance of Kosciusko National Park, Genevieve managed to increase her lead.

At the foot of the climb, at 83 kms, the group chasing with Saturn riders Anna Wilson and Dede Demet-Barry seemed like they were giving up the chase and just happy to keep a good tempo. Meanwhile, the fight was on between Jeanson and Gaudry.

At the 100 kms mark, Genevieve's lead on Tracey was up to 1min 30. She had lost some time to Tracey in a windy descent, but managed to take back 30 seconds with no real problems. The third place rider was now at more than 5 minutes.

Having won the second QOM at 105 kms, it was all rolling for Genevieve up to the finish. She would not gain any more time on Tracey on that section, but her lead would stay 1min 39 secs on the finish line.

Eventually, after 6 minutes, the third rider, Kym Shirley of AIS would roll across the line.

In the end, the GC standings are as follows...

Genevieve ahead with a 1min34 lead on Tracey and a 7 min 05 on the third woman, Kym Shirley.

For the other Canadians, the race went relatively well, with Sandy claiming the 12th spot overall, 16 minutes down. Erin Carter climbed well (for an alleged trackie!) to finish 23 minutes down and sitting in 24th position. As for Anne, she came in 33 minutes down and suffered a bit from the heat coming directly from Ontario's snow paved roads....

Tomorrow is an 83 kms stage where it can be tricky to defend the jersey because the terrain in fairly rolling and favourable for breaks. I'm sure we can manage....

Stage 4 - Khancoban to Cabramurra 111 km

1 Genevieve Jeanson (Can) Team Canada 3:56:15
2 Tracey Gaudry (Aus) Timex at 1:39
3 Kym Shirley (Aus) AIS-ACTAS 6:05
4 Mari Holden (USA) Timex 7:02
5 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn 8:11
6 Dede Demet (USA) Saturn s.t.
7 Rosalind Reekie-May (NZl) New Zealand 9:09
8 Jacinta Coleman (NZl) New Zealand 9:52
9 Juanita Feldhahn (Aus) AIS-ACTAS 10:55
10 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Pays Bas-Holland 12:17

13 Sandy Espeseth (Can) Team Canada 15:29
14 Kim Smith (USA) Timex 15:45
20 Karen Kurreck (USA) Canada 18:36
25 Erin Carter (Can) Team Canada 22:50
28 Erin Veenstra-Mirabella (USA) Timex 24:28
42 Anne Samplonius (Can) Team Canada 31:34
52 Odessa Gunn (Can) Timex 36:05
59 Susan Hefler (USA) Team Canada 37:54

GC

1 Genevieve Jeanson (Can) Team Canada 6:03:51
2 Tracey Gaudry (Aus) Timex at 1:34
3 Kym Shirley (Aus) AIS-ACTAS 7:05
4 Mari Holden (USA) Timex 7:14
5 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn 8:04
6 Dede Demet (USA) Saturn 9:22
7 Rosalind Reekie-May (NZl) New Zealand 10:52
8 Jacinta Coleman (NZl) New Zealand 11:02
9 Juanita Feldhahn (Aus) AIS-ACTAS 11:22
10 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Pays Bas-Holland 13:07

12 Sandy Espeseth (Can) Team Canada 16:38
21 Kim Smith (USA) Timex 21.56
22 Karen Kurreck (USA) Canada 23:22
24 Erin Carter (Can) Team Canada 23:46
26 Erin Veenstra-Mirabella (USA) Timex 26:10
43 Anne Samplonius (Can) Team Canada 34:06
45 Kerry Ellen Hellmuth (USA) Master Team/Carpe Diem 34:54
52 Odessa Gunn (Can) Timex 37:28
61 Susan Hefler (USA) Team Canada 46:20

Mountain Standings

1 Genevieve Jeanson (Can) Team Canada 20 points
2 Tracey Gaudry (Aus) Timex 18
3 Mari Holden (USA) Timex 8
4 Kym Shirley (Aus) AIS-ACTAS 7
5 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn 3
6 Dede Demet (USA) Saturn 2

Points Standings

1 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn 8 points
2 Mari Holden (USA) Timex 5
3 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Pays Bas-Holland 5
4 Genevieve Jeanson (Can) Team Canada 5
5 Tracey Gaudry (Aus) Timex 3