October 7/97 23:28 pm - Road World's, Cyclo-cross Resolution

Posted by Editor on 10/7/97
 

We have been in Chicago for the last week (attending our final trade show of the year), thus our reporting has been somewhat sporadic (and sketchy). However, we are back now, and the Road World‚s have begun! We have a first day report from correspondent Ed Schum, plus a final resolution on the Cyclo-cross tire debate.   World Road Championships, San Sebastian, Spain  Ed Schum is reporting to us daily from San Sebastian, Spain with results and stories - particularly on how the Canadians are doing. Unfortunately, Ed reports that these World‚s got off to a rocky start for Canada, with a screwup in the Junior Women‚s Individual Time Trial. Erin Carter was Canada‚s entry for the event, and nobody bothered to inform her (or check her bike) that blocking off gears to meet Junior ratio restrictions is not acceptable at the World‚s. Thus, she showed up for the pre-race rollout (the officials check your highest gear to see if it meets the rules), and discovered just before her ride that the bike wasn‚t acceptable. Ed reports there was much fumbling and running around by the CCA coaches, mechanics and managers (while the clock was ticking), but that Erin remained remarkably composed. After a delay of some 5 minutes, they finally BENT the teeth of the offending cog and Erin was able to start her ride. Her time loss put her dead last in the results, over 6 minutes down on Russian winner Olga Zabelinskaia, but Ed reports that her actual ride of 21:36 would have resulted in 15th place. A very bad break for Erin, and an embarassment for Canada. The men did not suffer any such mishaps, and David Gluzman was Canada‚s top rider in 35th, with a time 38:39. Canada‚s second rider, Denis Boucher, finished 58th, in 40:23. The weather conditions were warm (28-29 Celcius), with the wind picking up gradually through the men‚s race.  Stay tuned tomorrow for the Elite Women, where Canada‚s Linda Jackson is a strong contender for a podium spot.  Junior Men ITT - 24.6 km  1. TORSTEN HIECKMANN, GERMANY, 35 mins, 56.41 secs 2. Michael Rogers, Australia, 35:57.54 3. Alexei Markov, Russia, 36:11.85 4. David Zabriskie, Salt Lake City, Utah, 36:23.37 5. Sebastian Lang, Germany, 36:39.63 6. David Krupa, Poland, 36:44.23 7. Manuel Ribeiro, Portugal, 36:56.83 8. Rubens Bertogliati, Switzerland, 36:56.96 9. Kristoffer Ingeby, Sweden, 37:08.63 10. Sergio Paulinho, Portugal, 37:17.18  Canadians  35. David Gluzman CANADA 38:39 58. Denis Boucher CANADA 40:23  Junior Women ITT - 13.5 km  1 ZABELINSKAIA Olga RUS 19:56.93 2 HUBSCHER Sylvia GER 20:32.98 at 36.04 3 CAGIGAS AMEDO M. ESP 20:33.16 36.22 4 GRUODYTE Gitana LTU 20:36.86 39.92 5 BRABENETZ Jacqueline GER 20:39.10 42.16 6 LOSCHI Samanta ITA 20:48.64 51.7 7 BRANDLI Nicole SUI 20:52.26 55.33 8 CZYNSZAK Dorota POL 20:59.12 1:02.18 9 KOZLIKOVA Lada CZE 20:59.22 1:02.28 10 CARRARA Vera ITA 21:02.84 1:05.91  28 CARTER Erin CAN 26:08.78 6:11.84   Cyclo-cross Tire (Tyre) Ruling  From the Organizer:  Hello everyone  For two weeks now we have 'enjoyed' an open dialogue on the UCI/CCA ruling regarding the tire width in a cyclo cross.  I have had some really helpful mail back from the trade through a number of unexpected and interesting sources. There has been good input from riders and coaches and I think the whole episode showed that people do care to get involved and not sit back and just complain. Thanks all of you.  An unofficial survey of tires was carried out at the Cross in Hamilton last weekend and we came up with some interesting statistics:  One tire that was marked 35mm on the wall, actually measured 38.5; another that was marked 37mm on the wall measured 35mm. There is obviously no specific uniformity in tires. Each manufacturer has their tire to their specs. and that is that. Age of the tire is also a factor.  I have no idea how the UCI officials are going to cope with this at the World Championships - but that is their problem - riders who are hoping to go should do their homework first.  For the Canadian National Cyclo Cross on November 30th, common sense has prevailed.  This is official notification that tires can be up to and including 1.5 inches. We have used inches because tires bought in the USA might be marked this way. In metric, it comes out to about 37.5mm. I believe that there are a lot of tires on the market for Mountain Bikes that will meet this specification.  Having said that, please don't get hung up about 1 or 2 mm. The officials are not going to be anal (not a nice word to use in an official notification is it) about this. I don't think you will see a set of calipers around unless a competitor personally causes a problem for the officials. It is quite easy to judge by eye whether the rider has the correct tires on or not. It's not rocket science for any of us.  So there it is - all the dialogue was worthwhile - it caused us to examine and compromise on a rule that was practically impossible and would have wrecked the championships. Throughout the 2 weeks you could see things developing and we were all beginning to change our thoughts. Now we consider that we have come up with the best ruling that we could for everyone.  The CCA gave the final decision to the Chief Commissaire of the Nationals, Peter McCaffery. He has been up to speed on everything going on - even contributed a bit - honest guys, you should have seen his 35cm. calipers, I think he borrowed them from the Red Devil in the Tour and cut the middle prong out!   We had a final discussion last night and the compromise ruling was made.  So that's it - 1.5ins. or 37.5mm give or take a mm or two. Hope this pleases everyone. Now - get out there training - we have a great course for you and are hoping for a good field of riders.  Entry forms will be out within a few days. If you want one mailed or faxed (not long distance) contact me at natcross@aol.com.  Thank you everyone for your input - see you at the cross.  Valerie Davidge. (Nationals Organizer)  And the Chief Commissaire  As the chief commissaire for the National Cyclo-cross Championships, I have followed the recent debate on permitted tire sizes with great interest.  After considering advice from CCA VP, Louise Lalonde and consulting with National Cyclo-X organizer, Val Davidge, I have decided to allow bikes equipped with tires up to 40 mm in width at this championships and also at the Ontario Provincial Championships. Moreover, I am prepared to accept the manufacturers' ratings of their tire sizes.  This should allow our MTB friends to equip their bikes with suitable, readily-available tires which will enable them to remain competitive. I am confident that this decision will satisfy everyone and will ensure a large entry from the mountain bike sector.  Peter McCaffery, UCI Commissaire  Note: Val Davidge e-mailed to say that Peter McCaffrey‚s ruling (as Chief Commissaire) will prevail - so now you know what is, and isn‚t, permissible.