October 10/97 21:57 pm - Junior Worlds Story

Posted by Editor on 10/10/97
 

Junior Races at the Worlds  Ed Schum, our correspondent at the Road Worlds in San Sebastian, has filled us in on the details of the Junior Road Races today.  The Junior Women went first, with Canada‚s only entry being Erin Carter of Manitoba (a subscriber to Canadian Cyclist, no less!). Erin was quite intimidated by the quality of the field, and the intensity of the racing (this was her first Worlds, after only 3 years of racing), but nevertheless finished a respectable 16th in the field (see Results postings earlier). The course consisted of a flat start, followed by a false flat of about a kilometre, and then a steadily increasing climb - from 3%, to 6% to 8%, to 10%. A sharp descent, with some tricky corners, and then flat along the seashore back to the finish. Carter was dropped on the first climb (she told Ed after the race that she was pushed into the barricades by an Italian and almost went down), but caught on in the descent and looked fairly comfortable for most of the race. She missed the winning break, but finished well in the pack - getting boxed in in the sprint. This is Erin‚s last year as a Junior - she starts university (in Victoria) next year - studying Engineering. Don‚t worry, she intends to keep cycling...  The Junior men‚s race was, in the words of Canadian riders, „a war‰. Put 157 riders, aged 17 and 18, out on a World Championship course, and what would you expect? Crashes galore, lots of jersey pulling and elbowing... The Canadians got caught behind and in a number of the crashes. Charles Dionne hooked bars with another rider and went down in the first lap (he bent his derailleur and was out). Two of the remaining 3 Canadians - Gluzman and Boucher - got caught in and behind numerous crashes (less 70% finished the race), and were eventually lapped by the lead bunch, forcing them to drop out (after 7 of 9 laps of the 13.5 km circuit). This left Canada‚s Junior champion, Trevor Wurtele of Kelowna, B.C. Wurtele was also caught behind several crashes, but always managed to catch on again, until his chain came off and jammed in the 6th lap. By the time he got going again, it was too late to catch on, and he finished 12:54 down with a chase group. At the front of the race, the Italians had been playing a tactical game - forcing other teams (particularly the Germans) to chase down the breaks (and they were constant). At the end, it was the Italians at the front, controlling the sprint, and setting up Crescenzo D‚Amore for the win.  Race Notes  The wind was so strong it was blowing over barricades  Canadian riders reported getting into shoving matches with Italian riders.  Wurtele and Gluzman report that they will be riding with Italian teams next season.  Italian Claudio Chiappucci is out of the Elite mens race, for failing a blood test (the second time this year).  Locations for the next few Road Worlds - next year in Valkemburgh (Holland), 1999 Verona (Italy) and 2000 Plouy Lorient (France).