August 11/00 11:19 am - Track World Cup #5, Mercury Tour Stage 2

Posted by Editor on 08/11/00
 

Track World Cup #5 - Ipoh, Malaysia

Report from national team member Doug Baron

Greetings from hot and extremely humid Ipoh, Malaysia!! Had a very long trip from Calgary to get here about 20 hours of actual travel but we also had a 13 hour stopover in Kuala Lumpur before we could fly out to Ipoh. Day 1 started with the flying 200m time trial. I was sixth from last to go off and had a great wind up and jump and just as I was reaching the start line my rear tire lost about 100 lbs of pressure and I was all over the track. I still was able to ride 11.25 seconds. They let me go again but I did not have enough time to recover from the first effort and rode to 11.0 seconds (11th place). In the first round I lost to a fellow from Italy who has a great finishing kick. That put me into the repechage which I was able to win quite easily. The 1/8th final put me up against the top seeded rider Matthias John from Germany and I took the front and led him out and beat him in a photo finish!! Next up was the 1/4 final against Michael Bourgain from France whom I raced against in Mexico City earlier this year. I took the lead in both rides and unfortunately he beat me two straight. So, tomorrow I will ride in the 5th to 8th place final and then on to the Keirin on Sunday. I will try to keep you updated as much as possible.

Doug Baron
Canadian National Track Cycling Team/Team Shaklee

1000M Time Trial
1. Arnaud Duble FRA 1:03.920
2. Mulder Teun NED 1:04.960
3. Matthew Sinton NZL 1:06.490

Men's Pursuit
1. Sosenka Ondrej CZE
2. Robert Karnsnicki POL caught
3. Gary Anderson NZL
4. Noriyuki Iijima JPN


Mercury Tour - Stage 2
(courtesy Patrice Quintero - USA Cycling)

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 11, 2000) -- Gary Fisher-Saab rider Pavel Tcherkassov claimed his second-consecutive 2000 Mercury Tour stage Friday. This time it was the grueling Mt. Werner Hill Climb, stage 2 of the five-day mountain bike stage race in Steamboat, Colo.

The Russian rider conquered the mountain stage, which began at 6,795 feet and ended at 10,568, in one hour and 17 minutes. The 16.5-mile course began in downtown Steamboat Springs and took riders to the Mt. Werner summit.

Defending '99 Mercury Tour winner Jimena Florit (Argentina -- RLX Polo Sport) won the mountain stage. She becomes only the second woman to win the Mt. Werner Hill Climb since the race began in 1997. Alison Dunlap (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who won the stage from '97-99, is training in Europe for the Olympics.

Boulder, Colo., resident Carl Swenson (RLX Polo Sport) and second-place prologue finisher Susan Haywood (Davis, W.V. -- Trek/W.V. Tourism) were the top Americans at second and third, respectively. Both Tcherkassov and Florit currently lead the overall standings and the mountain points race. Kiwi Kashi Leuchs (Volvo-Cannondale) dons the Best Young Rider jersey.

Tcherkassov started the race in front with a group of riders that included Swenson and reigning junior world champion Walker Ferguson (Norwood, Colo. -- Devo). Tcherkassov wasn't interested in keeping any company though, and quickly broke from the pack in the switch back section.

"When you're leading, it's always easier than chasing. You suffer more when you are the second, third, fourth rider. The first guy always suffers less. I felt great, just flying," said Tcherkassov, a member of the 2000 Russian Olympic mountain bike team. "I expected (Steve) Larsen and Swenson to attack, but something happened again and I was in front."

Swenson mustered up more energy toward the end of the race, but the American couldn't pull out enough against the tough Russian.

"I started coming back on him in the end. It was tough climbing that stuff. I got off a couple times in the sandy, loose areas. I felt good from the very beginning. I relaxed in the beginning so I could spin a little more in the middle part," said Swenson. "I just tried to stay steady because if you jump too fast in the beginning, you can really blow it later."

American Eric Jones (Salt Lake City -- SoBe/HeadShok) also put in a great performance Friday, finishing third. Past national cross-country champion Steve Larsen, who was favored in this year's Mercury Tour, pulled out of the event. The Oregon resident had been racing with a broken rib since the end of July.

After losing to Aussie Mary Grigson (Gary Fisher-Saab) on Thursday, Florit was hungry to reclaim the leader's yellow jersey. Grigson wouldn't prove to be a threat in Friday's race, after she pulled out about halfway. Grigson had suffered minor injuries Wednesday during a practice ride.

Florit was waiting for the pack to start moving, but got bored with the slow pace. The Argentine Olympian decided it was time to take the race in to her own hands, and began to make her climb up the mountain. By the mid-way point of the race, Florit had a three-minute lead on the women's field.

"Nobody was going hard or taking the lead, so I just went. Usually Mary (Grigson) starts slow and picks it up toward the end, so I was pacing myself for that, but she never came," Florit said. "Then I heard Mary dropped out of the race. So I said 'alrighty', and I just started going. I rode slow and steady. I wanted to stay comfortable in case some one tried to attack. No one did, so I took advantage of it."

Haywood was in second place toward the end of the race, passing Russian Alla Epifanova (Volvo-Cannondale) and American Audrey Augustin (Williston, Vt. -- Koulius Zaard) in the technical climbing area. Epifanova, however, was able to catch up and passed Haywood before the finish.

"I can't believe how good I felt today," Haywood said. "This is absolutely one of my best races. I'm not a climber, but I'm a good stage racer, and I'm finally getting acclimated to the altitude."

Stage 2 - Mount Werner Hill Climb 21.2 km

Men
1. Pavel Tcherkassov (Rus) Gary Fisher 1:17:52
2. Carl Swenson, Polo Sport at 0:30
3. Eric Jones SoBe 0:55
4. Seamus McGrath (Can) Haro 2:56
5. Jay Henry, ED-Easton 3:02
6. Kashi Leuchs (NZ) Volvo-Cannondale 3:42
7. Jess Swiggers Trek Volkswagen 4:05
8. Ziranda Madrigal (Mex) Turbo 4:17
9. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski SoBe 4:25
10. Gabriel Blanca (Arg) 4:40.

Women
1. Jimena Florit (Arg) Polo Sport 1:35:35
2. Alla Epifanova (Rus) Volvo-Cannondale at 3:40
3. Susan Haywood Trek-Volkswagen 4:04
4. Audry Augustin Koulius Zaard 4:55
5. Shonny Vanlandingham SoBe 6:06
6. Suzy Pryde (NZ) 6:21
7. Gretchen Reeves Cane Creek 7:06
8. Rachel Lloyd U.S. National 7:21
9. Shannon Tupa Spy 9:24
10. Janie Dalton Missing Link 9:45.

GC

Men
1. Pavel Tcherkassov (Gary Fisher-Russia) 3:32:24
2. Carl Swenson at 3:08
3. McGrath 3:55
4. Pete Swenson 6:08
5. Henry 6:44
6. Jones 6:51
7. Horgan-Kobelski 7:02
8. Leuchs 7:02
9. Frank Mapel Trek-Volkswagen 9:49
10. Marc Gullickson Mongoose 10:51.

Women
1. Jimena Florit (Arg) Polo Sport 4:15:34
2. Epifanova at 2:20
3. Vanlandingham 8:18
4. Haywood 8:53
5. Lloyd 11:02
6. Augustin 11:25
7. Rene Marshman Koulius Zaard 16:53
8. Lanie Mason Cane Creek 17:30
9. Reeves 18:25
10. Pryde 18:45