August 12/00 10:42 am - Mercury Tour, Quebec TT

Posted by Editor on 08/12/00
 

Mercury Tour - Colorado

STEAMBOAT, Colo. (Aug. 12, 2000) -- Same winners, different day. Argentine rider Jimena Florit (RLX Polo Sport) and Russian Pavel Tcherkassov (Gary Fisher-Saab) masterminded another stage win Saturday at the 2000 Mercury Tour in Steamboat, Colo.

The third stage of the event, the Thunderhead Circuit was a classic cross-country course, winding around Steamboat's Mt. Werner. The women completed 15.5 miles, with Florit's winning time at one hour and 38 minutes. Tcherkassov finished the men's 24-mile race in 2 hours and 13 minutes. Both riders retain the overall and mountain leaders' jerseys.

Leading the U.S. charge Saturday were second-place finishers Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo. -- Nantucket Nectars-Specialized) and Susan Haywood (Davis, W.V. -- Trek/W.V. Tourism). Horgan-Kobelski regained the Best Young Rider jersey with his performance Saturday. The front of women's race looked much like that of Friday's stage two hillclimb, with Florit, Haywood, Russian Alla Epifanova (Volvo-Cannondale) and Audrey Augustin (Williston, Vt. -- Koulius Zaard) leading the field. The familiar duo of Florit and Epifanova rode together for much of the race, but Florit rode less aggressively than normal, not willing to jeopardize her overall lead.

"I wasn't going to take any chances today, so I just played it safe. I knew Alla (Epifanova) would be chasing me, but I thought 'If she catches me, then she catches me.' I just focused on keeping it safe," the 2000 Argentine Olympian said.

But Haywood proved to be the story of the race for the second-consecutive day. The East Coaster continued her mountain bike racing breakthrough Saturday, keeping pressure on Florit at the end of the race. "It was fun. I was surprised to be riding with Jimena (Florit) because she is a world-class cyclist," said 28-year-old Haywood. "I felt really calm today. Jimena and Alla (Epifanova) started slow because they were keeping an eye out for each other. They forgot that Shonny (Vanlandingham) and I had our own battle going for third on the podium. I think that was an advantage."

Like Florit, Tcherkassov rode at the front for the majority of the race. Stage two second-place finisher Carl Swenson (Boulder, Colo. -- RLX Polo Sport) kept pressure on the Russian through the start of the second lap. Swenson, however, blew up in the second lap, allowing Horgan-Kobelski a chance to move ahead. "I didn't think I was going that fast, but at the start of the second lap I caught Carl (Swenson)," said Horgan-Kobelski, a past national collegiate champion who turned 22 Friday. "I was ahead of him (Tcherkassov) on part of the descent, but it was a short-lived lead. I felt good at the start, and felt really good the whole race. When I got halfway up the first climb, I knew I was going to have a good day. I've been racing pro for four years, but it feels great to finally be getting some results."

Tcherkassov's main concern Saturday was retaining the overall leader's jersey, something that eluded him in the past. The Gary Fisher-Saab rider finished second overall in 1997 and '98. "The course was kind of rough, and it would have been easy to get something going wrong. I just concentrated on my riding. I didn't want to take a chance and get a mechanical," said the 2000 Russian Olympian. "I just concentrated on keeping the yellow jersey, but when I thought I could win the stage, I went for it."

Though Carl Swenson lost his energy for the race, brother Peter Swenson made a surge at the end and finished third. Carl was fifth. The 2000 Mercury Tour concludes Sunday, Aug. 13, with the Gondola Criterium, a short, fast 0.8-mile course at the base of Mt. Werner. Tcherkassov and Florit hold approximately seven minutes over their challengers, and the duo are expected to easily capture the 2000 Mercury Tour title.

Men
1. PAVEL TCHERKASSOV Rus (Gary Fisher-Saab) 2:13:41
2. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski USA (Nantucket Nectars-Specialized) at 0:22
3. Peter Swenson USA (SoBe/HeadShok) 1:44
4. Eric Jones USA (SoBe/HeadShok) 3:19
5. Carl Swenson USA (RLX Polo Sport) 3:43

Women
1. JIMENA FLORIT, Arg (RLX Polo Sport) a 1:35:35
2. Susan Haywood USA (Trek/W.V. Tourism) at 0:12 back
3. Audrey Augustin USA (Team Koulius Zaard) 2:38
4. Shonny Vanlandingham USA (SoBe/HeadShok) 3:25
5. Kelli Emmett USA (RLX Polo Sport) 3:25

GC

Men
1. TCHERKASSOV at 5:46
2. Carl Swenson at 6:55
3. Horgan-Kobelski 7:25
4. Peter Swenson 7:54
5. Jones 10:13

Women
1. FLORIT 5:54:27
2. Epifanova at 7:02
3. Haywood 9:06
4. Vanlandingham 11:46
5. Augustin 14:05


Cloutier est champion québécois au contre-la-montre, Choquette est deuxième

St-Armand (DIAPO) - Les forts vents et le parcours vallonné de St-Armand étaient des facteurs additionnels auxquels les cyclistes devaient faire face samedi au championnats québécois de cyclisme sur route. À l'épreuve du contre-la-montre individuel (senior), Alexandre Cloutier de l'équipe Volkswagen s'est montré le plus rapide avec un temps de 34min. 5sec. Tout juste derrière le vainqueur, on retrouve Pascal Choquette (Volkswagen) en 35 minutes, alors que Mathieu Fagnan (Olio) complétait le podium avec un retard de sept secondes derrière le médaillé d'argent.

" Je n'avais pas de stratégie particulière pour l'épreuve ", a mentionné Cloutier, qui avait remporté l'épreuve en 1998. " Dans ce type de course, la seule stratégie c'est d'y aller à fond, suffit de savoir comment doser son effort. Cependant, aujourd'hui il fallait y aller un peu mollo au départ car les deux premiers kilomètres étaient en montée." Pour les initiés, le nouveau champion québécois a tiré un braquet de 53x13 à 105 rpm. Parlant de dosage, l'athlète de Ste-Foy a dû réajuster le tir à la mi-course : " À mi-chemin, j'accusais un retard de 17 secondes sur Fagnan. Au retour, alors que le vent soufflait de dos, j'ai réussi à combler l'écart. "

" Je m'en suis tiré pas trop mal ", a souligné Choquette, champion canadien espoir de la discipline. " La course s'est jouée à l'aller. Le parcours montait et le vent était de face. Je partais dernier, ce qui m'a aidé à doser mon effort car je connaissais exactement les écarts qui me séparaient de mes compétiteurs. Aujourd'hui (samedi), Alex (Cloutier) a fait une super course ! "

Dans les autres catégories, Émilie Germain a terminé première chez les femmes seniors. Toujours du côté féminin, chez les juniors cette fois, Martine Lacasse l'a emporté, alors que Dominique Rollin (Espoirs de Laval) s'emparait du titre masculin junior.

Mathieu Laberge

Des extraits sonores de Alexandre Cloutier sont disponibles à L’Agence DIAPO.

West Coast, Specialized, Oakley et OGC sont partenaires de l’équipe Volkswagen.

LES COMMUNIQUÉS DE L’AGENCE DIAPO SONT DISPONIBLES PAR TÉLÉCOPIEUR ET PAR COURRIER ÉLECTRONIQUE.

Mathieu Laberge
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