August 14/01 12:08 pm - Guadeloupe, CC DH Final Story/Standings, U.S. Results

Posted by Editor on 08/14/01
 

Tour de la Guadeloupe
Courtesy of Mathieu Laberge, de l'équipe Volkswagen - Les Ailes

Victoire canadienne à la dernière étape du Tour cycliste de la Guadeloupe

Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe, 13 août 2001 - Après une semaine de durs labeurs, l' équipe canadienne est finalement parvenue a remporter une étape au Tour cycliste de la Guadeloupe. Dimanche, Jacob Erker est monté sur la plus haute marche du podium. Vaut mieux tard que jamais car l'étape de dimanche marquait la fin du tour.

Le Canadien Svein Tuft a parti le bal en s'extirpant du peloton pour ensuite être rejoint par Erker et un cycliste de la Guadeloupe. De ce trio, Erker a réussi à s'échapper pour terminer la course en solo avec une avance de deux minutes sur le peloton. Au sprint massif, mentionnons que Josh Hall a pris le quatrième rang et Tuft le dixième.

Au classement général final, les Canadiens occupent les positions suivantes : Josh Hall (6e), Jacob Erker (7e), Svein Tuft (15e), Martin Nuckle (26e), Martin St-Laurent (44e) et Ross Hooker (47e).

"Pendant une journée nous (l'équipe canadienne) avons eu le maillot jaune et le maillot de meilleur pointeur", a indiqué St-Laurent qui a fait le bilan au lendemain de l'étape finale. "De plus, nous avons une victoire d' étape et la deuxième place au classement par équipe. Finalement, c'est un bon tour pour nous." De plus, la formation canadienne a complété la compétition avec ses six athlètes, alors que toutes les autres équipes comptent au moins un abandon.

"Je suis satisfait en général", a souligné Martin Nuckle, qui avait terminé quatrième à une étape antérieure. "C'était mon deuxième tour cette année et l'expérience a été très constructive."

Le Vénézuélien Rodolpho Camacho conserve donc la précieuse tunique jaune jusqu'à la fin du tour, lui qui l'avait revêtu après la cinquième étape.


Translated

Canadian Victory in the last stage of Guadeloupe

Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe, August 13 200- After one week of hard racing, the Canadian team finally gained a stage win in the final stage of the Tour de la Guadeloupe.

Svein Tuft attacked of the front of the peloton and was joined by Jacob Erker and a Guadeloupe rider. Erker succeeded in escaping to finish the race in solo, with a two minutes advance on the group. In the field sprint Josh Hall took fourth and Tuft tenth.

In the final general classification, the Canadians occupy the following positions: Josh Hall (6th), Jacob Erker (7th), Svein Tuft (15th), Martin Nuckle (26th), Martin St-Laurent (44th) and Ross Hooker (47th).

"During the Tour we (the Canadian team) had the yellow jersey and the points jersey" indicated St-Laurent, who made the assessment the shortly after the final stage. "Moreover, we have a stage victory and second place in the Team classification. Finally, it is a good turn for us." Moreover, the Canadian team completed the Tour with all six athletes, whereas all the other teams counted at least one abandonment.

" I am satisfied in general ", underlined Martin Nuckle, who had finished fourth in a former stage. " It was my second tour this year and the experience was very constructive.

Stage 9 - 145.2 km

1 Jacob Erker (Can) Canada 3:32:23
2 Yosvani Falcon Padron (Cub) Cuba at 2:08
3 Jose Flober Pena (Gua) UCC/PDC
4 Josh Hall (Can) Canada both s.t.
5 Willy Noyon (Gua) Espoirs du Sud 2:12

Final GC

1 Rodolfo Camacho (Ven) Venezuela 30:01:47
2 Carlos Ochoa (Ven) Venezuela at 4:08
3 Daniel Bernal (Gua) US Lamentin 7:40
4 Cédric Jourdan (Gua) UV Nord-Guadeloupe 7:47
5 Jose Flober Pena (Gua) UCC/PDC 8:17


Canada Cup Downhill Series Final - Sun Peaks Resort B.C.

by Greg Flaaten

More Canada Cup Series Titles were on the line on Sunday at British Columbia's beautiful Sun Peaks resort.

In the Elite Men's event, Leon May (BC Balfa/Rock Shox) held a 45 point lead over Brant Lyon (BC Giant) going into the final Canada Cup event. Lyon in turn held a slim 5 point advantage over Trevor Porter (NB Giant). Complicating the equation were the presence of a whole bunch of really fast riders including National Champion Dustin Adams (BC Giant), Andrew Shandro (BC Ford/Devinci/Sombrio), Rob Hewitt (BC Royal Orange) and Dave Watson (BC Sombrio/Smith/Dirtworks).

Starting 31st (of 48 riders) Watson was the first of the favourites on course and he set an impressive benchmark of 5:05.31 on the long and extremely technical 3.4 kilometer course. This is the same course that was used in last week's Tim Horton's National Championships and it has become even more challenging with the prolonged use into this week. The top riders loved it.

Watson's time stood until Dustin Adams (starting 42nd) took to the course. Having proven that he may be the man to beat with his victory at last week's National Championships, Adams impressed again by shaving more than 5 seconds off of Watson's time much to the delight of the partisan Sun Peaks crowd. There was an enthusiastic roar when the Kamloops rider's time was announced over the P.A. system.

Adams' occupation of the hot seat was short lived, however, as Andrew Shandro (starting 45th), posted a very impressive 4:56.64 to trim 2.74 seconds off of Adams' time. Of the remaining three starters, only Leon May was able to crack the top 5. Porter finished 7th and Lyon flatted early in his run taking him out of contention.

Andrew Shandro: "I knew a lot of guys would make mistakes today so I tried to keep it steady. I made one mistake in the woods when my foot came out of the pedal but it didn't really affect my ride. I like long challenging courses. They suit my riding style. Generally courses seem to be getting shorter but the organizers (here) put together a wicked course."

Dustin Adams: "I'm happy with the way things went this year even though it was a short season for me due to injury. I do well on long courses. I can hold on to the bars and I'm good at pedaling so this course suits me. I screwed up on one section and that cost me some time."

Canada Cup Series Final Standings (unofficial)

1. Andrew Shandro (BC Ford/Devinci/Sombrio)
2. Dustin Adams (BC Giant/Smith)
3. Leon May (BC Balfa/Rock Shox)
4. Trevor Porter (NB Giant)
5. Brant Lyon (BC Giant)
6. Rob Hewitt (BC Royal Orange)
7. Mike Jones (BC Oak Bay Bicycles/Oakley)
8. Mathieu Laurin (QC GT Canada)
9. Chad Onyschuk (BC Ford/Devinci)
10 Matt Nielsen (ON Rocky Mountain/Sombrio)

In the Elite Women's event, Barb Haley (BC Norco/Etnies/Mantra) had already locked up the Canada Cup Series Title which meant that only the subsequent series rankings were on the line today.

Tera Meade (BC Dirtworks/Java Cycle), starting fifth, set an early fast time of 6:12.35. Sylvie Allen (BC Rocky Mountain/Fanatyk) was the seventh starter in the women's field. Trying to make up for the broken chain at last week's National Championships, Allen was flying on the upper sections of the course. A momentary lapse of concentration saw her lose control at mid-course but she was still able to finish over 8 seconds ahead of Meade and took over the hot seat with a time of 6:04.33.

It looked as though Allen may have posted a fast enough time to win the event but Lisa Horler (NZL Oakley/Fox/Manitou) came in with a blazing 5:53.53. This was an extremely impressive ride for the New Zealander.

Kim Huard (QC Balfa/Oakley/KIA) was in second place overall going into today's race which seeded her as the second last starter ahead of last year's series champion Barb Haley. Huard had a frightening and spectacular crash on one of the most challenging and extreme sections of the course. While navigating the notorious 'Twisted Sister's Sister' drop-off, Huard went down hard and apparently lost consciousness after her head made contact with the ground. Racing was delayed fornearly twenty minutes while medical personnel attended to the injured rider. The last report received on her conditon was that she was shaken up but not seriously injured.

During the delay the final starter, Barb Haley, waited in the start gate. Temperatures were in excess of thirty degrees today under intense sun so race officials wisely determined that having Barb start under those conditions would not be safe. She was allowed to take a break, hydrate and start her race following the Elite Men. She rode a smooth race and posted a time of 6:08.40 which was good for third place on the day.

Lisa Horler: "We don't have the height of the hills that you have here in Canada so we don't have any courses this long but we have the steeps and roots. I've been able to ride a lot of rock here and we don't have that back in New Zealand. I'm learning to handle every kind of terrain now."

Barb Haley: "This is about the best course on the DH circuit that I've ever seen. I hope other courses will follow suit. It's long and technical, that's what I prefer."

Sylvie Allen: "I lost control, I wasn't looking...otherwise I had a good ride. It's fun and challenging and suits my riding style. I like lots of singletrack. This is the best Canada Cup course that I've ever experienced. It's a lot bumpier than last weekend and it's tiring with the pedaling. I wasn't nearly as tired last weekend...of course, I lost my chain then and didn't have to pedal."

Canada Cup Series Final Standings (unofficial)

1. Barb Haley (BC Norco/Etnies/Mantra)
2. Lisa Horler (NZL Oakley/Fox/Manitou)
3. Cassandra Boon (BC Giant/Troy Lee/Smith)
4. Kim Huard (QC Balfa/Oakley/KIA)
5. Deb Makillop (BC Norco/Gerrick's Nelson)
6. Sylvie Allen (BC Rocky Mountain/Fanatyk)
7. Tera Meade (BC Dirtworks/Java Cycle)
8. Annie Bisson (BC Roach John Henry)
9. Lorraine Blancher (BC Oakley/Kelowna Cycle)
10.Christine Boehringer (BC Scared Wear/Norco)

Note: Christine Boehringer and Sandy Reid (BC Norco) were married atop the slopes of the Sun Peaks Resort on Saturday. Congratulations to the couple. Christine was 8th overall in the Elite Women event and Sandy was 7th in the Master Expert Men 30-39 event.

In the Junior Expert Men event, the top two riders in the Canada Cup series made the trip to Sun Peaks from Quebec to defend their positions against Jeff Beatty (BC Storm) who was third overall going into today's race.

Beatty was the third last seed on the start list and posted a time of 5:24.79. That time was eclipsed by Kwanah Sioni-Moar (QC Balfa/Roach/Rock Shox) with a time of 5:18.05. Hugo Donais (QC Smith/24 Bike/Cantel), the series leader going into the final event, was the last rider to start and he easily powered home to claim the series title with his time of 5:14.33. As a result, the 17 year old Donais, who has just switched to downhill and dual from cross country racing, defended his Canada Cup overall series lead and claimed the Series Title.

Canada Cup Series Final Standings (unofficial)

1. Hugo Donais (QC Smith/24 Bike/Cantel)
2. Kwanah Sioni-Moar (QC Balfa/Roach/Rock Shox )
3. Jeff Beatty (BC Storm)
4. Charles Alexander Dube (QC Clinique SOS Velo)
5. Jessi Adams (BC GT Canada)

In the Junior Expert Women event, Katherine Lobodzinski (ON GT Canada) had a string of victories to defend in today's race. She has won every Canada Cup race she has entered so far this year (she missed BC Canada Cup #3) and was also the winner at the event at last week's National Championships.

If anyone were to beat Lobodzinski it would be up to Darcy Turenne (BC Gears Racing). Turenne won BC Canada Cup #3 in Lobodzinski's absence and finished second to her at Canada Cup #4. When the dust settled today it was Lobodzinski as the victor with Turenne finishing second.

Katherine Lobodzinski: "The course has everything I like; rocks, steep stuff, fast technical. It's put together very fluidly. It's a great course. You have to build up the fitness for it. That's what you have to do to win."

Canada Cup Series Final Standings (unofficial)

1. Katherine Lobodzinski (ON GT Canada)
2. Darcy Turenne (BC Gears Racing)
3. Dana Wagler (ON Fly Gurlz)
4. Jacqui Babcock (BC Independent)
4. Annie Dumitrescu (ON Gears Racing)

Note: under CC rules there were not enough participants in the Junior Women's category to hand out a Canada Cup title.


Manhattan Beach GP - Manhattan Beach, CA - August 12
Courtesy Mercury Cycling Team

On Sunday, the Mercury boys took to the beach as the 40th annual Manhattan Beach GP was held. The traditional route features a 1 mile loop that sees a field of 200 riders attack themselves silly, only for the race to come down to a field sprint.

This year's edition was no exception as Prime Alliance, Saturn, Net Zero as well as Mercury all had a strong presence. As every team was marking each others every move, no team looked to control things and there was no significant breakaway until the last 10 laps. A group of 5 riders went clear with Saturn, Mercury, and Net Zero present. The group had a lead of 15 seconds but did not seem to work well together. Mercury went to the front with 3 laps to go to take charge and insure a field sprint for Gord Fraser and Rahsaan Bahati.

With the field all together, it was sure to be a fast last lap. Net Zero and Mercury were on the front down the back stretch. Out of the last corner, Fraser and Bahati had good position, but in the bending sprint to the line, Fraser got tangled up with Jonas Carney and was pinned against the barriers. This gave Carney a free line to the finish and the Victory, Bahati took 3rd.

Results
1. Jonas Carney Prime Alliance
2. Graeme Miller Net-Zero
3. Rahsaan Bahati Mercury
4. Gord Fraser Mercury


Central New Hampshire Road Race - Bow, NH - August 12
Courtesy Mercury Cycling Team


The Central New Hampshire RR was held Sunday, August 12th. Derek Bouchard-Hall racing again solo on the east coast won the Central NH RR. DBH's victory made it a clean sweep for the solo Mercury rider. The 85 mile course will held on a hilly circuit & despite the entire field racing against him, DBH was able to take the victory from a breakaway of three including Jon Hamblin (Cannondale/Wheelworks) who was second, and Alex Lavallee (Kissena) who was third. With Derek Bouchard-Hall's sweep of the weekend the Mercury men have scored 77 victories in 2001.

Results
1. Derek Bouchard-Hall Mercury
2. Jon Hamblin Cannondale/Wheelworks
3. Alex Lavallee Kissena