August 14/01 8:11 am - Canada Games ITT Story, Mississauga Midweek News, Alberta Crit Champs Results

Posted by Editor on 08/14/01
 

Canada Summer Games ITT Story

The Canada Summer Games kicked off the cycling events with the individual time trial - a "perfect" course in the words of most competitors. The out-and-back race was held at Mt Brydges, southwest of London. The men covered 24 kilometres and the women 15 on a fast, slightly rolling route whose only obstacle was a strong crosswind all day. Francois Parisien (Quebec) won for the men and Carrie Tuck (Alberta) for the women.

In the women's race it was the early riders who had the advantage, as the wind picked up through the competition. Tuck was the second rider off (out of 51) and the first rider back, in a time of 22:07. Two riders after her it was Genevieve Leblanc (Quebec), who came close with a time of 22:21, and would remain the next best until halfway through the field when relatively unknown Jessica Hannah (B.C.) blazed through less than 4 seconds behind Tuck. She would end up being the closest, as some of the most favoured riders could not close the gap to Tuck.

Afterwards, Tuck was visibly moved by her victory. "This has been my goal for the past 2 years. The ride was incredible - good and hard on the way out and a headwind on the way back. I just want to mention also the rest of our women's team, who believed in me and told me that I could do it." The 21 year old is in her 10th year of racing, and used the occasion of her win to announce that she is 'retiring' from mountain biking to concentrate on road.

Second place Hannah seemed overwhelmed by the attention she was receiving. Small wonder - she only took up cycling this year. The 22 year old Kamloops native is a rider in all senses - "I've been riding horses my whole life, but I tried triathlon last year (finishing 4th in her age group at the Canadian Ironman) and then switched to cycling this year." Her technique? "My coach told me to go really hard."

BC team manager was just as pleased with the silver, after some of the controversey that was generated by Hannah's selection over more experienced riders. "We took a lot of flack, but we knew what Jessica could do, especially on this course."

In the men's race Charlie Gorman (Ontario), the sixth competitor off, was the early leader, but his time only held for two riders. Gorman was one of a number of riders who slowed in the second half when they turned back into the wind. From third fastest at the turn, he dropped to 17th at the finish. Cameron McKnight (Alberta) paced himself and vaulted into the lead with an excellent ride of 31:46. He would remain the leader until the last rider came in - Parisien - who beat him by a slim 4 seconds.

"The time trial went really well for me, I paced myself well. The wind was not a problem for me." McKnight was also happy about how close he came to Parisien: "At Nationals he was second and I was fifth, a minute difference. here it was only 4 seconds, so my training is on target."

Parisien, the favourite coming into the race, did not disappoint. The Quebec time trial champion was one of the few riders who did not find the course to his liking: "it was not fun, I like more rolling courses, with lots of turns, and less wind!" Despite that, "I felt confident, but knew it would be a hard race. This year I have practiced a lot for the time trial with my coach (Jacques Landry)."

Games Notes:

- Tuesday (today) is the criterium in Springbank Park. Springbank is notorious for a problem with Canada geese running onto the roads and the organizers have come up with a novel solution - border collies will be herding them!

- Scoring for the Games is on a points system. Every rider gets a point for how high they finish, and the provincial totals are tallied to give the provincial standings. Each team can have a maximum of 6 riders (each for men and women), and all riders count. So, for example, Parisien gets 64 points (because there were 64 men), McKnight 63, etc. Quebec leads the men's standings and B.C. the women's.


La Bicicletta Midweek Series - Mississauga, Ontario

There will be two races this Wednesday, August 15 at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga.

A race for novices starts at 6:00 pm sharp and will be 40 minutes plus 3 laps.

The normal Wednesday race will start at 7:00 pm.

Both races will be held on the north course, so riders are encouraged to park in the south parking lot. MAP


2001 Alberta Provincial Criterium Results
Courtesy Duncan Clarke, Bicisport Cycling Club

Provincial Champions

Open Men:
1. Mike Strickland Velocity
2. Bob Veroba Bicisport
3. Stuart Hughes Bow Cycle

Open Women:
1. Petrina Tulissi GS Campione
2. Diana Bladon Oylmpic Oval
3. Louise Peakman Eurotech Cycle

Junior Men:
1. Ryan McKenzie Olympic Oval
2. Andrew Davidson Olympic Oval
3. Eric Holland Olympic Oval

Under 17 Men:
1.Phillippe Abbott Bike Shop

Cat 3:
1. Ryan McKenzie Olympic Oval
2. Paul McDonald Juventus
3. Justin Gullickson GS Campione

Cat 4:
1. David Shylko Pedalhead
2. Sean Carter OGC
3. George Beatteay Eurotech Cycle

Cat 5:
1. Wayne Long EMCC
2. C.G. Sinclair Bow Cycle
3. Karl Warldele Crankmaster


Complete Results

Open Men

1. Mike Strickland
2. Bob Veroba
3. Stuart Hughes
4. Jesse Collins
5. Rob Simpson
6. Dave Jetz
7. Ryan Robinson
8. Duncan Clarke
9. Bernard Fagnan
10. Nick Jendzjowsky
11. Shane Rush
DNF Shawn Taylor
DNF Chris Bentley
DNF Rob Stirling
DNF Rob Brandrick

Open Women

1. Petrina Tulissi
2. Diana Bladon
3. Louise Peakman
4. Rachel Boekel
5. Colleen Baldwin
6. Colleen Macy
7. Bonnie Lamming

Cat 3

1. Ryan McKenzie
2. Paul McDonald
3. Justin Gullickson
4. Jere Hu
5. Sean Huggins-Chan
6. Jacques Leblanc
7. Szymanoki Zbi
8. Dan noname
9. Mike Lawform
10. CP Walsh
11. David Watson
12. Sean Kennedy
13. Craig Horon
14. Andrew Walker
15. Guri Randhawa
16. Yannick Michaud
17. Tim Deschenes
18. Tom Bastable
19. Jeff Klassen
DNF Rafal Kunccwicz

Cat 4

1. David Shylko
2. Sean Carter
3. George Beattay
4. Jack Van Dyk
5. Shane Carritt
6. Simon Craig
7. Chris Check
8. Scott Websdale
9. Nick Corcran
10. David Ferris
11. Kevin Wong
12. Greg Yannicki
DNF Russ Colnett
DNF Stephen Ferris