September 4/01 10:40 am - Lots & Lots of Weekend News

Posted by Editor on 09/4/01
 

Skiis & Bikes Ontario MTB Championships Update

Preparations are going well for next weekends Ontario Provincial MTB Championships. The XC course was fine tuned and finalized on Sunday, with a slight reduction in lap length and a move of the Start area to a roomier spot. Full info, including a course map and the lap counts, is available on the W.O.W. web site at www.wowmtb.com. We could use some rain, however. It is very dry. The MOC staff have been putting down lots of old snowmobile treads to get riders over the worst sandy spots. Overall, the course is riding well, with very positive comments from the racers out pre-riding this weekend.

There is one more chance to race the Provincials XC course before the Provincials. The Skiis & Biikes Tuesday Night Race Series concludes on Sept. 4th with the full race course in use. IMPORTANT - the start time has moved to 6pm. It was too dark in the forest with the regular 7pm start last year. Please don't arrive before 4:30pm on Tuesday - the Mansfield Outdoor Centre is not open for riding/training during the week (the Tuesday night race as the only exception). Pre-rides will resume on Friday the 7th at 4pm.

The downhill is shaping up quite well. The forest sections are complete. The final touches, the dirt for the 2 sets of doubles and the other structures, go in tomorrow. The course is a combination of the best of the Å’99 and Å’00 courses, with some big drops in the woods and some really high speed stuff out on the ski runs. We hope you like it.

The pre-registration discount cut off is 6pm on Tuesday, Sept. 4. Save yourself some bucks and help us with race day logistics by getting it in now! Click on the Online Registration button at the top of the page. For those who like to get the discount at the very last minute, you get one more chance. Come by the Skiis & Biikes Mississauga Store on Wednesday (Sept. 5th) between 5pm and 9 pm and we'll take your registration at the lower cost while you shop for all of your race needs. Skiis & Biikes is at 1970 Dundas Street East, just west of Highway 427 (south side of Dundas near Future Shop). Phone is 905-896-1206.

There are great prizes this weekend, with 10 deep cash in the Elite men XC, and 2 wonderful Devinci frames for draw prizes. We are also having a racer BBQ and party in the Ski Club Chalet on Saturday after the DH. XC riders are welcome too. The weekend will be a great way to wrap up the Ontario Cup Series and we hope to see you there.


Rona Dominates Green Mountain - Vermont

Burlington, Vermont, September 3, 2001 - Melissa "Meshy" Holt (NZL, RONA) today won the general classification of the Green Mountain Stage Race, beating her team mate Manon Jutras (CAN, RONA) and Karen Bockel (US, Gatorade).

Manon Jutras and Meshy Holt were the only members of Team RONA to participate in the event, comprising a prologue and three stages. The general classification of this race is not calculated based on the cumulative times of the various stages but on a point system based on the standings in each stage. Manon Jutras won the prologue and the first stage, Karen Bockel won the second stage while Meshy Holt won the third stage today. Holt accumulated the largest total of points over the whole event.

Prologue, Friday, August 31
About 50 cyclists started the prologue, a short 12-km grouped start race. The first seven kilometers were relatively flat, but the last five were all uphill. Meshy Holt, a strong rider but only an average climber, broke away from the pack and created a considerable gap before arriving at the climb. Behind her, Manon Jutras set the pace for the pack in order to give Holt the full advantage of her breakaway. At the foot of the hill, Holt had a one-minute lead. Then, when the pack arrived at the hill, Jutras launched her own attack. She caught up with Holt about halfway up and drew her along in her slipstream. Manon Jutras arrived at the finish line first, with Meshy Holt behind her, and Karen Bockel (USA, Gatorade) coming in third.

Stage one, Saturday, September 1
Saturday's race was rolling and 75 km long. "It's a bit strange," mused Manon Jutras, alluding to her absent team mate Geneviève Jeanson. "I'm more in the habit of defending the leader's jersey, not wearing it!" But strange or not, it didn't put her off her game. Manon Jutras broke away in the 15th km and rode the remaining 60 km to the finish line alone - as if it were one long time-trial. Behind her, Meshy Holt was working to ride the pack. She too broke away, about two km from the finish line, arriving second. Coming in third again was American Karen Bockel. General classification after stage 1: Jutras, Holt, Bockel.

Stage two, Sunday, September 2
This was the weekend's longest and most difficult stage: 105 km with two long, hard climbs. On Sunday morning, Meshy Holt awoke with a terrible cold, but still managed to take her place at the starting line. Several hasty attacks were quickly foiled. On the first slope, Jutras, Bockel and Holt made their attack, leaving the rest of the pack behind. Jutras and Bockel were in front, with Holt was tagging along with them and Jutras working to help her stay there. When the three frontrunners were far enough ahead of the pack to ensure Holt's third-place finish, Jutras moved in on Bockel in the final ascent. But Bockel is an excellent climber, and she nosed out Jutras in the sprint. They crossed the line in this order: Bockel, Jutras, Holt. GC after stage 2: Jutras, Bockel, Holt.

Stage three, Monday, September 3
A criterium in the streets of Burlington. The RONA strategy was simple -- Jutras must protect a breakaway by Holt to help her overtake Bockel in the GC. Holt started from the gun and created a gap, leaving the pack behind -- for good! So much so, in fact, that she won every intermediary sprint and the stage. She thus earned enough points to overtake not only Bockel, but her team mate Jutras as well in the GC. Final general classification:

1. Melissa Holt (NZL, RONA)
2. Manon Jutras (CAN, RONA)
3. Karen Bockel (USA, Gatorade)


Tour of Poland

GC after stage 1 (Gdansk to Sopot, 178 km)

1 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) A2r 3:58:20
2 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Ala at 0:13
3 Raimondas Vilcinskas (Ltu) Mroz 0:15
4 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) C.A. 0:19
5 Kazimierz Stafiej (Pol) Mroz 1:09
6 Piotr Wadecki (Pol) Dff
7 Remigius Lupeikis (Ltu) Mroz both s.t.
8 Lauri Aus (Est) A2r 1:10
9 Jens Voigt (Ger) C.A. s.t.
10 Aleksander Klimienko (Ukr) Mik 1:11

58 Dominique Perras (Can) Fic 1:12

Dominique also sent a message (forwarded by François Perras): "Dom said he was very happy this first stage. Average speed was maintained on a very high level during all the day. It is also good to have form again, be ready to run with a peloton that is as strong as that of the Tour of Spain!"


Canadians at Goodwill Games
Courtesy Jeremie Storie

There were two Canadians racing on the track in Brisbane, Australia September 1 and 2 at the Goodwill Games (this was the only type of women's bike racing at the Games). On Saturday, Mandy Poitras was 4th in the Points Race won by the USA's Erin Mirabella and 11th in the Elimination won by Germany's Katrin Mienke. Sunday had Lori-Ann Meunzer win the silver medal in the Sprints, losing out to Mienke in the final while Poitras also won a silver in the Scratch Race, getting piped at the line by Suzan Panzer of Germany.

Men's Scratch Race

1 Mark Renshaw (Aus)
2 Brett Aitken (Aus)
3 Marty Nothstein (USA)
4 Juan Curuchet (Pan)
5 Rene Wolff (Ger)

Men's Sprint Final

1 Sean Eadie (Aus)
2 Mathias John (Ger)
3 Stefan Nimke (Ger)
4 Marty Northstein (USA)
5 Julio Herrera Cabrera (Pan)

Men's Points Race

1 Greg Henderson (NZL) 25 points
2 Juan Curuchet (Arg) 16
3 Brett Aitken (Aus) 15
4 Valeri Potapov (Rus) 12
5 Colby Pearce (USA) 11
6 Mike Tillman (USA) 10
7 Aleksei Shmidt (Rus) 5
8 Jame Carney (USA) 5
9 Marc Altmann (Ger) 5
10 Darren Young (Aus) 3
11 Alireza Haghi (Iri) 2
12 Matthew Randall (NZL) 2
13 Andries Verspeeten (Bel) 1
14 Suh Seok Kyu (Kor) 1
15 Bernhard Wachter (Ger) 1
16 Amir Zargari (Iri) 0
17 Andrei Minashkin (Rus) 0
18 Jan Meeusen (Bel) 0
19 Milton Wynants (Uru) 0
20 Iljo Keisse (Bel) 0
21 Hayden Roulston (NZL) 4 (-1 lap)
22 Leif Lamparter (Ger) 1 (-1 lap)
23 Mark Renshaw (Aus) 0 (-1 lap)
24 Gabriel Curuchet (Arg) 2 (-2 laps)

Men's Elimination

1 Brett Aitken (Aus)
2 Juan Curuchet (Arg)
3 Marty Nothstein (USA)
4 Jame Carney (USA)
5 Andries Verspeeten (Bel)
6 Gabriel Curuchet (Arg)
7 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus)
8 Marc Altmann (Ger)
9 Mike Tillman (USA)
10 Hayden Roulston (NZL)
11 Matthew Randall (NZL)
12 Darren Young (Aus)
13 Danny Day (Aus)
14 Nikolai Dmitriyev (Rus)
15 Jan Meeusen (Bel)
16 Gregorio Bare (Uru)
17 Milton Wynants (Uru)

Men's Keirin Final

1 Rene Wolff (Ger)
2 Danny Day (Aus)
3 Sean Eadie (Aus)
4 Jame Carney (USA)
5 Julio Herrera (Cub)
6 Stefan Nimke (Ger)

Men's Madison

1 Greg Henderson/Hayden Godfrey (NZL) 28 points
2 Brett Aitken/Mark Renshaw (Aus) 27
3 Jame Carney/Colby Pearce (USA) 24
4 Juan Curuchet/Gabriel Curuchet (Pan) 12
5 Hayden Roulston/Matthew Randall (NZL 2) 7
6 Andrei Minachkine/Valeri Potapov (Rus) 6 (-1 lap)
7 Marc Altmann/Leif Lamparter (Ger) 6 (-1 lap)
8 Jan Meeusen/Andries Verspeeten (Bel) 0 (-1 lap)
8 David Giancola/Nicky Cocouyt (Bel 2) 0 (-1 lap)
8 Garth Blackburn/Mike Tillman (USA) 0 (-1 lap)

Women's Points race

1 Erin Mirabella (USA) 23 points
2 Katherine Bates (Aus) 13
3 Katrin Meinke (Ger) 12
4 Mandy Poitras (Can) 10
5 Yuliya Arustamova (Rus) 7
6 Becky Quinn (USA) 4
7 Elizabeth Williams (NZL) 5
8 Joanne Kiesanowski (NZL) 4
9 Yoanka Gonzales (Cub) 3
10 Chloe Jack (Aus) 3
11 Ashley Kimmet (USA)
12 Tatyana Makarova (Rus)
13 Susan Panzer (Ger)
14 Kim Yong Mi (Kor)
15 Catherine Sell (NZL)

Women's 10 km Scratch Race

1 Susan Panzer (Ger)
2 Mandy Poitras (Can)
3 Erin Mirabella (USA)
4 Becky Quinn (USA)
5 Yuliya Arustamova (Rus)
6 Kim Yong Mi (Kor)
7 Katherine Bates (Aus)
8 Elizabeth Williams (NZL)
9 Joanne Kiesanowski (NZL)
16 Yoanka Gonzalez (Cub)
11 Tatyana Makarova (Rus)
12 Rosalee Hubbard (Aus)

Women's Elimination

1 Katrin Meinke (Ger)
2 Katherine Bates (Aus)
3 Becky Quinn (USA)
4 Joanne Kiesanowski (NZL)
5 Erin Mirabella (USA)
6 Rosalee Hubbard (Aus)
7 Elizabeth Williams (NZL)
8 Tamilla Abassova (Rus)
9 Yoanka Gonzales (Cub)
10 Kim Yong Mi (Kor)
11 Mandy Poitras (Can)
12 Tatyana Makarova (Rus)

Women's Sprint

1 Katrin Meinke (Ger)
2 Lori-Ann Muenzer (Can)
3 Susan Panzer (Ger)
4 Tatyana Makarova (Rus)

Note: Lori-Ann Muenzer set a new Flying 200m record for the track in qualifying - 11.553 seconds.


Hamilton CC Tuesday Night Crit
Courtesy Sandy Cheskey

The Tuesday Night Criterium Training Ride Series had the most successful season ever this year with a total of 124 participants. It ran every Tuesday evening from May 1st until August 21st in the High Point Industrial Park in Milton, with the exception of May 22nd when we were rained out. Even then, Zoltan Wighardt, Luciano Serafino and Brendan Duff showed up and had their own training event in the rain.

The season saw some impressive personal improvements for Chris Kiriakopoulos and Zoltan Wighardt. Way to go, guys! Peter Mazur used our event as part of his recovery training after knee surgery and Sue Palmer-Komar came out several times to train here, too.

On August 28th, we had our Awards Ceremony/Party on the start line. We started off with a points race which was won by Paul Rego with Jason Valenti and Luc Serafino tied for second and Mirek Mazur and Paul Hornak tied for third. After that we presented $210 in cash prizes for the top 6 of the season:

1st Michael Moore 53 points
2nd Mirek Mazur 44 points
3rd Brendan Duff 42 points
4th Jason Valenti 40 points
5th Greg Cavanagh 29 points
5th Piers Davidge 29 points

Some of the winners of cash awards were planning to donate their winnings to the trust fund for the family of the late Jacek Wierzbicki. In addition, a donation from the fees collected on Tuesday nights will be made to this fund from the Hamilton Cycling Club.

Zack Morris was presented with a cyclo-computer as the youngest participant of the season and Fred Pepper was presented with a pair of "F'Red Hot Pepper" cycling socks to commemorate his second place finish in the National Individual Time Trial Championships in Dieppe, New Brunswick this summer. Twenty-four draw prizes were also awarded as part of the festivities.

It was beginning to appear that we would have no pizza for our party as planned (the order was "in the system" but no one seemed to know where!). Marissa Cheskey saved the day by using her cell phone to track it down and then going to pick it up personally. Thank you, Marissa!

I've really enjoyed organizing the Tuesday Night Rides this summer and hope to see everyone back next May!


Happy Birthday To...

Sara Neil, last Sunday.