September 25/01 10:08 am - Tour Feminin Bretagne, Cabot Trail Challenge, Track Worlds Preview

Posted by Editor on 09/25/01
 

Tour Feminin de Bretagne - France

Prologue - ITT 3.3 km

1 Chantal Beltman (Ned) Dutch National Team 4:24
2 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) German National Team at 0:03
3 Anne Samplonius (Can) Canadian National Team 0:04
4 Judith Arndt (Ger) German National Team 0:08
5 Solrun Flataas (Nor) Team Sponsorservice s.t.


Cabot Trail Challenge 2001
Courtesy Cabot Trail Challenge Committee

On Sept 23rd, 11 of Nova Scotia's toughest cyclists gathered in Cape Breton for the annual Cabot Trail Challenge. This epic 300 km race route, traveling through the Highlands of Cape Breton, covers four mountain passes and is regarded as one of the most spectacular cycling routes in Canada.

The riders rolled out of Cheticamp at 6:15 am in the face of both a steady drizzle and headwind. The pack stayed together for 80kms until riders turned left onto the Trans-Canada. Six riders took advantage of the tailwind to turn the heat up and pull away from the remainder of the pack. The lead six- Macfadyen, Tomlin, Foster, MacBurnie, Kerr and Delaney, worked well together until the 175km mark when the imposing 2km/ 11% climb of Cape Smokey came into view. The pack quickly went to pieces on the climb as the combination of mileage, gradient and wet legs took their toll. At the top Tomlin and Macfadyen had built a lead of a minute while MacBurnie, Foster and Delaney worked together to close the gap. The lead duo quickly built their lead to several minutes, as professional triathlete Garrett Macfadyen- whose 2001 results include the 2nd fastest bike split from both Ironman Australia and Ironman Canada- continually pushed the pace after the 200km mark.

Behind the leaders, the race had quickly become one of attrition as riders simply tried to keep riding at a respectable pace. Several riders underestimated the fierce nutritional needs of such a long race and found themselves hitting the proverbial wall. Greg Kerr literally bonked, fell asleep and crashed! Fortunately he escaped with only minor road rash and continued on.

Up front, Tomlin- the 2001 winner of the race- was living in a world of hurt as Macfadyen churned out the k's . Tomlin recounted later "I had some pretty serious tunnel vision going after the 200km mark, Garrett was towing me along at 40+km/hour but I sure as hell couldn't pull through." At 250km the riders hit the demoralizing 4.5 km climb of Cape North. A fierce headwind took its toll and riders found themselves searching for bigger cogs.

Macfadyen pulled away to a 2 minute lead on North Mountain but a 90 km/h+ descent by Tomlin saw him reduce the gap to a minute by Pleasant Bay. It was to no avail, however, as the 3.5 km climb of Mackenzie Mountain saw Macfadyen increase his lead back to two minutes- a gap he would hold to the finish in Cheticamp. The next three hours saw solo riders roll into the finish with mixed emotions of fatigue and joy as they realized that they had survived the Cabot Trail Challenge!

Special thanks to Ambrose Delaney, Bill Currie and the rest of the organizing committee, the sponsors including Bill Currie, Ramseys Cycle and Ultramar. Also a special thank you to the support crews who spent ten+ hours in their vehicles doing the usual life support duties! And finally, congratulations to the 11 racers who were brave enough to make the journey and survive the experience!

1st Garrett MacFadyen, Bike People, 9:51 -300km- 30.8km/h
2nd Terry Tomlin, Outdoor Gear Canada, 9:53
3rd Ambrose Delaney, Ramsey's
4th Dustin MacBurnie, Cyclesmith
5th Jodi Isenor, Cyclesmith
6th Walter Mersereau, Ramsey's
7th Dave Regan, Ind.
8th Mark Childerhouse, Ind.

Honourable Mention:
Dwayne White, Cyclesmith
Greg Kerr, Cyclesmith
Mark Foster, Cyclesmith


Track Worlds - Antwerp, Belgium

The 2001 Track World Championships start tomorrow with the Sprint and Individual pursuit qualifying (and first rounds), and the Kilo. Canada has 4 riders attending:

Erin Carter, BC - Individual Pursuit
Lori-Ann Muenzer, AB - Sprint, 500m Time Trial
Mandy Poitras, BC - Individual Pursuit, Points Race
Steen Madsen, AB - Sprint, Keirin

Lori-Ann Muenzer will be starting her campaign to better her result from last year in the sprint (she took silver), the other women will start racing on Thursday and Steen Madsen will begin Friday. Stay tuned.