October 9/01 2:54 am - World Road Championships: Espoir Men and Junior Women ITT

Posted by Editoress on 10/9/01
 

2001 World Cycling Championships Lisbon, Portugal
Report Courtesy USA Cycling


LISBON, Portugal (Oct. 9, 2001) - Danny Pate (Colorado Springs, Colo.) made cycling history Tuesday when he became the first American to win a gold medal in the espoir (under-23) men's individual time trial at the 2001 World Road Cycling Championships in Lisbon, Portugal.

"It's great to win this gold medal and bring it home to the United States. I guess I'm the first American to medal in this event - I'm happy to do that," Pate said.

Pate was the ninth-to-last rider to take to the course, with competitors starting the 33.7km race at one-minute intervals. At the first check of 4.5km, Pate held the fourth-fastest time but by the time he reached the 16.7km mark, the Colorado native (born in Pueblo) had moved into first place and never looked back.

Pate continued to put the hammer down and increased his lead over the last half of the race, putting up a blistering time of 46 minutes and 29.35 seconds with an average speed of 43.49km per hour. He beat his nearest threat, Germany's Sebastian Lang, by 38 seconds. James Perry from the Republic of South Africa took third.

The espoir event started in 1996, with the highest previous American finish being David Zabriskie's fourth place in 2000. Only men ages 19-22 are permitted to compete in the category.

"I thought I could do pretty well and had good preparation," Pate said. "I just kind of showed up, and the other guys just didn't go that fast. This was a good course for me ... it was all up and down, with a lot of climbing. I rode as hard as I could."

Pate added that his training with USA Cycling's national team this year proved to be helpful in Tuesday's race.

"It's been really good to compete in Europe with the espoir national team all year," Pate said. "In the United States there a handful of really difficult races. In Europe, riders race hard every day. I rode in some tough time trials in Europe and that was pretty good preparation for me. It was good to go home to Colorado too and get a break before the championships."

The 22-year-old has had fantastic form all year long, taking the silver medal in the individual time trial at the USCF Espoir National Road Cycling Championships in August. He has scored major victories in Europe and on the domestic scene, snagging first place at Triptyque Ardennais in Belgium and Illinois' Four Bridges of Elgin. Pate also finished second at the Tour of Flanders (Belgium) and third at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya de L'Avenir (Spain).

Pate is no stranger to world championship caliber racing, having competed for the U.S. team for the last three years. This year was Pate's, taking the highest ever finish and becoming the first American to medal in the event.

As for the world championship road race scheduled for Friday, October 12, Pate said he'd leave it up to his U.S. teammates.

"I think the best thing is that I don't really have to worry about the road race now, I'll leave that up to the other guys - they can dish it out."

1 Danny Pate (USA)                    46:29.35
2 Sebastian Lang (Ger)  at             0:38.35
3 James Perry (RSA)                    0:39.35
4 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)              0:52.92
5 Sergio Paulinho (Por)                0:56.68
6 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel)              1:02.58
7 Markus Fothen (Ger)                  1:03.70
8 Michele Scarponi (Ita)               1:32.40
9 Manuel Quinziato (Ita)               1:37.67
10 Vladimir Goussev (Rus)              1:46.68
11 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr)                1:48.04
12 Kevin De Weert (Bel)                1:54.96
13 Alexandre Bespalov (Rus)            1:57.20
14 Hernani Broco (Por)                 2:03.75
15 Gustav Larsson (Swe)                2:09.14
16 Gregor Gazvoda (Slo)                2:11.13
17 Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez (Col)   2:20.58
18 Lukasz Bodnar (Pol)                 2:28.17
19 Jorge Garcia Marin (Esp)            2:31.22
20 Michael Creed (USA)                 2:37.62
21 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Esp)        2:41.90
22 Antonio D'aniello (Ita)             3:01.78
23 Mark Scanlon (Irl)                  3:03.11
24 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)                 3:12.38
25 Sandro Güttinger (Sui)              3:26.33
26 Matija Kotnik (Slo)                 3:36.05
27 Christophe Kern (Fra)               3:36.88
28 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra)             3:38.21
29 Markus Joho (Sui)                   3:47.37
30 Mark Louwers (Ned)                  3:56.21
31 Ladislav Fabisovsky (Cze)           4:08.29
32 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin)               4:12.69
33 Lars Ytting Bak (Den)               4:17.68
34 Denis Shkarpeta (Uzb)               4:26.91
35 Ioannis Tamouridis (Gre)            4:30.01
36 Alexandr Kazlov (Blr)               4:30.48
37 Carlos Andres Ibanez Gonzalez (Col  4:31.76
38 Martin Gratzer (Aut)                4:40.88
39 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)              4:41.27
40 Mikko Vastaranta (Fin)              4:52.62
41 Denis Lynch (Irl)                   4:56.33
42 Markku Ainsalu (Est)                5:07.22
43 Zoltan Csomor (Hun)                 6:00.96
44 Per Martin Lund (Nor)               6:04.80
45 Moises Aldape Chavez (Mex)          6:22.24
46 Lars Breiseth (Nor)                 6:29.51
47 David Salomon (Mex)                 6:46.74
48 Takashi Tsumuraya (Jpn)             7:48.43
49 Tomoya Sato (Jpn)                   8:56.34
50 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz)            9:35.42
DNF Zoltan Madaras (Hun)
DNF Aivaras Baranauskas (Ltu)
DNS Petter Renang (Swe)

1 Nicole Cooke (GBr)                      18:45.76
2 Natalia Boiarskaia (Rus)            at   0:08.64
3 Diana Elmentaite (Ltu)                   0:09.81
4 Giorgia Bronzini (Ita)                   0:14.12
5 Charlotte Becker (Ger)                   0:15.69
6 Madeleine Sandig (Ger)                   0:15.89
7 Maja Wloszczowska (Pol)                  0:18.32
8 Vera Koedooder (Ned)                     0:25.05
9 Kathy Ingels (Bel)                       0:29.72
10 Svetlana Sercueeva (Rus)                0:30.17
11 Modesta Vzesniauskaite (Ltu)            0:35.35
12 Sarah Hammer (USA)                      0:38.51
13 Andrea Knecht (Sui)                     0:44.48
14 Vanessa Crawford (Aus)                  0:49.68
15 Patricia Schwager (Sui)                 0:52.38
16 Anna Zugno (Ita)                        0:52.39
17 Helene Tveter (Nor)                     0:53.90
18 Emilia Skawinska (Pol)                  1:08.46
19 Suzanne De Goede (Ned)                  1:13.30
20 Dianne Emery (RSA)                      1:17.30
21 Katarina Dolinska (Svk)                 1:18.71
22 Katie Brown (Aus)                       1:19.03
23 Laura Juliana Castro Gomez (Col)        1:30.36
24 Maria Eugenia Parra Constante (Ecu)     1:31.88
25 Mette Fischer Andreasen (Den)           1:32.56
26 Monica Haydee Huerta Barron (Mex)       1:33.69
27 Nina Ovcharenko (Ukr)                   1:39.38
28 Naiara Telletxea Lopez (Esp)            1:41.13
29 Bernadette Schober (Aut)                1:42.12
30 Magen Long (USA)                        1:43.21
31 Sharon Vandromme (Bel)                  1:57.98
32 Genevieve Leblanc (Can)                 2:02.98
33 Ana Isabel Mata Blanco (Esp)            2:08.68
34 Laura Yorsten (Can)                     2:13.44
35 Stephanie Baud (Fra)                    2:15.13
36 Tatyana Palchynska (Ukr)                2:28.31
37 Tatsiana Sharakova (Blr)                2:41.08
38 Persefoni Fragiadaki (Gre)              2:42.22
39 Stiliani Tatidi (Gre)                   3:24.50
40 Emma Johansson (Swe)                    7:34.17