March 20/98 17:04 pm - Hughes Wins Sea Otter Prologue

Posted by Editor on 03/20/98
 

Clara Hughes Wins Sea Otter Prologue, Fraser Second
(courtesy USA Cycling)

MONTEREY, Calif. -- Conquering the corkscrew in the course at Laguna Seca Raceway, Trent Klasna (Navigators), Pine Valley, Calif., and Clara Hughes (Saturn), Hamilton, Ont., Canada, won the opening prologue at the Mavic Elite Road Stage Race, the road event at the Sea Otter Classic.

The Mavic Elite Road Stage Race is just one of many events going on at the five-day USA Cycling Grand Slam Fest, combining road racing, mountain biking, BMX and track racing.

Klasna continued his strong early-season form, covering the 2.25-mile course in four minutes, 41.13 seconds, almost two seconds ahead of Gord Fraser (Mercury), Hamilton, Ont., Canada.

"It was an awesome course -- I knew I‚d like it," Klasna said.

The course featured a two-tier climb which immediately gave way to a twisting, Œcorkscrew‚ descent before flattening out on the lower part of the course at the recreation area.

Frank McCormack (Saturn), Leicester, Mass., was third among the 199 riders in the field. Eric Wohlberg (Shaklee) finished 6th.

Hughes led a one-two finish in the women‚s event as she and teammate Karen Kurreck, Cupertino, Calif., topped the field. The rest of the Saturn squad is on its way down under for events in New Zealand and Australia, so Hughes and Kurreck have no other teammates in the field.

"We have our work cut out," Hughes said. "I think people might be ganging up on us."

Hughes finished in five minutes, 26.77 seconds, 1.7 seconds ahead of Kurreck. Emily Robbins (Celestial Seasonings), Wauwatosa, Wis., was third. Canadian Linda Jackson (Saeco-Timex) was 6th.

Hughes and Klasna will be wearing the leader‚s jerseys into this afternoon‚s second stage, a circuit race on the Laguna Seca course. The stage race concludes tomorrow with the Vredestein Road Race.

SEA OTTER CLASSIC, March 20-21, Monterey, Calif.

Mavic Elite Road Stage Race

Prologue, March 20, 2.25 miles

Men

1. TRENT KLASNA (NAVIGATORS), Pine Valley, Calif., 4:41.13
2. Gord Fraser (Mercury), Ottawa, Ont., Canada, 4:43.10
3. Frank McCormack (Saturn), Leicester, Mass., 4:44.79
4. Derek Bouchard-Hall (Shaklee), Menlo Park, Calif., 4:44.93
5. Adam Laurent (Navigators), Pismo Beach, Calif., 4:46.16
6. Eric Wohlberg CAN (Shaklee) 4:46.28

Women

1. CLARA HUGHES (SATURN), Hamilton, Ont., Canada, 5:26.77
2. Karen Kurreck (Saturn), Cupertino, Calif., 5:28.47
3. Emily Robbins (Celestial Seasonings), Wauwatosa, Wis., 5:35.25
4. Nicole Freedman (Shaklee), Palo Alto, Calif., 5:38.91
5. Marie Holjer (Jane‚s Cosmetics), Sweden, 5:40.73
6. Linda Jackson CAN (Saeco-Timex) 5:44.21