May 18/02 7:32 am - Enumclaw Stage Race, Canadian Tandems in Belgium, Tim Horton's Camp Day

Posted by Editoress on 05/18/02
 

Enumclaw Stage Race
Courtesy Dan Proulx

Stage 1, 6 mile Time Trial
Canada is well respresented at the Enumclaw Stage Race. The race is being held 45 minutes southeast of Seattle. The race was held in the shadow of Mount Rainier on a rainy and overcast morning.

The Stage 1 time trial was held over a flat course which included several winding sections and one hill at the 8km mark of the course.

The winner of Stage 1 was Emily Westerbrook of Seattle (Gregg's Cycle), who beat former World Duathlon Champion, Donna Peters (Saturn of Bellvue).

The top Canadian was Sarah Stewart of Victoria and Opus Women's Cycling. Stewart finished Stage 1 in 7th place. Marni Prazsky of Vancouver (Trek
Volkswagon) finished 10th.

Stage 1 - 6 mile Time Trial (40 Starters)

1. Emily Easterbrook (Greggs) 15:05.8
2. Donna Peters (Saturn of Bellvue) 15:17.9
3. Kele Husler (Armondos) 15:20.1

Canadians
7. Sarah Stewart (Opus Women's Cycling) 15:41.7
10. Marni Prazsky (Trek Volkswagon) 16:04.3
15. Moriah Beattie (Escape Velocity) 16:18.9
16. Jenny Trew (Opus Women's Cycling) 16:21.8
17. Suzanne Macht (Devo) 16:24.3
18. Lisa Sweeney (Team Kappa) 16:27.2
23. Nina Krach (Escape Velocity) 16:35.8
27. Dawn Berg (Team Kappa) 16:51.4
31. Petrina Tulissi (Gruppo Sportivo) 16:52.9
32. Heather Parrott (Devo) 18:22.1


Ronde van Belgie
Courtesy Craig DeVeer

The canadian tandem team took part in the tour of Belgium for visualy impaired athletes from May 9th to 12th. This race is one of the major stage races for tandem in the world and it’s held in the historical region of Flanders. This year, 34 teams from 9 countries were part of the race. The Canadian team was represented by 2001 national champion Brian Cowie from Burnaby and his pilot Gary Alexander from Calgary. Richard Marsolais and his pilot Craig de Veer both from Ottawa. And finally Stephane Cote from Quebec city and his pilot Pierre-Olivier Boily from Roberval.

Prologue : Hulshout May 9th
The tour started with a prologue of 1,5km on a 385m veledrome. Our boys rode well, all besting their previous year results. The team of Cowie/Alexander finished 8th with a time of 1:55 followed by Cote/Boily in a time of 1:56. Marsolais/De Veer finished 9th with a time of 1:57. Three teams were in a time of 1:52 to take the first three positions; Boguszewski/Sugier from Poland took the yellow jersey followed by Fernandez/Soler from Spain. In third place, team Clemente/Gonzalez also from Spain.

1. Sugier Piotr/Boguszewski Robert Poland 0:01:52
2. Soler Ignacio/Fernandez Juan Spain 0:01:52
3. Gonzalez Valentin/Clemente Miguel Spain 0:01:52
4. Suarez Juan Fr./Gonzalez Francisco Spain 0:01:53
5. Matusiak Sylwestr/Groszkowski Henryk Poland 0:01:53
8. Alexander Gary/Cowie Brian Canada 0:01:55
9. Boily Pierre-Olivier/Cote Stephane Canada 0:01:56
11. DeVeer Craig/Marsolais Richard Canada 0:01:57


1st stage: Hulshout May 9th
The first stage took place in the afternoon with a 3km circuit. The tandem teams completed 27 laps for 81km. The Canadians met major difficulty where Cowie/Alexander and Cote/Boily broke their chain and lost 2 laps on the field. Before the mechanical problem, both teams were at the front and working hard. The team of Marsolais/de Veer hung on and finished 8th in the main pack. The team from Spain who was wearing the green jersey (points) after the prologue, won the 1st stage with over 1:30 on the main pack.

1. Soler Ignacio/Fernandez Juan Spain 1:43:0
2. Gonzalez Valentin/Clemente Miguel Spain 1:43:44
3. Schoots Pascal/Mulder Jan Netherlands 1:43:44
4. Danilik Aliaksander/Fiadotava Irina Bielorussia 1:44:10
5. Verhouden John/Prijs Jurriaan Netherlands 1:44:10
8. DeVeer Craig/Marsolais Richard Canada 1:44:10
20. Alexander Gary/Cowie Brian Canada 1:47:58
29. Boily Pierre-Olivier/Cote Stephane Canada 2:01:38

2nd stage: Overpelt May 10th
This second day of competition was definitively better for our Canadian tandem teams. On a technical and fast circuit, the 34 tandems had 15 laps to completed for 82.5km. This stage has been won by a Canadian team in 2000 (Brian Cowie/Min Van Velzen) and Yvon Provencher/Fabien Bergeron was second. This year, the stage goes to the french team who had also flat tire the day before. On the start they had nothing to lose and they attacked right away and accomplished a beautiful performance finishing with 2:30 in front of the group. Marsolais/deVeer did a great sprint and completed the race in fifth position, followed by Cote/Boily in 7th position with a good sprint also.

1. Bizet Alexandre/Josso Cyrille France 1:55:33
2. Gonzalez Valentin/Clemente Miguel Spain 1:58:03
3. Schoots Pascal/Mulder Jan Netherlands 1:58:06
4. Danilik Aliaksander/Fiadotava Irina Bielorussia 1:58:06
5. DeVeer Craig/Marsolais Richard Canada 1:58:06
7. Boily Pierre-Olivier/Cote Stephane Canada 1:58:06
22. Alexander Gary/Cowie Brian Canada 2:06:55

3rd stage: Antwerpen-Luchtbal May 11th
Second wining stage in a row for the french team and another learning experience for the Canadian teams. A good start for Cote/Boily when they attacked right away and broke away for a couple laps until they had a flat tire…and never came back. Later, it was Marsolais/deVeer’s turn to have a flat tire. They could reintegrate the peloton but flat again with 10 laps to go and lost some precious time. This stage was really technical with a lap of 3km and 13 corners… this gave serious problem to our Canadian champion Cowie/Alexander and finishing with one lap behind.

1. Bizet Alexandre/Josso Cyrille France 1:50:29
2. Schoots Pascal/Mulder Jan Netherlands 1:50:29
3. Soler Ignacio/Fernandez Juan Spain 1:50:29
4. Verhouden John/Prijs Jurriaan Netherlands 1:50:29
5. Gonzalez Valentin/Clemente Miguel Spain 1:50:29
18. DeVeer Craig/Marsolais Richard Canada 1:54:33
20. Alexander Gary/Cowie Brian Canada 1:54:35
23. Boily Pierre-Olivier/Cote Stephane Canada 1:59:56

4st stage: Loenhout May 12th
Fast stage for the last race of this tour of Belgium. The main group completed the stage with an average speed of over 45km/h! Many attacks come from the Canadian teams but due to the high speed, it was difficult to go in a break away. The Spanish team controlled the race and set tempo to protect their jerseys (yellow and green). Sprint finish again for all the tandems where Marsolais/de Veer demonstrate their speed again with a 7th position. The stage win goes to the Spanish team and they keep their green jerseys. Overall, the Spanish won the tour and the team GC. So far, so good, for the Canadian team who had so many mechanical problem during this tour. Some of them still getting more experience in tandem racing and are in process to be qualify for the IPC World Cycling Championships in Germany next August (3-12). The selection will be made during the Road National Handisport held in July 6-7th in Masouche, Quebec (30 minutes from Montreal). Exceptionally, the Road National Handisport are run out of the regular Road National because the conflict with the IPC World Cycling Championships.

1. Gonzalez Valentin/Clemente Miguel Spain 1:42:05
2. Schoots Pascal/Mulder Jan Netherlands 1:42:05
3. Verhouden John/Prijs Jurriaan Netherlands 1:42:05
4. Goossens Bas/Lukassen Luuk Netherlands 1:42:05
5. Suarez Juan Fr/Gonzalez Francisco Spain 1:42:05
7. DeVeer Craig/Marsolais Richard Canada 1:42:05
19. Boily Pierre-Olivier/Cote Stephane Canada 1:42:05
22. Alexander Gary/Cowie Brian Canada 1:42:05

Final General classification
1. Soler Ignacio/Fernandez Juan Spain 7:15:29
2. Gonzalez Valentin/Clemente Miguel Spain 7:16:10
3. Schoots Pascal/Mulder Jan Netherlands 7:16:12
4. Matusiak Sylwestr/Groszowski Henryk Poland 7:16:40
5. Suarez Juan Fr/Gonzalez Francisco Spain 7:16:45
15. DeVeer Craig/Marsolais Richard Canada 7:20:48
20. Alexander Gary/Cowie Brian Canada 7:27:47
24. Boily Pierre-Olivier/Cote Stephane Canada 7:43:38

Final Points classification
1. Gonzalez Valentin/Clemente Miguel Spain 109
2. Schoots Pascal/Mulder Jan Netherlands 102
3. Soler Ignacio/Fernandez Juan Spain 82
10. DeVeer Craig/Marsolais Richard Canada 57
15. Boily Pierre-Olivier/Cote Stephane Canada 28
21. Alexander Gary/Cowie Brian Canada 15

Vincent Jourdain
National Coach


Tim Hortons Camp Day

A big THANKS to all Cyclists who helped out on CAMP DAY!

Ottawa, ON – Wednesday, May 15th, 2002 was Tim Hortons Camp Day. For the 24-hour period, Tim Hortons donates all the proceeds from coffee sales to the Tim Hortons Children's Foundation, which allows underprivileged children the opportunity to go to camp.

As with previous years, cyclists and members of the Canadian National Cycling Team across Canada did not disappoint. Many of you stepped up to the plate, and volunteered your time pouring coffee, working drive thru's, making sandwiches, doing media promo's, all while learning a new trade. All athletes got great reviews from the storeowners (but don't sell your bikes just yet)!

On behalf of the CCA, I'd like to say a really big thanks to the following athletes for helping out on Camp Day, supporting our Sponsor Tim Hortons. Without their generous support, our programs and Championships would not be where they are today:

In Victoria: Keith Bruneau, Carter Hovey and Tyler Hansen volunteered at the Shelbourne Street store, and did their best not to get in each other's way behind the counter.

In Calgary: Nick Corcoran, was at the Tim Hortons between Foothills hospital and the University. Nick discovered an entirely new level of stress during his 4 hour shift!

In Edmonton: Steen Madsen and Lori-Ann Muenzer were getting worked hard over the coffee machines and at the drive-thru at the Argyl Tim Horton's in Edmonton ( photo, courtesy Lori-Ann)

In Hamilton: Pierre Hutsebaut, Director of the CCA, and Dana Cunningham, working member of the 2003 Road World Championships Organising Committee, both got really busy behind the counter of the Fortino's plaza location, between King and Main.

In Bromont: Julie Hutsebaut made Capp's and sandwiches at the new Bromont Tim Hortons, along with Lucie Marois and Nicolas Tremblay from the Bromont National Cycling Centre.

I'd also like to thank Ryan McKenzie, Christophe Chésaux and Allyson Fox who also offered to help out on Camp Day.

All athletes told me they had a blast, and were happy to support such a worthy cause.

Totals raised from this year's Camp Day exceed $4.3 million, so far (still counting!). Every kid should have to opportunity to go to summer camp, more than 9000 will get to go this summer!

Thanks everyone!

Fiona