April 27/03 8:49 am - Bisbee, Athens Twilight, Nella Crashes

Posted by Editor on 04/27/03
 

Vuelta de Bisbee - Arizona
Report courtesy Saturn

As the evening settled into a cooled, soothing glow in Bisbee, Arizona, the competitors of the Vuelta de Bisbee raced their second stage of the day in the high plains of the high desert. The course brought the riders 3.6 miles down hill with a mighty cross wind, into a left hand turn and an appreciated tail wind. From there, the course began a false flat climb to the finish in Warren with more cross wind and a few rollers thrown in for good measure before the finish in front of the court house.

The long, open roads of the time trial beckoned to those trying to carve out some precious time before tomorrow's final stage. Mike Sayers and Manon Jutras both needed to put some time into their competitors, who sat only seconds away in the standings.

The women were first off, in reverse order of the standings and at 30 second intervals. The times were steady at the 24 mark until Dotsie Cowden and Katrina Berger came across the line only seconds from each other with times of 23:01 and 23:27 respectively. However, it was Saturn's Jutras setting a blistering pace and breaking the course record with a time of 22:28 to take her second stage win in as many days. Her win certainly provides her with a nice cushion going into tomorrow's final stage which is suitable to her strength as a climber.

The wind died down as the pro men took the line. As the top placed men lined up for their test of truth, Sayers eyed Rapinski, who was starting only a few riders in front of him. Clearly, he had the strong Saturn rider picked as one of the major threats to his Leader's Jersey. Sayers was correct to fear the Saturn rider as Rapinski crossed the line with a time of 19:39 for a convincing stage win. Second was Gord Fraser who finished with a time of 19:44, five seconds behind Rapinski. Sandy Perrins rounded out the top three with a time of 20:04.

As the mellow reds of the hills melded into the gray and brown hues of expanse of the desert, Jutras donned her Yellow Jersey, welcoming it with a wide smile. Her Saturn teammate, Rapinski also enjoyed his entrée into the pro peloton in the US. He leads the Vuelta by 21 seconds over Fraser. However, tomorrow's stage offers up 30 seconds total of time bonuses for the pro men's field, making the overall title far from a done deal. Rapinski and his Saturn teammate, Ivan Dominguez, sitting in eighth, clearly have their work cut out for them defending the Yellow Leader's Jersey from sprinter extraordinaire, Fraser, and his Health Net Team.

Stage 2 - Warren TT 17 km

Men
1 Viktor Rapinski (Blr) Saturn Cycling Team 19:39
2 Gord Fraser (Can) Team HealthNet at 0:05
3 Sandy Perrins (USA) Healthy Choice-Guru's 0:25
4 Todd Wells (USA) Hyundai Mongoose 0:33
5 Gardie Jackson (USA) Healthy Choice-Guru's 0:36
6 Andrew Miller (USA) Landis/Trek/VW 0:40
7 Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Saturn Cycling Team s.t.
8 Chris McGovern (USA) Team HealthNet 0:47
9 Justin Peschka (USA) Landis/Trek/VW 0:50
10 Mike Sayers (USA) Team HealthNet 1:00

13 Scott Price (Can) Landis/Trek/VW 1:03
31 Michael Moore (Can) GearsRacing.com 1:47
44 Peter Sanowar (Can) GearsRacing.com 2:09
50 Chris Isaac (Can) GearsRacing.com 2:20
73 Dan Maggiacomo (Can) GearsRacing.com 3:21

GC
1 Viktor Rapinski (Blr) Saturn Cycling Team 3:30:16
2 Gord Fraser (Can) Team HealthNet at 0:21
3 Andrew Miller (USA) Landis/Trek/VW 0:35
4 Todd Wells (USA) Hyundai Mongoose 0:46
5 Mike Sayers (USA) Team HealthNet 1:05
6 Scott Price (Can) Landis/Trek/VW 1:13
7 Gardie Jackson (USA) Healthy Choice-Guru's 1:15
8 Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Saturn Cycling Team 1:17
9 Sandy Perrins (USA) Healthy Choice-Guru's 1:34
10 Andy Jacques-Maynes (USA) Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar 1:42

36 Peter Sanowar (Can) GearsRacing.com 3:19
39 Chris Isaac (Can) GearsRacing.com 3:24
40 Michael Moore (Can) GearsRacing.com 3:27
70 Dan Maggiacomo (Can) GearsRacing.com 5:18


Women
1 Manon Jutras (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 19:39
2 Katrina Grove (USA) T-Mobile at 0:33
3 Dotise Cowden (USA) T-Mobile 0:59
4 Lynn Gaggiolli (USA) VeloBella 1:08
5 Amy Moore (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 1:17
6 Jennifer Wilson (USA) Mt Velo/Supergo 1:59
7 Amy Vinik (USA) Mt Velo/Supergo 2:02
8 Rebecca Cooke (USA) Landis/Trek/VW 2:27
9 Deneen Brown (USA) Landis/Trek/VW 2:34
10 Sarah Hammer (USA) T-Mobile 2:35

29 Chloe Black (Can) Terry Precision 3:56

GC
1 Manon Jutras (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 2:32:40
2 Katrina Grove (USA) T-Mobile at 0:51
3 Dotise Cowden (USA) T-Mobile 1:12
4 Lynn Gaggiolli (USA) VeloBella 1:18
5 Amy Moore (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 2:44
6 Jennifer Wilson (USA) Mt Velo/Supergo 3:09
7 Elizabeth Begosh (USA) Team Snow Valley 3:50
8 Cynthia Mommsen (USA) The Olympic Club 4:06
9 Kristin Johnson (USA) T-Mobile 4:29
10 Rebecca Cooke (USA) Landis/Trek/VW 4:32

21 Chloe Black (Can) Terry Precision 7:27


Athens Twilight Criterium - Georgia
Report courtesy Navigators

In addition to the current stage race that is happening in Georgia, the Dodge Tour of Georgia, the city of Athens is home to the popular and exciting Athens Twilight Criterium. It is held on a 1Km downtown course under the lights and in front of crowds that usually exceed 20,000 spectators. The Navigators team sent a squad of 4 to contest this 50-mile race. Navigators' Mark Walters spent many laps off the front of the fast-paced field to the cheers of the crowd, picking up numerous primes in the process.

A group of 7, including Navigators' Ryan Guay, bridged up to him and the group, now 8, continued to thrill the boisterous spectators. After another foray off the front for about 25 laps, Walters was reeled back in prior to the bell lap. In the end, it was Dan Schmatz (7Up) taking a flyer for the win with Walters outsprinting Jonas Carney (Prime Alliance) for 2nd. Guay finished in 7th. Navigators' Siro Camponogara took the field sprint for 9th.

Men
1 Dan Schmatz (USA) 7UP-Maxxis
2 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators
3 Jonas Carney (USA) Prime Alliance
4 James Taylor (USA) OLP
5 Cameron Hughes (Aus) Schroeder Iron

Women
1 Candice Blickem (USA) Genesis Scuba-FFCC
2 Tina Mayolo-Pic (USA) Diet Rite
3 Gina Grain (Can) Victory Brewing-Amorosos
4 Nicole Freedman (USA) Basis
5 Shannon Hutchison (USA) Colavita-Bolla


Nella Out of Cortez-Mitsubishi

Bruno Nella (Maestro-Nippon) dropped us a line from portugal:

"In the second stage after 10 km the Miai team put us in the ditch. There was a strong cross wind and rain, causing a big crash and I was right in the middle of it all. I ended up in the field along with another 50 guys. I cut my leg up pretty bad and had to stop. (he received 5 stitches)"