May 10/03 6:47 am - Peace Race, Dunkirk, Wohlberg Wins in Arkansas

Posted by Editor on 05/10/03
 

Peace Race - Czech Republic

Stage 2 - Unicov to Opava 155 km

1 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Team Telekom 3:58:39
2 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
3 Marcin Lewandowski (Pol) Mroz
4 David Kopp (Ger) Team Telekom
5 Eric Baumann (Ger) Team Wiesenhof
6 Jaroslaw Zarebski (Pol) CCC-Polsat
7 Wiktor Rapinski (Blr) Saturn Cycling Team
8 Lubomir Tesar (Cze) eD'system-ZVVZ
9 Enrico Degano (Ita) Mercatone Uno - Scanavino
10 Adam Wadecki (Pol) Mroz

11 Charles Dionne (Can) Saturn Cycling Team
40 Bobby Julich (USA) Team Telekom
61 Phil Zajicek (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
71 Marc McCormack (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
82 Dominique Perras (Can) Flanders-IteamNova.com
95 Tim Johnson (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
104 William Frischkorn (USA) Saturn Cycling Team all s.t.
DNF Tom Danielson (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
DNF Nathan O'Neill (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team

GC

1 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Team Telekom 6:36:40
2 Kazimierz Stafiej (Pol) Mroz at 0:13
3 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0:18
4 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Team Wiesenhof s.t.
5 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0:19
6 Gert Vanderaerden (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 0:20
7 Eric Baumann (Ger) Team Wiesenhof
8 Marcin Lewandowski (Pol) Mroz both s.t.
9 William Frischkorn (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 0:21
10 Stefano Casagranda (Ita) Alessio 0:22

17 Charles Dionne (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 0:24
42 Bobby Julich (USA) Team Telekom
59 Phil Zajicek (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
86 Marc McCormack (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
89 Dominique Perras (Can) Flanders-IteamNova.com
95 Tim Johnson (USA) Saturn Cycling Team all s.t.

Young Rider Classification

1 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 6:36:59
2 Eric Baumann (Ger) Team Wiesenhof at 0:01
3 William Frischkorn (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 0:02
4 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Lampre 0:04
5 Jaroslaw Zarebski (Pol) CCC-Polsat 0:05

6 Charles Dionne (Can) Saturn Cycling Team s.t.

Perras et Dionne dans le peloton

Montréal, le 10 mai 2003 (Sportcom) - Pas de veine pour Charles Dionne. En deux étapes à la Course de la Paix, il a chuté deux fois. Après 105 kilomètres sans pépin, Dionne, à 25 kilomètres de l'arrivée d'Opava, ville à la frontière entre la République tchèque et la Pologne, s'est retrouvé derrière une chute de trois ou quatre coureurs.

" J'ai essayé de freiner, mais je n'ai pu les éviter ", a expliqué le coureur de la formation Saturn. " Ouais, ça ne vol pas fort fort pour moi après ce vol plané ", a-t-il quand même rigolé. " Je devrais me trouver un commanditaire de crème médicamenteuse pour la peau ", a-t-il ajouté.

Dominique Perras a, quant à lui, évité toutes les chutes. Le coureur de Flanders IteamNova a été relativement actif en début de course. " Alan (Iacuone), le leader de mon équipe, et moi, on était devant certaines cassures et on essayait de couvrir les coups, mais après ç'a été tranquille. Ma tâche, c'était de rester hors de tout trouble. " Ce qu'il a fait.

Les coureurs de l'équipe Telekom ont contrôlé pendant toute la journée, laissant William Frischkorn, de l'équipe Saturn mener une échappée en solitaire pendant plusieurs kilomètres. Les Telekom l'ont englouti à la fin et ont mis la table pour leur sprinteur Danilo Hondo qui ne les a pas déçus. Hondo a gagné les deux premières étapes et est en tête du classement cumulatif, avec une avance de 13 secondes sur Kazimierz Stafiej (Mroz).

Le classement devrait être bousculé au terme de la prochaine étape entre Knov et Polanica Zdroj. Cette étape de 189 km présente un profil accidenté avec deux montées au-delà des 1 000 mètres d'altitude.


Four Days of Dunkirk - France

Stage 4 - Wimereux to Boulogne sur Mer 179 km

1 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 4:35:27
2 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère s.t.
3 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Jean Delatour at 0:09
4 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 0:29
5 David Zabriskie (USA) US Postal 1:29
6 Richard Virenque (Fra) Quick.Step-Davitamon 2:25
7 Javier Zapata (Col) 05 Orbitel
8 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) FDJeux.com
9 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Team CSC
10 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère all s.t.

13 Michael Barry (Can) US Postal 3:20
34 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 7:31
64 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 22:42
76 Christian Van De Velde (USA) US Postal
95 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon both s.t.

GC

1 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 18:00:28
2 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère at 0:03
3 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Jean Delatour 0:17
4 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 0:41
5 David Zabriskie (USA) US Postal 1.41
6 Matthew White (Aus) US Postal 2:36
7 Javier Zapata (Col) 05 Orbitel 2:37
8 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère
9 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Team CSC
10 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Jean Delatour

11 Richard Virenque (Fra) Quick.Step-Davitamon all s.t.
13 Michael Barry (Can) US Postal 3:32
33 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 7:43
69 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 22:54
72 Christian Van De Velde (USA) US Postal s.t.

Points Classification

1 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2r-Prevoyance 38 points
2 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Jean Delatour 28
3 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 28
4 Yuri Mitlushenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 26
5 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 26

38 Michael Barry (Can) US Postal 3

Climbers Classification

1 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2r-Prevoyance 38 points
2 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Jean Delatour 28
3 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 28
4 Yuri Mitlushenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 26
5 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 26

38 Michael Barry (Can) US Postal 3


Joe Martin Stage Race - Arkansas
Courtesy of Worlddiff.com

FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS (May 9, 2003)- The 2003 Joe Martin Stage Race began today with the traditional opener, the Fayetteville-Fayetteville Road Race (113 miles for
the Pro/Elite Men, 70 miles for the Pro/Elite Women), and the majestic scenery of the Boston Mountains was matched by a pair of performances that will go a long way towards deciding this year's victors. In the Men's event, Saturn Cycling's Eric Wohlberg led home breakaway companions Ben Brooks (Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing) and Jason McCartney ( 7 UP/Maxxis), with the next rider finishing more than four minutes in arrears. Meanwhile, in the Women's race, it was 2002 Joe Martin Stage Race winner Lynn Gaggioli (Velo Bella) outsprinting Genesis Scuba/FFCC rider Sue Palmer-Komar for the stage, close to three minutes ahead of an eleven-strong chase group.

The 113-mile Men's race, which featured about one vertical mile's worth of climbing through the Boston Mountains, started off quietly enough, as the 66-man field braced itself for what was to come. However, at about the 50-mile mark, the Mathis Bros. Cycling squad of former Joe Martin champion Steven Cate decided to shake things up, moving to the front and joining several other racers in forcing the pace. The result was that the field split apart on the early stair-step climbs, with a lead group of 18-20 riders forming that included such pre-race favorites as Cate, Arkansas 'favorite son' Brice Jones (7 UP/Maxxis) ... and the always-dangerous Wohlberg. However, the 18-20 quickly became seven as the leaders reached the biggest climb of the day, Mount Gaylor. And then came decision time: Wohlberg, a many-time Canadian national champion and former Pan-Am/Commonwealth Games medalist, forced the pace still further, with only Brooks and McCartney able to match his effort. And that's how it would end, despite a valiant effort by Jones to bridge to the lead trio before the summit. Wohlberg essentially rode away from his breakaway partners for the stage win, with young Aussie Brooks nipping the ever-aggressive McCartney for second place. Behind them came the shattered remnants of the starting field: after his earlier effort, Jones still had enough legs to lead in the four-man chase group, which included Cate, Eric Murphy of Fort Smith, AR-based Mercy Cycling, and Adam Bergman (Bianchi/Grand Performance), a teammate of 2002 winner Gustavo Carillo, who was unfortunately a last-minute scratch. A second group arrived at 8:26 down, including pre-race favorite John Lieswyn (7 UP/Maxxis) and 2000 U.S. National Time Trial champ Adham Sbeih (Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar), with finishers continuing to arrive more than an hour after Wohlberg crossed the line.

If today's action essentially whittled the potential Men's winners down to a group of three, then the 70-mile Women's stage left onlookers with the distinct impression that it was now a two-woman race between up-and-comer Gaggioli and the cagey veteran Palmer-Komar. Beforehand, most of the attention had been focused on French-Canadian superstar Genevieve Jeanson, who has dominated virtually every event she has entered so far in 2003. Unfortunately, Jeanson was unable to attend, leaving the door cracked open for someone else to step up and take charge. And that's what Gaggioli and Palmer-Komar did, throwing the door wide open with an attack on Mount Gaylor that no one else in the women's field- which included such riders as former Joe Martin winner Andrea Ratkovic (Mathis Bros. Cycling), 2003 U.S. Under-23 Road Race winner Megan Elliott (Saturn Cycling), 13-time Junior National champ Magen Long (OBRU), and former women's Tour de France competitor Joan Wilson - who had brought four of her TDS Cycling teammates with her to Fayetteville- was able to match. It was a battle of contrasts between the two breakaway riders. Gaggioli is a relative newcomer to the sport, having begun racing seriously just three seasons ago; however, riding largely on her own, she has been one of 2003's great unsung success stories, with results such as fifth overall at the recent Tour of the Gila. As for Palmer-Komar, she has been racing at the highest international level for more than a decade, with a list of accomplishments that include four Mountains Awards at the HP International Women's Challenge, a stint in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France Feminin, and tenth place in the 1996 Olympic Road Race. Palmer-Komar, gearing up for the World Championships in her hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, has excellent form at the moment, coming off a near-victory in the Fleche Wallonne World Cup race in Belgium; however, on this day, she was unable to shake the tenacious Gaggioli, who won the two-up sprint at the finish. It would be nearly three minutes before the next woman crossed the line, with Athens Twilight Criterium winner Candice Blickem (Genesis Scuba/FFCC) pipping Saturn Cycling's Amy Moore and Australian Helen Kelly (TDS Cycling) for third. The stage is now set for an interesting battle between Gaggioli and Palmer-Komar over the next three stages. With her wealth of experience and three Genesis Scuba teammates in the race, Palmer-Komar would seem to have the advantage, but only time will tell whether that will be enough.

Saturday is a double-stage day, with a morning road race (92 miles for the men, 69 miles for the women) and a 2.5-mile uphill time trial in the afternoon. The Joe Martin Stage Race concludes on Sunday with a criterium in downtown Fayetteville.

Stage One: Fayetteville-Fayetteville Road Race

Pro/Elite Men (113 miles)

1 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Saturn Cycling 4:31:58
2 Ben Brooks (Aus) Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing at 0:04
3 Jason McCartney (USA) 7 UP / Maxxis Team
4 Brice Jones (USA) 7 UP / Maxxis Team 4:07
5 Eric Murphy (USA) Mercy Cycling Team
6 Steven Cate (USA) Mathis Bros. Cycling
7 Adam Bergman (USA) Bianchi / Grand Performance
8 Kirk Albers (USA) Jelly Belly / Carlsbad Clothing 8:26
9 John Lieswyn (USA) 7 UP / Maxxis Team
10 Chris Fisher (USA) Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing


Pro/Elite Women (70 miles)

1 Lynn Gaggioli (USA) Velo Bella 2:58:36
2 Susan Palmer-Komer (Can) Genesis Scuba / FFCC s.t.
3 Candice Blickem (USA) Genesis Scuba / FFCC at 2:52
4 Amy Moore (Can) Saturn Cycling
5 Helen Kelly (Aus) TDS Cycling Team
6 Magen Long (USA) OBRU
7 Catherine Walberg (USA) Jamba Juice
8 Heather Brice (USA) St Louis Cyclones
9 Andrea Hannos (Can) RONA - Esker
10 Grace Fleury (USA) Genesis Scuba / FFCC all s.t.