June 8/98 9:40 am - Hardwood Hills, Ontario Results

Posted by Editor on 06/8/98
 

Canada Cup #1, Hardwood Hills, Ontario

It was Kona Day at the first Canada Cup of 1998 - the Toyota/Schwinn Canada Cup #1 at Hardwood Hills, Ontario (north of Barrie). Kona racers Ryder Hesjedal (Junior Expert), Trish Sinclair (Pro Elite Women) and Geoff Kabush (Pro Elite Men), swept the top three categories at a windy and cool race. The 10 kilometre course was more to the riders‚ liking than last year‚s National Championship circuit - the organizers had removed one (sandy) loop, making it faster.

The absence of top pros such as Alison Sydor, Lelsey Tomlinson, Chrissy Redden, Melanie McQuaid, Andreas Hestler, Roland Green, Seamus McGrath and Peter Wedge meant that some of Canada‚s Œhidden‚ talents had a chance to shine. This highlights an important point: the Canada Cup has become a development circuit; an excellent idea in my view.

Both the men‚s and women‚s races were wide open, given the absence of the established stars. Jason Crookham and Lucas Curran (both Valu-Net), Mathieu Toulouse (Ford-Devinci), Geoff Kabush (Kona), Sean Anastasiadis (Olympia/Manitoba) and Bill Hurley (Oryx/Procycle) set the early pace, and for the first 3 laps Crookham was the dominant rider. In the 4th lap, it was down to Crookham, Kabush and Toulouse at the front, the others falling back after going out too hard early on. „On the 4th lap, in the singletrack, I took the lead and pushed it.‰ said Kabush. „We dropped Mathieu, and then Jason had trouble passing someone, so I was able to take advantage.‰ The 21 year old Victoria-based rider, attributed his form to „a really solid winter. I got a good base in and didn‚t get sick.‰

Trish Sinclair is an underrated rider who can always be counted upon to be in the finishers, unfortunately, until now, overshadowed by other west coast stars such as Sydor and Tomlinson. After 6 years on the mountain bike circuit, this is her first well deserved Canada Cup victory. Sinclair, Melanie Dorion (Oryx/Procycle) and Lisa McGilvray (Toyota/Schwinn) swapped the lead throughout the first two and a half laps of the 4 lap race. „Mel had a crash as we were passing some men, and so I was able to get away.‰ said Sinclair after the race. However, Dorion was much more generous: „Trish doesn‚t give herself enough credit. She was stronger out there today.‰ Dorion did say that she is still feeling tired after competing on the spring World Cup circuit, and is looking forward to getting some rest and „solid training‰ now that she is home. That takes nothing away from Sinclair‚s effort, which saw her gradually pull away from both Dorion and second place finisher McGilvray. McGilvray also had a strong race, finishing only 50 seconds down on the winner.

In the Junior Expert Men‚s race it was, to no one‚s surprise, Ryder Hesjedal from start to finish. Hesjedal is in a class of his own, catching most of the Pro Elite field, despite starting a minute down. A somewhat unexpected battle developed for second place, between Ontario rider Ryan Dey and Quebecer Jean Francois Laroche (OGC Fisher). Dey led the the chase for second in the early laps, but Laroche came on strong in the latter half to take second place by nearly 50 seconds.

Full results are available for both the Cross Country and the Downhill. The Canada Cup continues next weekend in Canmore, Alberta.


O-Cup #5 - Hidden Valley Road, Kitchener ON
Sunday June 7th, 1998
(courtesy Keith Peck, Ziggy's Cycling Club President)

Senior 1 & 2:

1 Heath Cockburn Jet Fuel
2 Matthew Hansen Jet Fuel
3 Paul Rego Saeco
4 Antione Varghese Jet Fuel
5 Daniel Maggiacomo Jet Fuel
6 Andrew Randall Jet Fuel
7 Joe Giuliano Jet Fuel
8 Matthias Schmidt Ziggy's
9 Darko Ficko Woodbridge Italia
10 Brain Rusche Independent
11 Raymond Duggan Jet Fuel
12 Jason Neubauer Jet Fuel
13 Barry Reid Independent
14 Greg Cavanagh Woodstock
15 Christopher Atkins Independent
16 Tamas Baumgartner Newworld
17 Jacek Sochacki Polonges
18 Bryan King Independent

Women:

1 Allyson Fox Rip N Hammer
2 Amy Jarvis Mississauga
3 Sophia Radecki Rip N Hammer
4 Julia Bradley Lakeshore
5 Kathleen Miller Saeco
6 Jane Helf D'Ornella's
7 Susan Portergeu Independent
8 Ingrid Coney Newmarket
9 Kate Archibald Lakeshore
10 Maogosha Pysor Lakeshore

Junior:

1 Charles Gorman Espoirs Laval
2 Mark Gilligan Silent Sports
3 Sean Kelley Independent
4 Robert Szurkowski Polonius

Veteran:

1 Geoff Banner Schwinn
2 Rob Chesky Hamilton
3 Charlie Squires Independent
4 Unknown
5 Mark Dwyre Team Sportive
6 Norm Riekenbraude Zzoom Velo
7 Steffan Kramer St. Catharines

Cadet:

1 Taras Kleban Hamilton
2 Sabastion Sadurski Polonius

Senior 3:

1 Ben Ayson Mississauga
2 Christopher Paton Mississauga
3 James Rivet Racer Sportif
4 Brian Turner Independent
5 Jeff Archibold Mississauga
6 Jack Gonniss Humming Birds
7 John Lamont St. Kits
8 Bryan Coburn Silent Sports