September 6/98 6:29 am - Bromont World Cup Final Men, Juniors

Posted by Editor on 09/6/98
 

Bromont - Juniors

Ryder Hesjedal showed that he is ready for the world this morning by winning the Junior race in Bromont. He rode a smart race, holding back during the first of 3 laps - to see what the competition had maybe?. Then opened it up to gap the field by 45 seconds in the second lap, then in the final lap turned it up to come home nearly 1 and a half minutes ahead of the 2nd place Jess Swigger of the US.

Junior Men
1. HESJEDAL, Ryder, BC , KONA FACTORY TEAM, 1:17:05.08
2. SWIGGER, Jess, USA, OTC, at 1:27.20
3. SCHERRER, Ben, USA, OTC, 2:23.49
4. LAROCHE, Jean-Francois, QC, OGC/GARY FISHER, 3:55.83
5. DEY, Ryan, ON , ONTARIO TEAM/ROCKY M, 4:42.17
6. LUPIEN, Matthieu, QC, BICYCLE RECORD / ENT, 7:11.89
7. CRAIG, Adam, USA, OTC, 7:23.85
8. COOPER, Lane , AB , ROCKYMTN CYCLING, 7:47.31
9. CLARKE, Nick, AUS, Australia, 8:50.65
10. PROVOST, Jean-Philippe, QC, SHIMANO/RST/LOUIS G., 9:57.15
11. MURDZA, Krystof, POL, POLAND, 10:47.27
12. THIBEAULT, Ben'j, QC , VOLKSWAGEN/TVA, 11:00.43
13. MOLAN, Andrew, AUS, Australia, 11:03.57
14. CASWELL, Cole, USA, OTC, 11:16.73
15. BEDARD, Matthieu, QC, VOLKSWAGON TVA, 12:01.11
16. SANSCHAGRIN, Stephane, QC, METRO/VIE SPORTIVE , 12:21.76
17. FIRAK, John, USA. 12:51.67
18. BRISSON, Donald, QC, VELO PLEIN AIR, 13:06.04
19. THOMAS, Ashley, AUS, Australia, 14:05.25
20. HUET, Guillaume, QC, LA VIE SPORTIVE, 20:47.88

Junior Women
1. SZFRANIEC, Anna, POL, Poland 1:07:11.13
2. CIESLAR, Anna, POL, Poland at 1:35.59
3. BERGER, Verena, GER, 1:54.89
4. GOVE, Emily, USA, OTC 3:40.38
5. TALLMAN, Julie, USA OTC, 4:40.20
6. GOSS, Claire, GBR, Great Britain
7. GERMAINE, Emile, QC, Ford Devinci 5:37.93
8. MCCONNELL, Melanie, AUS, Australia, 8:35.85
9. ESSLINGER, Simone, GER, 10:59.87
10. VILLASENOR, Tierra, USA, OTC 13:09.55

Bromont World Cup Final

Today the French men served notice that they are the country to beat at the World Championships, in two weeks. The 1-2 finish by Christophe Dupouey and Miguel Martinez (both Sunn) at the cross-country World Cup Final in Bromont, Québec was a message that the French are ready. Dupouey took off early in the first lap of the five and a half lap race, and never looked back. „I knew I was feeling good in my legs, and the course was very good for me.‰ Dupouey was never threatened, gaining a maximum of 2 minutes on his chasers, before slowing in the last half lap to wait for his team mate Martinez. Cadel Evans (Volvo-Cannondale) finished third, and took the World Cup title, with Martinez overtaking Rune Höydahl (Giant) for second place.

Behind Dupouey, it was a game of cat and mouse between World Cup leader Cadel Evans (Volvo-Cannondale), Höydahl and Martinez. The trio were 1-2-3 in the World Cup standings, and Evans‚ grasp on the lead was by no means certain. A mechanical, or a win by either Höydahl or Martinez combined with a poor showing by Evans could mean a complete upset of the final standings. Evans was well aware of this fact, and rode a defensive race: „it was a possibility, so I had to expend alot of energy to cover the other riders.‰ However, the Australian graciously admitted „Christophe (Dupouey) was so strong today, he would have been very hard to beat.‰

In the first few laps, the chase group behind Dupouey consisted of Evans, Martinez, world champion Hubert Pallhuber (DBR), Höydahl, Jerome Chiotti (Team GT) and Filip Meirhaeghe (Mt Dew/Specialized). In the final lap, the chasers were pared down to three - Martinez, Evans and Pallhuber - with Martinez finally attacking and dropping the other two on the last climb, in the final few kilometres. Evans soloed in for third, with Pallhuber fourth and Höydahl fifth.

Race Notes

- Top North American was Tinker Juarez (Volvo-Cannondale) in 17th (a position he held most of the day). He was followed by Canadian Chris Sheppard (Catera/Pure Energy) in 22nd.

- Volvo-Cannondale manager Charlie Livermore was observed getting a headstart on celebrating after the race in the VIP tent. And why not? His team had just taken first place in the overall men‚s, women‚s and team categories.

- Chris Sheppard was happy with his race. „I started out slower, and gradually picked up places in the final two laps. If it hadn‚t been
for a crash (in the last half lap), I would have finished 20th or 21st.‰ Sheppard was the top North American in the final overall
standings, ending up in 17th place.

The results from today's race and the World Cup Final points are listed below: