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Women's World Cup Event in SydneyThis Sunday, Australia hosts the inaugural women's world cup cycling event which is being held in Sydney's Centennial Park over 101.5 kms (25 laps by 2.9 kms). The organiser of the event, Phill Bates has told me that Frenchwoman Jeannie Longo has called him and asked to enter. She is the best female cyclist the sport has seen. The event follows a warm-up the weekend before last in Sydney and Canberra. Most of the 91 strong peloton that has entered (from 14 countries) are currently in NZ racing the North Island classic.Following the World Cup event, the women will race in Bate's inaugural Tour de Snowy. This is a 5 day race (in the first week of April) down in the south of NSW. The Snowy Mountains area hosts our largest mountains and was the scene of the disastrous landslide at Thredbo in 1997 where 18 people died. Phill has said that the event is being partly funded by the NSW Government to help lift the morale of the local residents who have been shattered by the tragedy. From a cycling perspective the roads are hilly and slow and the racing will be excellent. Longo has indicated that she will also race this event. The other star rider who has entered is Australia's Kathy Watt. She will ride on the same team - Giant - for the Tour. If that was a strong enough team, Giant will also boast Italian Allessandra Cappellotto, the world pursuit champion Marion Clignet of France and the national champions from the United States, Netherlands and Switzerland. We will be carrying full results from both events. Swedish rider dies in MallorcaPer Nilsson, 22, a Swedish international cyclist, was found dead in his hotel room on Mallorca early Saturday. He was there on a two week pre-season training camp with his team mates from Team Crescent. Per Nilsson was known as a good sprinter and he made his international debut for Sweden as a Elite rider last year in the Berlin 4-Days. The cause of his sudden death is still unknown.Jack and Jones to ride RVVThe news for the Danish bike fans was not good over the weekend. Rolf Sorensen abandoned the Milan-San Remo with a stomach bug, and Bo Hamburger didn't make the decisive breakaway on the Cipressa and Bjarne Riis is still not racing due to his broken hand.So by Monday things were not looking good. And then they received the news that the new Danish Team Home Jack and Jones will not only be at the Amstel Gold Race, but also received a wild-card for the Tour of Flanders on April 5th. The team had performed very aggressively in Het Volk and this impressed the RVV organisers. Manager Torben Kolbaek says that the team will continue it's offensive riding. It's better to "die" in front of the peloton than complete the race without being noticed at all. Cadel Evans rips at Sea OtterThe new blue and white colors of the Volvo/Cannondale Mountain Bike Racing Team reigned supreme at the 1998 Sea Otter Classic this past weekend. The bolstered 1998 squad carried their winning ways from the Cactus Cup and the Redlands Classic up to Monterey, Ca.as they won overall events in the men's and women's categories. The Sea Otter hosted many of next week’s World Cup contenders, in what many considered a warm-up for the series.1996 World Champion Alison Sydor, Can., and her new young and talented teammate Alla Epifanova, Russia, hammered the women's field in a repeat performance of last week's Cactus Cup. The veteran Sydor had taken her new teammate under her wing in the off season for some training, an investment that is paying huge returns. Sydor won the opening time trial and the dirt crit on day two; Epifanova finished third and second respectively in the events. Sue Palmer (Haro), Can., a former roadie finished second in the timetrial and third in the crit. On the final stage the Volvo/Cannondale duo scored a one-three finish taking the top two spots in the overall standing. Alison Dunlap (GT), Colorado Springs, Co., finished second in the final stage and third overall. Volvo/Cannondale’s new star Cadel Evans, Australia, won the men's opening time trial by a fraction of a second over Lennie Kristensen (Giant), Denmark.Evans scorched the bumpy 8 km course in only 18:24.35 a time the huge 150 rider field struggled to match. The top American finisher was Olympian and veteran Tinker Juarez (Volvo/Cannondale). His new teammate Andreas Hestler finished less than a minute back to make the top 15. The next day, Filip Meirhaeghe (Mtn. Dew/Specialized) won the men's dirt crit beating Ritchey's Thomas Frishchknecht by less than two seconds. Giant's Rune Hoydahl, Norway, finished third, while Evans was a second back for fourth. Once again the top American finisher was Volvo/Cannondale mainstay Juarez, taking sixth place. The field set a blistering pace around the 1 km loop which included the hill from the adjacent dual slalom course. On the final stage the team work of Volvo/Cannondale helped give Evans the overall title and a fourth place finish on the day. With the help of Juarez, the two were able to chase down a break away group that included the overall leader Hoydahl. After Juarez the chasers caught and passed Hoydahl, Roland Green (Kona) went on to take the stage win ahead of and Lennie Kristensen (Giant). Frischknecht rounded out the top three. Evans took fourth on the stage, but that was enough to net him the overall title after three tough days of racing. Juarez rode in at eighth for the final day, finishing seventh overall.
Stage One, Time Trial 1. Cadel Evans Volvo/Cannondale 2. Lennie Christenson Giant 0.38 3. Rune Hoydahl Giant 2.38 1. Alison Sydor Volvo/Cannondale 2. Sue Palmer Haro 41.29 3. Alla Epifanova Volvo/Cannondale 49.38 Stage Two - Dirt Crit. 1. Filip Meirhaeghe Mtn Dew/Specialized 2. Thomas Frischknecht Ritchey 2.50 3. Rune Hoydahl Giant 4.20 4. Cadel Evans Volvo/Cannondale 1. Alison Sydor Volvo/Cannondale 2. Alla Epifanova Volvo/Cannondale 16.50 3. Sue Palmer Haro 28.62 Stage Three-Cross Country 1. Roland Green Kona 2. Lennie Kristensen Giant 0.03 3. Thomas Frischknecht Ritchey 1.25 4. Cadel Evans Volvo/Cannondale 1. Alison Sydor Volvo/Cannondale 2. Alison Dunlap GT 0.51 3. Alla Epifanova Volvo/Cannondale 2.03 Overall 1. Cadel Evans (Aus) Volvo/Cannondale 2.44.03 2. Thomas Frischknecht Ritchey 0.22 3. Lennie Kristenson Giant 0.37 1. Alison Sydor Volvo/Cannondale 2. Alla Epifanova Volvo/Cannondale 3. Alison Dunlap GT |