Women, 500 Metre Time Trial
1. Daniela Clausnitzer (Ger) 35.774
2. Kerrie Meares (Aus) 36.027
3. Rahna Demarte (Aus) 36.182
Men, Individual 3000m Pursuit:
1. Andrew Mason (Aus) 3.24.206
2. Nicholas Graham (Aus)
3. Daniel Schlegel (All)
Men, Olympic Team's Sprint:
1. Australia (Dajak, Kersten, Renshaw)
2. Italy (Benetti, Brossa, Marelli)
3. Germany (Jager, Muller, Rohler)
Women, Individual 2000m Pursuit:
1. Juliette Vandekerkove (Fra) 2.25.593
2. Katherine Bates (Aus) 2.28.434
3. Rahna Demarte (Aus) 2.28.788
Women Points:
1. Nadejda Vlassova (Rus) 5 points
2. Rochelle Gilmore (Aus) 22 (-1)
3. Juliette Vandekerkove (Fra) 17 (-1)
Men, Teams Pursuit:
1. Australia
(Nicholas Graham, Andrew Mason, Peter Dawson, Kieren Cameron)
2. Germany
(Daniel Schlegel, Marcus Fothen, Marc Altmann, Christian Muller)
3. Italy
(Filippo Pozzato, Luca Capuzzo, Fabio Lovato, Maurizio Biondo)
Men: 1. Wade Bootes (Aus) 2. Eric Carter (USA) 3. Cédric Garcia (Fra) 4. Richard Houseman 5. Scott Beaumont) 6. Ryan White 7. Mickael Deldycke (Fra) 8. Andy Bueler (Swi) 9. Karim Amour (Fra) Rankings after Round 7: 1. Brian Lopes (USA) 220 points 2. Eric Carter (USA) 200 3. Cédric Garcia (Fra) 160 4. Karim Amour (Fra) 105 5. Mike King (USA) 100 .. 12. Mickael Deldycke (Fra) 30 Women: 1. Katrina Miller (Aus) 2. Leigh Donovan (USA) 3. Cheri Elliott 4. Malin Lindgren (Swe) 5. Sari Joergensen (Sui) 6. Tai-Lee Muxlow (Aus) 7. Helen Mortimer 8. Tera Meade (Can) Rankings after Round 7: 1. Katrina Miller (Aus) 300 points 2. Leigh Donovan (USA) 190 3. Tara Llanes (USA) 160 4. Sari Jorgensen (Swi) 130 5. Malin Lindgren (Swe) 110 .. 14. Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) 20
1. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Rabobank 2. Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre-Daikin 3. Max van Heeswijk (Ned) Mapei-Quick Step 4. Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank
Also it was rumoured that Steven de Jongh wants to leave TVM and he will be welcomed by Rabobank.
Day 1 of the Wendy's Cycling Classic featured a very technical, up and down course with 10 turns. The pavement was uneven and 1 downhill tight turn saw the setting sun in the riders eyes. That meant handling skills, power and luck would be a factor. With everyone fighting for the front, there was sure to be plenty of crashes and the race would see most of the 128 riders not make it to the end.
The race started and there was the first crash of the day as Saturn's Mat Anand got his modified handlebars caught up with another rider and hit the pavement right on the start line. A more serious crash later in the first turn saw Mercury's Floyd Landis and Saturn's Seth Pelusi call it a day.
The action was fast and furious as no one could get any sort of gap. The Mercury riders were active at the front and were looking to find a way for Gord Fraser (Pan Am silver medal) to get a good start on the weekends racing.
With 6 laps to go the action got serious as the Green Wave was dialing it up for Fraser. However Mark McCormack launched into attack mode and when he blew, his teammate Levi Leipheimer countered and took with him Mercury's Clinger and Sayers as well as Trent Klasna. Fraser bridged across and the move was on. There were only 30 riders left in the race.
The 5 riders had 7 seconds that quickly grew to 22 with 1 lap to go. The question was whether Fraser had enough for the finish. When they came around the last turn, it was Fraser and Klasna in a battle for the win. The Victory went to Fraser and an early lead in the Wendy's Classic.
Women: 1. Susy Pride 100 points 2. Lynn Bissette 75 3. Julie Hanson 60 4. Kendra Wenzel 50 5. Laura Van Gilder 45 6. Nicole Reihart 40 7. Karen Dunne 35 8. Marie Holjer 30 9. Jennifer Dial 27 10. Tara Stone 25 Men: 1. Gord Fraser (Mercury) 2. Trent Klasna (Navigators) 3. Levi Leipheimer (Saturn) 4. Mike Sayers (Mercury) 5. David Clinger (Mercury)
While it was tight and narrow on Day 1, Day 2 would prove to be wide open. The course featured only 2 turns in a "D" shaped course. It had a tailwind sprint and the long straightway was pure headwind. That meant that there would be no breakaways today. Any attempt was killed off by the massive field in the headwind graveyard.
Most of the action was on the sprint laps as Shaklee and Navigator's tried to set up their men Lieswyn and Klasna. In the end, Shaklee held the lead.
The rest of the action was to set up their finish men as Mercury and Shaklee look to take the top spot on the podium. With 5 laps to go it was a drag race to get the train to the Front.
Mercury won this battle as they got the Green wave to the front for Pan Am Silver medalist, Gord Fraser. It was difficult to maintain the lead as the head wind killed off each train that started.
With 1 lap to go, Mercury was still in command with Shaklee shadowing their every move. Out of the last corner, Jonus Carney got a jump on the field as all eyes were on Fraser. He used a slingshot into the tailwind to propel him into a few bike lengths lead. With 50 meters to go, Fraser was on his hip as he was losing steam. at 25 meters, Fraser had it won.
He also has a big lead in the Overall omnium for the Pro tour points.
1. Fraser (Mercury) 2. Carney (Shaklee) 3. Gragus 4. Littlehales (Navigators)
Giana Roberge reports:
Held on the beautiful suburban streets of Granville, Thursday's criterium challenged the pro men and the women's fields with an eight-corner, technical course on narrow, curbed streets. The neighborhood children were out in droves to witness the speed of the cyclists on the descent and the pain on their faces as they suffered on the half-mile grind up to the start finish line.
The 18-mile, 18-lap women's race started fast, with Lyne Bessette (Saturn) attacking immediately. Within half a lap, Karen Dunne (Celestial Seasonings) and Annie Gariepy (Elita) joined her. This break was short lasting, reeled back in by the efforts of Laura Van Gilder (Navigators) and Sandra Smith. When the break was caught, Bessette countered the efforts of the Elita team's attacks. This was the race-winning move, with Bessette's teammate, Susy Pryde and Sandra Smith bridging to her.
Pryde and Bessette drove the pace, hesitating only to allow Saturn teammate Julie Hanson to catch their break of three. The three Saturn riders quickly discarded Smith, staying away to claim the top three podium places by 40 seconds over the main field.
Cybil Diguistini and Gariepy raced aggressively for their Elita team, continually fighting to bridge one of their teammates to the break up the road. Admirable in their attempts, Elita's efforts were for naught, with the main field together for the final sprint.
Winning the field sprint, Kendra Wenzel (Timex) was fourth over Van Gilder. The women averaged 2:55 laps, completing the 18-mile race in roughly 54 minutes. Pryde, delighted with her win, paid tribute to her teammates, crediting Dede Demet-Barry and Julie Hanson for aiding her to bridge to Bessette. With Thursday's win, Pryde will maintain the leader's jersey for the Saturn Pro Tour.
Unfortunately, the men's race began with a crash 50 meters into the race. As the men raced against the oncoming darkness, the Mercury and the Navigator teams took control of the field of 107 competitors, keeping the pace high in an attempt to make the race safer.
Obviously racing for the win for sprinter Gord Fraser, Mercury executed its plan perfectly. Fraser is currently second in the Saturn Pro Tour overall points; his Mercury teammates are racing to close the gap to the leader of the Tour, Eddy Gragus (Ikon/Lexus). After Thursday night's race, they have five more races (two here in Ohio) to move Fraser into the lead.
With five laps to go, Mercury countered the Saturn Teamwork Challenge sprint, creating a break containing Mike Sayers (Mercury), Dave Clnger (Mercury), Fraser, Levi Leipheimer (Saturn) and Navigator rider Trent Klasna. Knowing that Fraser was the best sprinter in the break, Sayers and CLinger, worked hard to open the gap to the main field.
Although Ikon/Lexus chased to close the gap for its sprinter and Tour leader, Gragus, the group of five stayed away. In near dark, Fraser fended off Klasna's run at the line for the win, with Klasna's sprint not quite enough to come around. Leipheimer was third to Klasna, with Sayers and Clinger finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Mercury had three riders in the top five.
Similar to Pryde, Fraser attributed his win to his teammates. "It was all Mike and Dave. They were awesome, I had to come through when they rode like that." If Fraser's incentive to win comes from his teammate's efforts, he is sure to visit the podium again during the next three days of racing.