Watt was aggressive in the race and she attacked on the hill in the last lap with only local rider Juanita Feldhahn sitting her wheel. While Watt was able to hold off the fast finishing peloton, Feldhahn was beaten for the silver medal by Tracey Gaudry. Gaudry had performed a similar finish in the road race but with more success - at Watt's expense.
Gaudry and Watt were the form riders of the Championships. Watt said afterwards that her future was clouded because she is not a member of the Australian Institute of Sport team and therefore will not get the financial support to race overseas. She has to gain selection in the Australian National Team to get support and is facing competition for places from other riders who are racing in foreign professional teams. Watt raced with the Ebly team last year but for unknown reasons decided not to continue with them.
1. Kathy Watt (Vic) 2. Tracey Gaudrey (ACT) 3. Juanita Feldhahn (Qld)
At Setmana Catalana he was always in the back of the group, with Guerini, Wesemann and Totschnig towing him along and pacing him on the climbs, where he was the first to be dropped. Pantani's success, who's his number one rival makes the young German look even worst. Why is the Pirate winning in the Spring and he can't overcome climbs that don't even stop sprinters? Jan limits himself to few words: "My time will come, I'm not worried".
Jan has lost three weeks of work. Meanwhile his program for April has changed. After the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and the GP Primavera, the German should have gone to the Ardennes classics: "But his condition doesn't allow him to face Fleche Wallone and Liege-Bastogne-Liege", says Pevenage. Ullrich will race at Aragon (Apr 14-18) and will only be in condition for the Amstel Gold Race. He could race in Italy at the Giro del Trentino. It is certain that Jan Ullrich has started 1999 better than 1998: his preparation period at Lanzarote (Nov), California (Dec) and Palma de Mallorca (Jan), were done in good health and he has 2500 kms more than in '98. The influenza at the start of February and the extraction of a wisdom teeth has complicated everything.
The injury was a great blow for Vink. She was number 4 on the World Cup Standings last year and she has already missed the third round in Italy. She said: "I hope to be back by the Waalse Pijl (April 14). I will have been riding again for two weeks. I will not be in very good form though. But it is just great that I can ride again."
1. Christian Poos (Lux) Nogent sur Oise 3.21.15 2. Dany Papi (Lux) Vendee 0.01 3. Vincenzo Centrone (Lux) Differdange 0.02 4. Christian Weyland (Lux) Montauban 0.10 5. Steve Fogen (Lux) Dippach 0.19 6. Daniel Bintz (Lux) Tetange 0.41 7. J. Jochem (Ger) 8. Enzo Mezzapesa (Lux) Differdange 9. Vladimir Konlakhine (Rus) Vendee 10. Steve Schleck (Lux) Tetange s.t. Started: 84 Elite 2 and JuniorsThanks to Gerard Schiltz, Luxembourg
It is not exactly warm here, but the weather is pretty exceptional for Europe in March. We had some rain last week, but it never seems to rain the whole day. Since I wasn't riding for very long each day, I was able to time my rides pretty well. Generally it seems to rain in the afternoons and when it is rainy or overcast, there is also a howling wind. We are close to the Sea. This makes riding not a lot of fun, but it blows all the weather systems away pretty fast. I would guess the temperature ranges from mid-40s to mid-50s. Our weather is better than in northern Italy where most of the other teams are based, I think.
There are 3 of us living in the team apartment on a semi-permanent basis: myself, Cathy Marsal and Louisiana Pegoraro. It is pretty quiet here and the apt. is a bit bare, but it is a good base. As the season gets underway, we will be racing a lot and not spending any long periods of time here anyway. We don't have many of the modern conveniences that one is used to in the States, so everything takes longer than at home, but when then again when we are here, there aren't a whole lot of other things to do. For the most part, we cook for ourselves and I am getting used to our small kitchen. We have hot water most of the time. In Italy, even dried pasta from the store and sauce out of a jar is good!! The only thing that tastes funny to me is the bread. Apparently in Tuscany, they do not use salt when baking bread. I think I will eventually get used to it. My team director gave me a cell phone to use while I am here, so that makes communication with the outside world a lot easier! You can buy pre- paid cards here that you stick in the phones to activate them and then you just re-charge them as you use them.
Pretty much everything I need to race and train is provided for by the team here. I think that is pretty standard for most pro teams in Italy, and maybe even in most of Europe. The salaries in the US are considerably higher, I think, but when you have to pay room and board out of that, it doesn't go as far. This is especially true for foreign riders who want to come and race in the US.
This Sunday we did another Italian national race. I am not really sure where we raced, I just know we drove about 3 1/2 hours and we went basically north! We left Saturday afternoon and the weather got colder and wetter as we drove! The morning of the race was freezing!!! At least the rain stopped though. There was snow on the hilltops surrounding the area! It was actually a pretty early morning because we went on daylight savings time that night (at least Cathy told me the night before!!). I had not raced in that many clothes since I was in the Czech Republic! About halfway through the race though, the sun started coming out and it warmed up a bit.
The race was 6 laps of a 15km loop with 2 climbs of about 1.5km. There was a QOM every lap on the harder climb. It was the usual star-studded field here. We started with a field of maybe 60-70 or so. It was the typical aggressive Italian style peloton. Most people have heard of the reputation Italians have for not wanting to wait in line. Whoever pushes the hardest to the front gets served first or gets to use the rest room first. This is actually a secret training program instituted by the Italian Cycling Federation to prepare all Italian citizens to be bike racers!
After a whole week of easy riding, your body kind of rebels the first time you have to go hard again, so I knew I would not feel particularly good, but it was not that important of a race. Early on, my teammates asked me how I was feeling and I said "cosi-cosi" ("so-so"). Then they said something about "tranquilo" so I took that to mean I didn't have to race hard if I didn't feel like it.
The first half of the race, I felt OK and it didn't seem that hard, but my legs didn't feel too good. We lost maybe half the field. The 4th time up the climb was hard. We had a group of maybe 12 or so at the top. Mari attached off this group after the climb and got a good gap. Her teammates (at least 7 or 8 of them in the group) blocked and the field came back together to a group of maybe 30-35. The move looked pretty promising for awhile as the pack slowed up a bit and Mari was out of sight. But this is Italy and everyone wants to win!
The next time up the main climb, all the non-Dream Team climbers decided it
was time to reel Mari in. A Fannini rider attacked at the bottom and the
Cappellotto sisters (GAS) were also at the front. At about the same time,
right at the bottom the girl in front of me, for no apparent reason, decided
to tip over! I went over her and a couple of other riders added themselves to
the pile from behind. We were climbing (!) so it was all slow motion and I
barely even hit the ground. By the time I untangled my bike, got the chain
back on and got going again though, the pack was gone. It was a really bad
time to crash. I chased with 2 others but we pretty much stayed about 300m
behind the next group. Actually, the pack got shattered into several groups so
we were chasing a chase group. I made a pretty big effort on the 2nd climb to
catch the next group, but I couldn't quite make it, and I dropped my chase
mates. As we went through the start/finish, I figured since I really didn't
feel very good and even if I could catch the group I was chasing (which was
looking doubtful) the race was up the road. It seemed pointless to do the last
lap by myself, so I bailed. The advantage was there was actually hot water in
the showers for a change!
After the race, there was lunch for us at a restaurant. All the teams ate
together and mingled. There was also an awards ceremony of sorts - they give
out huge trophies down to 10th place at these races, it seems.
After the race, my manager wanted me to find out about some races in
Switzerland that we could possibly do. It seems that in Italy, there is a rule
that for any pro team (men too, I think) that hires foreign riders, they also
have to have at least 3 Italian riders under 23. We have no under 23 riders on
our team, so we have a bit of a problem with some of the Italian races. In
this race, Cathy and I were listed under the Ukraine team, which seemed to
make it OK even though we still wore Edil Savino jerseys. We also don't quite
understand why it is OK for the Dream Team to show up with 15 riders, most of
whom are foreigners and none of whom are Italians under 23!! Italians seem to
play by their own rules. It is kind of interesting: none of the Italian
women's trade teams are registered with the UCI. This means they don't appear
in the UCI team rankings. Even the Dream Team is not registered and they would
undoubtedly occupy the number 1 spot. Apparently, the Italian Cycling
Federation said the registration was not necessary. It is true, UCI rankings
are not used to get invitations to international races as they are with the
men. Registration costs money and when a team registers, they have to comply
with certain regulations. I am sure it is the regulations, not the money that
keeps the Italians out!
Anyway, back to Switzerland: I talked to one of the riders who was on my Swiss
team last year and asked her to fax us a schedule. This required speaking
German. With some concentration, I managed to do this. The problem was then
for the rest of the afternoon, I couldn't speak any of the Italian I have
learned without German words getting mixed in! German and Italian have
absolutely nothing in common, but my brain has 2 language compartments:
"English" and "All Others". I am picking up bits and pieces of Italian,
although it is a slow process. On top of everything, there is sort of a local
dialect here where I live and it always sounds to me like people are mumbling!
I still have no idea what is going on a lot of the time, but I am realizing
that even when I am able to ask questions in Italian, most other people don't
know what is going on either. Everyone just sort of goes with the flow here.
Sometimes I can't even figure out what the flow is though! I am learning to
basically be ready to go anywhere at any time.
When we got back home, we went for dinner at the home of the team director.
His wife made homemade spinach raviolis, pizza and Tiramisu. It was all
awesome!! All I can say is I better not come to Italy when I am not training!
On Friday Cycling Australia named the national track squad. During the Australian
Championships in Perth in February it was apparantly revealed that the qualifying
standard for the Women's 3,000 metres individual pursuit had been set at 3:38. No
competitor at the championships broke this standard. In her semi-final Kathy Watt
recorded 3:40.26 to defeat the current world champion in this event, Lucy Tyler-Sharman,
by some 7 seconds. (This time would have been 5th fastest qualifier in Atlanta.)
The final held later the same evening was won by Alayna Burns in 3:38.02. Both Lucy and
Alayna were named in the Australian squad. Kathy Watt's name was not included.
The Athletics Australia 'A' and 'B' standards correspond with world ranking positions
that are readily recognisable. The origins of the 3:38 standard for this cycling event
are a mystery. The world Track Cycling championships were held in Perth, on the same
track as the nationals, in 1997. A total of two (2) competitors broke the 3:38 qualifying
standard that Cycling Australia have nominated. In August last year at the World Championships
in Bordeaux, France a grand total of four (4) riders were under 3:38. Over these last two
World Championships only eight (8) riders have bettered the time Kathy rode in Perth in
what was her first serious track competition since the Atlanta Olympics.
In the individual pursuit the competitors in the qualifying round ride for positions
in the following rounds so that the fastest rider is matched against the 8th fastest,
2nd against 7th and so on. Often the qualifying times are faster than the times
recorded in the finals. So, it is not an event where competitors can coast through
the qualifying round - it is raced flat out.
Does any other event, in any other sport, have a qualifying standard that literally
less than a handful of competitors have ever reached at the world championship level?
Controversy is not new to Australian Cycling. They have been synonymous for more than
ten years. Back in 1988, Kathy Watt won the Australian championship in the individual
pursuit in Australian record time (3:52.94) and finished 7th in the world championship
in Belgium, but was not selected in the Australian Olympic team for Seoul. She had
also finished seventh in the Tour de France Feminin, and third in the Australian
road championship that year. It can resonably be argued that with an objective,
transparent and fair selection policy in place Kathy would be aiming for selection
in her fourth Olympic team in 2000. Despite these years of controversy, an
inquiry by the Australian Sports Commission, and assurances of change and reform
(blah, blah, blah) very little appears to have improved in this area since 1988.
The lesson for athletics would seem to be that change is not easy to achieve and the
vigilance of sporting communities is justified in seeking the objective of having
Australian national teams made up of the best available athletes.
Saturday's first-place finish marks the second gold medal the Colorado
Springs, Colo., resident has earned in World Cup competition since
beginning her mountain bike career in 1997. Dunlap (Team GT) won her first
World Cup gold medal in Budapest, Hungary in 1997.
Though 29-year-old Dunlap was favored to win the Napa event, she had to
face a tough international field, including 1998 World Cup Champion Alison
Sydor, who took an early lead in the first lap.
"Alison went out really hard and I sat behind her on the climbs during the
first lap. She had about a 10 second gap on me at the end of the first lap,
but as we began the second lap I noticed that she didn't have the same
power she had earlier," Dunlap said. "I knew I felt good and that I just
had to go."
By the start of the second lap Dunlap had increased her lead to nearly 35
seconds. With the American crowd cheering her on, she seemed the easy
winner by the end of the third lap. Toward the middle of the fourth, and
last, lap Dunlap's lead was threatened by Norwegian rider Gunn-Rita Dahle.
At one point, there was only five seconds between Dunlap and Dahle.
"I wasn't sure where she (Dahle) was, but I had people throwing split times
out to me. I was worried because she is such a good descender. But I hadn't
worked that hard to just go and lose it all. I wanted this race too bad, so
I wasn't going to give up,"
Dunlap eventually crossed the finish line almost 21 seconds ahead of Dahle.
"I fought so hard mentally and physically. When I got to the finish line I
thought 'I finally did it,' " Dunlap said. "I'd been so close before and to
finally put it all together at such a big race was tremendous. This is the
biggest win of my career. I wanted this Napa win the most because it's in
the United States and it's the first one of the season."
The gold medal in Napa rounds out a successful month for Dunlap. Besides
taking the overall win at the SRAM Sea Otter Classic, Dunlap captured a
stage win earlier in March at the Redlands Bicycle Classic in Southern
California. A five-day road cycling stage race, the Redlands Classic
required Dunlap to rely on her road skills, which she honed for nine years
before switching to mountain biking. In March, Dunlap was also named the
1998 Visa/USA Cycling elite mountain bike woman of the year.
Another Colorado resident, Ruthie Matthes (Trek-Volkswagen), was the second
American to finish on Saturday. The three-time consecutive national
champion returned to World Cup form and claimed 11th place. Like Dunlap,
Matthes is looking to put some big race wins under her belt in this
pre-Olympic year.
"I'm very pleased with today's race, but I still have some things to work
out for this season. I know I'm strong and I'd like to go faster," said
Matthes, who displayed confidence regarding the rest of the season. "I know
that I will be up there this season. I'll be up at the front, on top."
The next UCI World Cup event, April 10-11, will be in Sydney, Australia,
and is considered a test event for the 2000 Olympic Games.
UCI World Cup Cross-Country Series, March 27, Napa, Calif.
Laurie Cousins comments on Australian Cycling Selection
The issue of team selection by Athletics Australia has been, deservedly, the subject
of recent attention on this list. While the system may not be perfect it certainly
compares favourably with the situation that exists in cycling.
Report from the USCF on the American Scene
Just one week after winning the SRAM Sea Otter Classic mountain bike stage
race in Monterey, Calif., Alison Dunlap topped the podium again, earning the
gold medal at the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Cup opener in Napa, Calif.
Pro Women
1. Alison Dunlap, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Team GT) at 1 hour, 57 minutes
and 58.71 seconds; 2. Gunn-Rita Dahle, Stavanger, Norway (DBS) 20.70
back; 3. Alison Sydor, Victoria, BC, Canada (Volvo-Cannondale) 1:23.42;
4. Chrissy Redden, Campbellville, ONT, Canada (Ritchey/Yahoo) 2:03.588;
5. Annabella Stroparro, Marostica, Italy (Volvo-Cannondale) 2:58.17.
American Pro Women:
11. Ruthie Matthes, Durango, Colo. (Trek-Volkswagen) 6:24.18; 18. Golden
Brainard, Flagstaff, Ariz. (Catera) 10:52.36; 22. Rachel Lloyd, San
Anselmo, Calif. (Gary Fisher/Saab) 11:33.48; 23. Shari Kain, Cupertino,
Calif. (Polo Sport) 12:00.34; 24. Ann Trombley, Golden, Colo. (Airborne)
13:20.47; 28. Sara Ellis, Wood Acre, Calif. (Kore/Moots) 16:10.36; 32.
Mary Hearn, Menlo Park, Calif. (Gary Fisher/Saab) 17:20.91; 33. Rhonda
Quick, San Diego, Calif., 18:04.67; 34. Marla Streb, San Geronimo, Calif.
(Yeti) 18:14.92; 37. Lanie Mason, Flagstaff, Ariz. (Marin) 19:31.42;
39. Carmen Richardson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sobe/Headshok) 19:46.01;
42. Gina Hall, Oakland, Calif. (Clif Bar) 21:23.16; 43. Kerry Kelly,
Chico, Calif. (Recharge) 22:55.80; 44. Kathy Duryea, Highland Village,
Texas (Wheels in Motion) 23:26.66; 45. Shelly Wisenhant, Seaside, Calif.,
23:40.31; 46. Gretchen Reeves, Vail, Colo. (Catera) 25:33.63; 47.
Cecilia Potts, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sobe Headshok) 26:06.43; 52.
Teresa Eggertsen, Park City, Utah (Micro Supreme) 31:19.49.
Men:
1. Martinez (Fra) 2.27.44, 2. Evans (Aus) 1.00, 3. Vollet (Fra) 2.00,
4. Hoydahl (Noo) 2.20, 5. Chiotti (Ita) 2.48.