News for March 27, 2000

Grigson triumphs at Napa Valley

Report by David Ewins

Australian womens MTB cross-country champion Mary Grigson has scored a morale boosting win for the Australian MTB squad in the opening round of the MTB World Cup staged at Napa Valley in the USA on Saturday, March 25, finishing ahead of US champion Alison Dunlap and defending World Cup champion Alison Sydor.

Grigson's win follows the more sombre news (as reported yesterday on cyclingnews) that Australian rider and World Cup cross-country champion Cadel Evans will be sidelined for up to six weeks with a broken collarbone due to a fall in a preliminary race.

Grigson has proven the early season good form that enabled her to successfully defend her Australian XC title after recently signing with the US based Gary Fischer/SAAB racing team. The result should not only establish her as a front runner for Olympic selection, but springboard her onto the world stage with renewed enthusiasm.

"I'm pretty tired now but I am just so elated with this win. With the injuries and illness [she sustained last year] I didn't really know how well I would be riding at World Cup level," said Grigson. "But the course was very technically demanding and I used that to my advantage."

Prior to her departure to join her new Gary Fischer/SAAB teammates at their California base residence, Grigson was race fit and trim but more importantly - after years of being overlooked by the larger racing teams - the AIS rider was excited to have consistent top ten World Cup finishes and rankings rewarded with a full contract with the SAAB team.

Her team-mates now include reigning Olympic women's champion Paola Pezzo and Canadian Chrissy Redden. In the week leading up to the Napa Valley round, Grigson began to assert herself within the Gary Fisher/SAAB squad by clinching third overall in the Sea Otter Classic. Her motivation caught on, as not only did the Aussie XC star deliver the team’s first major victory of the season, but she lead the assault which saw her teammates Pezzo and Redden claim fourth and fifth places respectively at the World Cup opener.

It was a timely victory for Grigson and compatriots Honi Geyeson, Delleys Franke, and Anna Bayliss. As is usually the case, whenever the Italian superstar Pezzo makes an appearance at a race, she attracts the majority of the attention. And this Napa valley opener was no exception. After a much reported upset over her custom front suspension – which had Roxshox technicians scurrying all weekend – Pezzo grabbed the early limelight when she appeared dressed completely in pink/purple riding gear with pink bike to match (in contrast to the teams traditional yellow/red/black garb).

Grigson on the other hand was happy for her Italian teammate to take all the attention while the Australian got on with the job of making last minute preprations and rewarded the SAAB team selector’s faith in her. The win will also give added confidence to her Australian Olympic squad teammates, in that they now have strong contenders for both the men's and women's events this September.

Aust Nationals throw open selection possibilities

By Gerard Knapp

The results from the Australian National Track championships this weekend have seemingly created even more possibilities for Olympic selectors, with the return of Kathy Watt and a dominant performance by the NSW power team of Sean Eadie, Josh and Ben Kersten defeating the Victorian team which included former world champions Shane Kelly and Gary Neiwand.

In fact, the range of team options open to selectors has led to a delay in the announcement of the 20-person squad, which was expected today (Monday). The selection willbe trimmed to the final 14 by July.

Yesterday's racing saw something of an upset in the Olympic Sprint final, with the NSW trio taking out the gold in a blistering time only marginally slower than the track record set late last year by the all-conquering French team led by Arnoud Tournant.

The Western Australian team also excelled and finished with six gold medals, third on the tally behind NSW (12) and Victoria (7), but way in front of South Australia, who could only manage two. The final day of senior's racing (day 8 - full results and reports) saw Scott Suckling (WA) continue to drag out the somewhat miserable campaign for the South Australians, defeating the "sluggish" Brett Aitken (SA) in a close 40km Points Race which came down to the final sprint. But it was the teamwork of the WA riders which sealed the victory, as did teamwork of another kind which helped Karen Barrow to her win in the Women's 25km Points Race, despite Rochelle Gilmore (NSW) taking out six sprints.

It has to be said that the media attention was focused on the diminutive bleached blonde Kathy Watt, who attended the final day of racing as a spectator. With Cycling Australia was expected to announce the track "long team" later today, speculation was rife on possibilities (this has since been delayed). However, it's understood that Stuart O'Grady, Mick Rogers and Bradley McGee will be named, although they are currently competing in Europe for their respective trade teams.

A very likely contender for Australia is Brett Aitken, who will leave Australia soon for a month of racing kermesses in Belgium to keep up the leg speed before joining the Australian track team in Buttgen in Germany at the end of May. Aitken is tipped for a ride in the Madison at the Olympics, and he said it will probably be the primary focus of many professional six day riders this year. "It's one thing to race the Madison at the national level," he said,"and I've copped bit of criticism recently for my performances in Australia", where a mixture of illness and ill-fortune, such as partner Gene Bates crashing heavily at the Bendigo Madison, have hampered his chances.

At last year's world's Aitken and partner Scott McGrory were well-placed for a win when Aitken crashed and was knocked unconscious. He believes there will be intense competition for the gold medal in the Madison at the olympics, with the professionals now fully recognising its prestige. "When you get to the world level you have to watch everyone, and everyone wants to win the olympics. And for a lot of the really good six day riders, this will be their last chance to go out with a bang."

For full reporting and results, refer to the Australian Track Championships page, day 8.

Watt and the AIS to discuss Olympics program

By Gerard Knapp

Over the next two weeks Cycling Australia will negotiate a training program with a resurgent Kathy Watt, who claimed her eighth Australian Individual Pursuit title on the weekend and has now forced her way back into serious contention for Olympic selection.

The final of the Women's IP was expected to be a showdown between Alayna Burns, the promising 20-year old from South Australia and the experienced Watt, but a fall during the Scratch Race the previous Wednesday evening left Burns with a cracked helmet, mild concussion, an upset stomach and bad track burns to her face and legs. She was clearly not at her best and was defeated in the semi-final by rising star Alison Wright.

The final saw Watt defeat Wright in a smooth and controlled ride and roll back into the Olympic consideration. Thinking ahead, Watt and her manager and fiance Carey Hall are looking to compete regularly, rather than spend all there time in a training camp. Watt told cyclingnews she would like to compete at the five rounds of the track World Cup, in a bid to continue to improve her times and compete against the leading riders she may be facing in September.

"I'm normally used to doing tours through this time of year," she said. "But I want to concentrate on the track endurance work. I have got to race against the competition."

Earlier yesterday at an impromptu press conference at the Dunc Gray velodrome, Australian Institute of Sport high performance manager Mike Flynn said that Watt will have to be part of the Australian team. "It can't just be the Australian track team and Kathy Watt," he said.

If Watt is to compete at the track World Cup events, which are in the US and Europe, the issue of funding will be raised. "I applied for an AIS scholarship last December and I haven't heard back," she said. Also, the AIS "haven't been able to tell me about the woman's track endurance program".

As for the final of the IP held the previous evening, Watt said "Carey raced me against her (Wright) the whole way. The track was humid and cold, which makes for slower conditions. I've been told by (NSW track coach) Gary Sutton when it's 30 degrees and around 30 percent humidity, it's lightning fast".

Explaining her winning time of 3:42.789, quite a few seconds below the Olympic qualifiying time of 3.38, Watt said "to ride the qualifying time you need favourable conditions, but in competition you just go for the win. The conditions weren't really favourable for good times."

In the Individual Pursuit, Watt believes the strongest competition will come from Frenchwoman Marion Clignet, who last weekend led out team-mate Diana Ziliute for the first World Cup win for the road season. However, it's expected that Clignet will only use the road for training, with the Individual Pursuit on the track to be her primary focus.

Watt would also like to compete in the road race at the Olympics, if given the opportunity: "the course has a good little hill in it and if you're really fit, something like that will quickly sort out the field."