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Elite Women's Individual Time TrialWednesday, October 11, 2000, 15:20The local time in Plouay is |
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Le Croisty - Plouay, 24.5 kmMain Page Results Live report Route Information and start list There's something about Mari - she's World ChampionBy Tim Maloney, cyclingnews.com correspondent
A powerful and confident Mari Holden finally fulfilled her tremendous potential at today's Elite Women's Time Trial championships in Plouay, France. After Holden's silver medal in the Woman's TT at the Sydney Olympics behind the unstoppable Zijlaard, the Colorado Springs resident knew that she had the legs to produce a good ride at the World's. Sweeter still, Holden denied aging French champion Jeanne Longo her 12th world championship title in front of her cocorico home crowd. But at 41, Longo is just getting too old to dominate on a top level and the Grenoblois was visibly delighted to add yet another cycling medal to her huge collection. Another windy day with occasional showers graced the Breton coast and provided today's testers with a strong headwind and wet roads. Norwegian rider Sorun Flataas set the fast time midway through the Women's race, but when the last few riders hit the start house in Le Croisty, it was clear that the Norsk girl would likely miss the podium. Rasa Polikeviciute of Lithuania was the first rider to beat Flataas' time and go over a 44km/hr average speed. But just behind her were Longo and Holden. What a contrast in style; Longo was spinning a small gear looking for speed aboard her trusty Hooker Elite time trial bike, while Holden was pounding a huge gear on her yellow Cannondale TT iron. When Longo set the fastest time at the intermediate point after 12km on the hill at St Anne-des-Bois, she looked fast, but when Holden powered through, she looked slower than Longo, but it was deceptive. In fact, Mari was 15 seconds up on Longo with the fastest intermediate split and leading the World's. Although Longo pulled back 10 seconds on the last hard climb to Questenen, Holden powered home and took her first world title just 3" ahead of the Frenchwoman. Visibly moved on the podium as the Star Spangled Banner played, Holden blinked back her tears as the world noticed something different about Mari - her World Championship jersey! Results1 Mari Holden (USA) 33.14.62 (44.21 km/h) 2 Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (Fra) 0.03.71 3 Rasa Polikeviciute (Ltu) 0.46.91 4 Solrun Flataas (Nor) 0.54.91 5 Ceris Gilfillan (GBr) 0.57.72 6 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) 0.59.24 7 Albine Caillie (Fra) 1.16.44 8 Zinaida Stahurskaia (Blr) 1.28.50 9 Judith Arndt (Ger) 1.38.13 10 Mariëlle Van Scheppingen (Ned) 1.50.23 11 Tracey Gaudry (Aus) 1.56.79 12 Anne Samplonius (Can) 1.57.41 13 Sara Carrigan (Aus) 1.59.21 14 Gabriella Pregnolato (Ita) 2.00.52 15 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) 2.04.15 16 Ruth Martinez Gomez (Spa) 2.11.97 17 Wenche Stensvold (Nor) 2.12.17 18 Bogumila Matusiak (Pol) 2.18.30 19 Sarah Symington (GBr) 2.25.73 20 Nicole Brändli (Swi) 2.33.89 21 Deirdre Demet-Barry (USA) 2.36.74 22 Monika Tyburska (Pol) 2.41.50 23 Diana Rast (Swi) 2.41.57 24 Lisbeth Simper (Den) 3.16.16 25 Luisa Tamanini (Ita) 3.20.47 26 Geraldine Gill (Irl) 3.43.23 27 Agnes Kay Eppers (Bol) 6.34.58 28 Fatma Galiullina (Uzb) 6.51.71 DNF Sandy Espeseth (Can) DNS Jenny Algelid (Swe) DNS Jolanta Polikeviciute (Ltu) Intermediate time splits: kms from start: 12.0 20.0 24.5 1 Mari Holden (USA) 18.44.14 25.29.40 33.14.62 2 Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (Fra) 19.00.08 25.45.04 33.18.33 3 Rasa Polikeviciute (Ltu) 19.10.07 26.02.87 34.01.53 4 Solrun Flataas (Nor) 19.13.93 26.09.07 34.09.53 5 Ceris Gilfillan (GBr) 19.28.34 26.21.42 34.12.34 6 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) 19.02.28 25.58.66 34.13.86 7 Albine Caillie (Fra) 19.34.89 26.39.50 34.31.06 8 Zinaida Stahurskaia (Blr) 19.37.47 26.46.92 34.43.12 9 Judith Arndt (Ger) 19.37.93 26.38.30 34.52.75 10 Mariëlle Van Scheppingen (Ned) 19.52.26 26.47.51 35.04.85 11 Tracey Gaudry (Aus) 19.54.21 26.57.57 35.11.41 12 Anne Samplonius (Can) 19.47.80 26.55.93 35.12.03 13 Sara Carrigan (Aus) 20.00.83 27.00.42 35.13.83 14 Gabriella Pregnolato (Ita) 19.47.44 26.54.98 35.15.14 15 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) 20.02.95 27.06.92 35.18.77 16 Ruth Martinez Gomez (Spa) 20.02.30 27.17.03 35.26.59 17 Wenche Stensvold (Nor) 19.57.18 27.19.26 35.26.79 18 Bogumila Matusiak (Pol) 20.07.81 27.23.44 35.32.92 19 Sarah Symington (GBr) 20.10.21 27.23.33 35.40.35 20 Nicole Brändli (Swi) 20.17.28 27.38.02 35.48.51 21 Deirdre Demet-Barry (USA) 19.59.62 27.21.57 35.51.36 22 Monika Tyburska (Pol) 20.07.74 27.32.73 35.56.12 23 Diana Rast (Swi) 20.29.67 27.40.25 35.56.19 24 Lisbeth Simper (Den) 20.39.20 27.59.85 36.30.78 25 Luisa Tamanini (Ita) 20.54.71 28.18.21 36.35.09 26 Geraldine Gill (Irl) 20.42.94 28.13.90 36.57.85 27 Agnes Kay Eppers (Bol) 22.32.76 30.35.83 39.49.20 28 Fatma Galiullina (Uzb) 22.48.14 30.50.25 40.06.33 DNS Jenny Algelid (Swe) DNS Sandy Espeseth (Can) DNS Jolanta Polikeviciute (Ltu) |
