Photo: © Cyclingnews
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By Margaret Hemsley*
After an abysmal La Fleche Walonne I took a few days rest and performed a little better in the Tour of Majorca. Farm Frites attended the Tour with only five riders as the Amstel Gold race was held the same weekend in the Netherlands and was very important to the sponsors. Team-mate Hanka Kupfernagel rode strongly to take the first stage but was struck by a stomach bug and was unable to finish the tour. I finished 12th in a pretty decent field, dominated by a strong German contingent who have Majorca as their second home.
Young German Trixie Worrack (Red Bull) took out the race from Edita Puchinskaite (Lithuania) while Petra Rossner (also riding with Red Bull but a member of Saturn) won the two flatter stages, easily winning the bunch sprints.
Following Majorca I attempted to get to the Tour of Gracia in the Czech Republic only to get stopped at the Polish border without a visa and then again on the Czech Border as we tried to get through there with my permission to ride in these countries, but no luck. As it turned out I would not have been able to do the race with only a Czech Visa as the race went into Poland anyway. Ignorance is no excuse, all very embarrassing. So I had a few days in Germany with my husband.
Memorial Magali Pache
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Sunday's 25.5km Time Trial in Switzerland brought back some unhappy memories. It was a memorial race for the Swiss rider Magali Pache who died in the French Tour Trophee D'Or in August last year after being hit by a car.
All of us from Farm Frites: Leontien Van Moorsel-Zijlaard, Hanka Kupfernagel, Madeleine Lindberg and myself, had raced in that race with Magali.
Her father collected us from the airport and drove in the car behind Leontien as she raced. He was obviously carrying such a lot of sadness. There were tears as all 16 riders stood on the podium with her parents following the race, among these riders some of the best in the World.
The race was held in conjunction with the Men's Tour of Romandy so the town of Payerne was buzzing. We breakfasted with the Saeco team including Mario Cipollini and Paolo Salvodelli, and Hanka cooled down with team Telekom as they warmed up.
It was a good course with a lot of wind and a 1.5km climb after 7.5 km - a roaring headwind to start and howling cross/tailwind into the finish. Leontien won the race by over 20 seconds in 34.54 from Diana Ziliute in second and Jeannie Longo in third. I rode as hard and fast as I could on the day, it was my first one-day time trial since the (Australian) nationals in early 2000. It was a good experience and special for me to be part of the whole event.
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Of course the most important victory of the day was Leontien's over Cipo; she beat him by over two seconds for the same 25.5km course. It made headlines in the Dutch newspapers.
*Margaret Hemsley is an Australian riding for the Farm Frites Hartol squad of Leontien van Moorsel and Hanka Kupernagel. After being a key rider for the Austrlaian Institute of Sport team last year, Margaret has adapted to her supporting role in one of the strongest teams in women's cycling.