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6th Montréal World Cup - CDM
Canada, May 31, 2003
Preview Results Start List Past winners
Twelve times up Mont Royal in tough Canadian World Cup round
By Kristy Scrymgeour
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The sixth round of the World Cup will be contested this weekend on the famous, or rather infamous downtown course in Montreal, Canada. Infamous of course, because of the horribly steep ascent of Mont Royal that turns the race into a war of attrition.
The course is a rigorous, 8.2 km loop which the riders must complete twelve times. The famous Mont Royal is the major difficulty, a steep 1.2 kilometer climb whose peak hosts the start/finish line and most of the action. Each year the Mont Royal claims the DNF scalps of at least 30 percent of the riders, and quickly shatters the field into multiple groups.
In the five years it has been running the race has been won by riders such as Diana Ziliute, Tracey Gaudry, Pia Sundsted, and home town girl Genevieve Jeanson (Rona), all of whom are noted as strong climbers on the international scene. Last year, Dede Demet- Barry came out of retirement to win this event in a late attack with Anna Millward that caught the field napping. Demet Barry will be back with force this year riding for the T- Mobile team.
The race uses most of the course of the 1974 World road championships (won by Eddy Merckx) and the 1976 Olympic games road race (won by the Swedish Bernt Johansson). This history adds to the race's appeal and despite its level of difficulty, the Montreal World Cup has a lot of charm, boosted by the tremendous enthusiasm of the locals who are avid cycling fans and welcome this event to their streets each year with such fervour you could imagine you were in Belgium or Italy.
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This year has perhaps the strongest field ever, making for a very open race. World Cup leader Nicole Cooke and her Ausra Gruodis - Safi team will be looking for another extraordinary performance to extend her lead over Sara Carrigan (Powerplate-Bik), but Carrigan is coming off a successful Tour de l'Aude in France where she won two stages and proved she has the form to reverse the roles and take back the jersey from Cooke.
The T-Mobile riders will be a force to be reckoned with as they defend Demet-Barry's title and arrive with two newly crowned National Champions in Kimberley Bruckner and Amber Neben. The pair won the US National Time Trial and Road Race respectively last week in Pennsylvania. Other favourites are Tour de l'Aude winner Judith Arndt (Nurnberger); l'Aude runner up and Quebec native Lyne Bessette (Saturn); many-time World Cup Series runner-up Mirjam Melchers (Farm Frites) and Zoulfia Zabirova, who won the Italian round of the World Cup in March.
Former world champion, Barbara Heeb has come out of retirement to ride with the Swiss National Team and Canadian locals such as Sue Palmer-Komar (Genesis Scuba), Sandy Espeseth and Leah Goldstein (Victory Brewing) and of course previous winner Genevieve Jeanson will also be present to make it difficult for a foreigner to take home the title.
Past winners
First Second Third Distance/Time 2002 Dede Demet-Barry Anna Millward Genevieve Jeanson 99.6 km in 2.58.16 2001 Genevieve Jeanson Susanne Ljungskog Lyne Bessette 99.6 km in 2.44.45 2000 Pia Sundstedt Fabiana Luperini Diana Ziliute 99.6 km in 2.46.41 1999 Tracy Gaudry Lyne Bessette Anna Wilson 91.3 km in 2.43.07 1998 Diana Ziliute Jeanie Longo Barbara Heeb 88.8 km in 2.29.00
