T-Mobile International - 1.3

San Francisco, USA, September 12, 2004

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Complete Men's Live Report

10:04 PDT   
Welcome to live coverage of the fourth annual T-Mobile International presented by BMC software. The men are on the start line and ready to start at 10:10.

10:07 PDT   
The men will race a total of 172.8km consisting of three start laps of 2.1km each, nine main laps of 14.8km each and five finish laps of 8km each. The crowd is huge right now and whilst the women's race was taking place the spectators were ten deep on Fillmore street. It is going to be a great day of racing.

10:11 PDT   
The race is underway. Lance Armstrong fired the start gun as he decided a couple of days ago not to race due to tendonitis, so he is here as a spectator today.

10:14 PDT   
Right now as the peloton partakes in the ceremonial laps Phonak is on the front as is Trent Klasna (Sierra Nevada) stretching his legs. The temperature is nice and cool for the start (60 degrees). Hincapie is even wearing his knee Warmers.

10:21 PDT   
The three former winners of this race, Hincapie, Charles Dionne (Webcor) and Chris Horner (Webcor) are in the field and all keen to have another good race here. The two Webcor riders are especially keen as this is a big race for their sponsor, which is local to the area.

10:22 PDT   
Horner and Dionne stated that they have two cards to play and are both feeling ready for the race. Hincapie also said he is ready after finally being able to recover from the Tour de France.

10:24 PDT    6.5km/166.3km to go
The peloton are all together after the three starting laps. Mike Sayers (Health Net/Maxxis) made the first attack of the day but was quickly reeled in as the race now heads into the first main lap and towards the first time up Fillmore.

10:32 PDT   
On the first time up Fillmore the teammate of Freddy Rodriguez, Giuseppe Palumbo (Aqua Sapone/Rabobank) attacked solo and now has 15 seconds on the field. There is no chase per se as the rest of the peloton are all together at this point.

10:33 PDT   
Aqua Sapone have joined with Rabobank for this race so that Levi Liepheimer can race.

10:38 PDT   
Palumbo still leads, now by ten seconds from a chase group of five riders. The peloton are at 30 seconds. There has been a crash in the bunch. Antonio Bucciero (Saeco) went down.

Palumbo is two time Junior World Champion, but will be working for Freddy today.

10:47 PDT    20km/152.8km to go
As the riders head towards the finish line for the end of the first main lap, Palumbo has been caught and a counter move has gone up the road. A group of six riders are in the lead with a 30 second gap. In the group is James Mattis (Webcor), Doug Ollerenshaw (Jelly Belly), Jason McCartney and Danny Pate (Health Net), Pavel Padrnos and (US Postal).

Mattis is working hard and the Health Net riders are keeping him in check. The group has a good lead but are not working cohesively at this point.

10:49 PDT   
The race is going up Fillmore for the second time now and Jason McCartney is driving the pace. Both McCartney and Mattis are the workers in the small early break.

10:53 PDT   
Padrnos took the points at the top of Fillmore and now another group of ten riders are trying to bridge across to this front group of six. The crowds are huge on Fillmore and the atmosphere is fantastic.

10:59 PDT    31km/141.8km to go
The bridging group have caught the leaders and so the lead group has significantly swelled. There are some Sierra Nevada riders up there, Health Net etc. The riders are all looking at each other a bit and not collaberating all that well just yet.

11:07 PDT   
The break is now 13 riders and consists of the original break of James Mattis (Webcor), Doug Ollerenshaw (Jelly Belly), Mike Sayers and Danny Pate (Health Net), Pavel Padrnos (US Postal) as well as John Kelly Webcor), John Lieswyn and Mike Jones (Health Net), Daniel Schnider (Phonak), Jeff Louder (Navigators), Ben Jacques-Mayne (Sierra Nevada), Massimo Ianette and Valerio Agnoli (Domina Vacanze).

They have 40 seconds on the field right now but are still not working totally in unison.

11:15 PDT   
As the break heads up the Taylor Street climb for the third time, the gap has come down to about 20 seconds. Health Net, with four guys in the break, are really punching it up the hill.

11:16 PDT   
A few riders are attempting to bridge across to the break.

11:19 PDT   
The typical huge crowds are lining the streets of San Francisco on a cool and overcast day, a big day for sports in the city with the hometown 49ers hosting the Atlanta Falcons on the NFL's opening weekend.

11:25 PDT    50km/122.8km to go
The break is still out in front and have a minute lead on the pelton. In between the peloton and the break are three riders at 30 second. They are Tyler Wren (Colavita Olive Oil), Tim Johnson (Saunier Duval) and Jake Rosenbarger (Jittery Joes).

11:44 PDT   
The peloton is now at 2:00 and seems disinterested in forming an organized chase at this point

11:45 PDT   
Only one of the three riders attempting to bridge, Jake Rosenbarger (Jittery Joe's) made it across, Johnson and Wren were absorbed by the peloton

11:56 PDT    67.2km/105.6km to go
The race is now just into its fifth main lap and the break is at 1'20". The peloton are not chasing too hard but are just making sure they keep the gap low. Health Net are still driving the break up front.

11:59 PDT   
Trent Klasna has attacked solo out of the peloton and has a ten second gap at this point. The bunch doesn't seem to be chasing him.

12:06 PDT   
Ivan Dominguez (Colavita Olive Oil) has bridged to Klasna and the pair are now working together. The peloton are still fairly relaxed.

12:09 PDT   
Another attack is going now out of the peloton. It is Michael Creed (USPS), Ted Huang (Webcor) and Siro Camponagara (Navagators) and they are bridging to Klasna and Dominguez who are sitting about 15 seconds in front of the peloton.

12:17 PDT    85km/87.8km to go
At the base of Fillmore in the sixth main lap, the situation remains the same. The main break of 13 riders have 55 seconds on the second group of five and 1'45" on the peloton. The crowds are growing around the course and the party atmosphere is pumping. People are lining the hills and crowding out the restaurants through Northbeach and the expo area by the start finish line is all happening.

12:33 PDT   
The break still has 1'45" on the bunch, but now it is only Dominguez alone trying to bridge with the others being absorbed by the bunch.

Health Net are still taking control of the break using their numbers. Lieswyn and Sayers are doing a lot of the work.

12:37 PDT   
Iannetti and Agnoli from Domina Vacanze are also really trying to make this work and are looking strong.

12:49 PDT   
The sun is starting to break through the clouds in San Francisco as Dominguez gets caught by the peloton. The break sits at 1'20" and Health Net are still driving the break.

12:53 PDT   
We are in the eigth lap so we have two main laps to go and five small laps. It is likely that the chase will start picking up a little soon as we get to the business end of the race.

12:58 PDT    115km/57.8km to go
We are on the penultimate descent of the Fillmore street climb and the gap is still at 1'20" . Mike Jones (Health Net) is working hard on the front for Health Net. Doug Ollerenshaw has also been active in the break for most of the race, winning quite a few of teh KOM sprints.

13:10 PDT   
The action is picking up in the peloton now. Jason Lokkesmoe (Health Net) has attacked on Taylor Street and the bunch is strung out. We are heading back towards the finish line where we will hit one main lap to go.

13:11 PDT   
Through the finish line Mattis attacked the break to try and liven things up and back in the bunch everyone is watching Health Net and waiting for the final five laps to make their moves.

13:13 PDT   
Ollerenshaw has had an awesome race and is leading the KOM competition.

Attacks continue up in the front group with Webcor and Health Net battling it out. Schnider (Phonak) has also made a couple of attacks and Padrnos is marking things policing the break to make sure it doesn't get too much time.

13:16 PDT   
To recap, the riders in the break are James Mattis and John Kelly (Webcor), Doug Ollerenshaw (Jelly Belly), Jason McCartney, Mike Sayers, John Lieswyn, Mike Jones and Danny Pate (Health Net), Pavel Padrnos (US Postal) (Health Net), Daniel Schnider (Phonak), Jeff Louder (Navigators), Ben Jacques-Mayne (Sierra Nevada), Massimo Ianette and Valerio Agnoli (Domina Vacanze).

13:26 PDT   
Its all happening now. On the final climb up Fillmore McCartney attacked with Ollerenshaw and the pair got away. McCartney went on the attack solo and now has 15" on Ollerenshaw whilst the rest of the break sits at 1'15 with Agnoli leading.

13:26 PDT   
The bunch is really picking up behind and catching the break.

13:27 PDT   
The bunch has now caught the break but McCartney and Ollerenshaw are still up the road with McCartney leading solo.

13:41 PDT    150km/36.6km to go
Things have exploded in the race now. McCartney's move triggered an incredible surge. Currently McCartney leads solo by 1'10 to Ollerenshaw and a group of six riders chase him with the remains of the break who were still out there! In that group is Padrnos, Agnoli and Jacques-Mayne who sit at 1'40.

Another group of six including Aaron Olsen (Colavita) and Juanjo Cobo Acebo (Saunier Duval) is at 3'20" and Levi Liepheimer has attacked the peloton solo and sits at 4 minutes with the main bunch at 4'30".

Basically Health Net have really shaken things up and have forced Webcor to chase. The chase is currently being led by Webcor with Horner sitting in third wheel.

13:56 PDT   
McCartney is still powering away up front solo in his second small loop. Behind, Ollerenshaw has been caught by the chase group and Agnoli has attacked and now sits two minutes behind McCartney.

The chase group with Ollerenshaw, Padrnos etc are at three minutes and the bunch at four minutes. Yet another amazing ride by McCartney. This is how he won the stage of Tour de Georgia and Olympic Trial - in the solo break fashion and he is still looking strong.

13:56 PDT   
Agnoli is only 19 years old and is a stagiare for Domina Vacanze in this race so looking to impress.

14:01 PDT   
McCartney is moving further and further away with Agnoli now at 2'23". The chase group has been caught and now Danny Pate sits in between at 3'30.
US Postal have hit the front of the peloton to try and up the pace but it looks as if it might be too late. McCartney is flying and gaining time.

14:11 PDT    172km/14.6km to go
The peloton has now just caught Agnoli as they go through the finish line with two laps to go and McCartney is still out there at 2'45".

14:12 PDT   
This is a really gutsy ride by McCartney and things are looking really good for him. He still looks strong. The peloton is flying too with Postal on the front, its going to be a hard battle.

14:28 PDT    183.6km/3km to go
Sorry for the delay. Jason has cracked in the last lap and is losing time quickly!

14:29 PDT   
Charles Dionne has launched an attack out of the peloton and has caught McCartney who is going backwards. It was just that little bit too long for him out there alone.

14:30 PDT   
Dionne's attack is a beautiful move. It looks like he is going to win this race. McCartney has not yet been caught by the peloton, that was a misscall, but the peloton are closing in on him fast. He is trying to hold it.

14:31 PDT   
Dionne is coming to the finish now solo to win his second T-Mobile International!!!!!!

14:31 PDT   
The bunch is just behind him and readying for the sprint.

14:33 PDT   
McCartney was caught at the last minute and the sprint is on......... and it is Freddy Rodriguez taking the sprint for second place and Hincapie in third.

Complete Women's Live Report

06:43 PDT   
Welcome to the live coverage of the T-Mobile International presented by BMC Software. The women are racing first up at this wee hour of the morning on a course that covers 86.2km. It will include two start laps of 2.1km each followed by five main laps of 14.8 km each and finally an 8km-finishing lap.

The course starts and finishes on the Embarcadero and covers terrain through North Beach over the daunting climb of Fillmore street and back through Russian Hill and North Beach where they hit the second challenging climb of the day up Taylor street. The final eight kilometre lap will take them one last time up Taylor street for a total of six times before they head back to the embarcadero for the finish.

Currently it is still dark as the riders get warmed up for the race. The moon sits on one side of the sky whilst the sun rises on the other. The famous San Francisco fog is present and its slightly chilly out, but there is a buzz is the air. The streets are not full of spectators yet, the race set up is certainly making the street look alive. The big screen tv is set up and is playing Austin Powers to set the mood for the day.

06:51 PDT   
Ready to start today is Nicole Cooke (Safi Pasta Zara Manhattan) who won this race in style last year. She is one of the most accomplished riders in the peloton in one day racing despite her age and also proved that she can mix it with the best in the big tours this year when she won the Giro d'Italia Femminile after having most of the season off due to knee surgery.

She will certainly be the one to watch, but riders such as local girl Christine Thorburn (Webcor) is in great form, having returned from the Olympics to immediately prepare for this race. She will be looking to better her sixth place of last year and has the help of another former Olympian Karen Brems as well as a strong team to help her.

The T-Mobile team are also in good form with two successful Olympians on the start line in Dede Barry and Kristin Armstrong, as well as Kim Anderson and Kimberly Bruckner who have had good form this year.

06:53 PDT   
The start of the race has been moved back to 7:04am to correspond with the Good Morning America TV coverage and the girls are on the start line ready to go. Depsite the hour, spectators are trinkling in and there is already a nice vibe on the streets.

07:03 PDT   
The National Anthem has just been sung and the the race is underway. An interesting mix of riders hit the streets, from seasoned International riders to regional American riders all ready to tackle to steep streets of San Francisco together.

07:11 PDT    4.5km/81.7km to go
The women have just completed their two parade laps of 2.1km each and are heading into their first big lap now. The Safi Pasta team were on the front during the parade laps to string things out and keep it safer. One rider from McGuire has already unfortunately crashed and is out of the race.

07:18 PDT   
Another crash has occured in the bunch. Lauren Franges of Victory Brewing went down but is now back in the bunch and is okay. The bunch is all together, the pace looks relatively fast already, but not crazy yet.

07:23 PDT   
The riders are cresting Fillmore street for the first time. There was yet another crash at the base of the climb and about 15 riders had to walk their bikes up the hill. Kate Maher (Team Basis) broke her chain and looks like she will be pretty much out of the race because of it.

07:27 PDT   
Lyne Bessette (Quark) has shown her form early by winning the first KOM sprint. Dede Barry (T-Mobile) took second and Thorburn (Webcor) third. The bunch was blown apart due to the sprint but it will likely come back together on the long down hill back down towards the water.

07:30 PDT   
It is still split up a little and a break of seven riders is off the front including Bessette, Thorburn and Barry.

07:34 PDT   
Bessette has just taken out the second KOM, the one at the top of Taylor Street. Nicole Cooke took second followed by Kori Kelly (Genesis Scuba). The break of seven is still out in front. Bessette, Thorburn, Barry, Kelly and Cooke are five on them. The rest of the bunch are split up into three to four groups as we head back towards the finish line.

07:37 PDT    19km/67.2km to go
Kori Kelly flatted and needed a service. She went back to the main group but now the break has also been caught and a bunch of about 60 riders are heading into lap two.

07:42 PDT   
The pace is pretty slow right now. It looks like they are just coasting along to recover from the early surge and preparing for the next time up Fillmore which is coming up in about three more minutes. There are a confirmed 57 riders in the bunch.

07:48 PDT   
The riders are heading up Fillmore and people are needing wheel changes left right and center. Both Tina Pic and Rook Campbell from Genesis Scuba needed new wheels as well as Kim Anderson (T-Mobile) and Lauren Franges (Victory Brewing). Quite a lot of people are also dropping their chains on these steep hills.

07:52 PDT   
A break of 14 riders crested Fillmore together but have now been absorbed and a T-Mobile rider is attacking the bunch as the race hits Taylor Street for the second time today.

07:55 PDT    33km/53.2km to go
Kim Anderson (T-Mobile) and Lyne Bessette (Quark) have a ten second lead on the bunch after the Taylor Street climb. They are looking strong but the bunch is chasing hard as they go along the flats before the finish line.

07:57 PDT    33.9km/52.3km to go
The riders have just gone through the start finish line after two main laps of racing and Anderson and Bessette are being caught. Counter attacks are being launched, but nothing is holding at this point.

08:03 PDT   
The points for the KOM in the second lap were taken by Bessette on both Fillmore and Taylor Street. Thorburn was second up Fillmore and Barry third, with Cooke taking second place up Taylor followed by Anderson.

The bunch is still together right now as we head towards Fillmore for the third time.

08:07 PDT    36km/50.2km to go
It is still foggy outside but the temperature is nice for racing sitting at 59 degrees F. The bunch is stil together waiting for the next big climb up Fillmore. According to the Victory Brewing Team DS Mike Tamayo and their mechanic Mark, everything is perfect for racing, except for the fact that they still haven't had a coffee this morning.

08:14 PDT   
Linda Jackson had a small gap leading into Fillmore but was caught half way up the hill by a charging Nicole Cooke with a tail of riders behind her.

08:16 PDT   
Bessette and Cooke have a small gap as they crest Fillmore and the bunch is strung out behind them. They are really flying up these climbs.

08:18 PDT   
Bessette won yet another KOM sprint followed closely by Cooke. Thorburn took third. There is now a group of ten riders with a ten second advantage on the field.

08:21 PDT   
In the group are Cooke, Modesta Vzesniauskaite (Safi Pasta), Barry, Kristin Armstrong, Neben and Anderson (T-Mobile), Kori Kelly, Thorburn and Karen Brems (Webcor). As they crest Taylor street they have a gap of ten seconds.

08:23 PDT    48.6km/37.6km to go
The bunch are now coming through the start finish area at the end of lap three. The break is now getting caught and the riders are spread across the road.

08:24 PDT   
Manon Jutras (Quark) has attacked and has a small gap.

08:25 PDT   
Jutras has a gap of seven seconds and the bunch is not reacting. They are spread out across the road recovering from the efforts of the climbs.

08:29 PDT   
Jutras has increased her gap to the bunch and now sits as 19 seconds. A Safi Pasta rider, Gessica Turato is bridging to her. Turato has been having a great season and was involved in the two major breaks in last weeks World Cup round in Rotterdam.

08:33 PDT   
Jutras now has 40" on the bunch as she heads towards Fillmore for the fourth time. The bunch are still not chasing but there is movement as riders move up towards the front ready for the climb.

08:36 PDT   
Jutras has 50 seconds at the bottom of the climb and the pace is stretched out as they head up the climb. Jutras looks tired.

08:37 PDT   
Audrey Lemieux (Quark) has a flat tyre. At the front Cooke is charging up the left hand side and Bessette is on the right hand side of the road. They are catching Jutras.

08:39 PDT   
There are a lot of spectators on the side of the road on this very very steep climb. Some of the girls are using 36 tooth chain rings on the front!

08:40 PDT   
Jutras managed to go over the top of the climb ahead to take the KOM points. Bessette and Cooke were together behind her with Bessette taking second for the points and Cooke third.

08:43 PDT   
Across the Atlantic, Petra Rossner took out the final round of the World Cup in Nurnberg, with Australian Oenone Wood taking third place to win the overall World Cup Series.

08:45 PDT   
At the top of Taylor Street Jutras still has the lead and it is now ten seconds to a chase group of 15 riders. Behind by another 20 seconds is another group of 15 riders. The riders are heading back towards the finish line and will have one main lap to complete and a finish lap of 8km before the finish of the race.

08:49 PDT    63.4km/22.8km to go
The riders have just crossed the finish line and Jutras has increased her gap to 15 seconds again. The group of fifteen behind has all the major players involved and has 25 seconds on the rest of the bunch.

08:53 PDT   
In the group are Cooke (Safi Pasta), Armstrong, Barry, Neben, Bruckner from (T-Mobile), Bessette (Quark), Kori Kelly, Laura Van Gilder and Sue Palmer Komar (Genesis Scuba), Thorburn and Brems (Webcor) and Michelle Beltran (Paramount Racing).

08:55 PDT   
Victory Brewing were on the front of the main group chasing down the break as they had no riders in it. They have managed to catch the group. The bunch is now 45 riders and Jutras is still out ahead and her lead is 45 seconds. This is an amazing ride by her.

08:59 PDT   
Jutras is holding her lead and a Basis rider is trying to bridge to her. Fillmore is coming up for the last time.

09:01 PDT   
At the bottom of Fillmore Jutras has 30 seconds. The basis rider Chrissy Ruiter has been caught.

09:02 PDT   
The pace up Fillmore is fast and Jutras has been caught by three riders with riders strung out on their wheels.

09:03 PDT   
LOTS of people are on the sidelines now ringing their cow bells. This is a nasty hill!

09:05 PDT   
The riders are cresting the hill, it has been split apart into many small groups as the riders descend from Fillmore for the last time and head towards Taylor street.

09:12 PDT   
After the Taylor street climb there is a group of 17 riders in the lead including all of the major climbers. They have 15 seconds on another group of 11.

09:12 PDT   

09:14 PDT   
Some of the riders in this group of 17 are Cooke, Barry, Anderson, Bruckner, Neben, Gina Grain (Victory Brewing), Palmer Komar, Van Gilder, Kelly, Thorburn, and Brems.

09:16 PDT    78.2km/8km to go
The riders are coming through the finish line now after their final main lap and have only an 8km finishing lap to go. The lap does go over Taylor street one last time.

09:24 PDT   
The riders are at the top of Taylor and its fast. Cooke is really driving it and has crested the hill in the lead. Bessette is on her wheel and Vzesniauskaite too.

09:25 PDT    83km/3.2km to go
As they go down the hill, the three have a gap of about five seconds to another group of eight riders that includes a few T-Mobile riders and Thorburn. Gina Grain (Vic Brewing) and Anderson are together another 10 seconds back.

09:28 PDT   
Cooke managed to get away to solo to the finish to take her second consecutive win.

09:29 PDT   
It was a very close sprint to the line behind Cooke and it was in fact Tina Pic who won the bunch sprint to take second place.

Results

1 Nicole Cooke (Safi Pasta Sara Manhattan)
2 Tina Pic (Genesis Scuba)
3 Modesta Vzesniauskaite (Safi Pasta Sara Manhattan)
4 Christine Thorburn (Webcor)
5 Kristin Armstrong (T-Mobile)
6 Amber Neben (T-Mobile)
7 Lyne Bessette (Quark)
8 Kori Kelly (Genesis Scuba)
9 Dede Barry (T-Mobile)
10 Laura Van Gilder (Genesis Scuba)

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