July 17/97 21:19 pm - Ontario 3 for 3 at Nationals, Tour of Rockies, Ontario News

Posted by Editor on 07/17/97
 

Canadian National ITT Championships - Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec  „The hardest time trial I‚ve ever done‰, said Tour de l‚Aude winner and Giro runnerup Linda Jackson after winning the 40 kilometre national individual time trial title for senior women earlier today. Men‚s winner Eric Wohlberg echoed her statement. The 40 kilometre race against the clock was unusual in that it was a one-way trip from Mont Brun to Rouyn-Noranda. This made it more difficult for riders to gauge where they were on the course, and where the competition was. Adding to the difficulty were the climbs (two reaching 8% grades), and a fairly strong headwind for at least half of the course.  Jackson was the favourite, given the strong season she has been having, and the no-show of Olympic bronze medallist Clara Hughes (still suffering the effects of a nagging achilles tendon injury, she decided not to attend the championships). With Canada‚s other top women (Sue Palmer, Anne Samplonius, Kim Langton) also giving it a miss, Jackson stood unopposed. Still, she put in a good ride of 1:03:26 - good enough for 8th in the Espoir Mens category! - despite having to change bikes part way through her ride. National development rider Annie Gariepy of Quebec took second place, and was well pleased with her effort, 3:16 behind Jackson: „I am happy to finish so well behind one of the world‚s finest time triallists.‰ The bronze was taking by Quebec rider Lyne Bessette, 53 seconds slower than Gariepy.  The Espoir (Under 23) Men‚s championship was won by Ontario‚s Mark Walters, the only Espoir rider to go under 1 hour with a time of 59:19. Quebec team member Guillaume Belzile finished at 1:32, after having to stop and change bikes, however, he admitted that he prabably still wouldn‚t have beaten Walters. Paul Kelly of Alberta took third, a further 1:05 in arrears.  The senior men‚s race was extremely tight, between two of Canada‚s top pros - B.C.‚s Brian Walton, and Ontario‚s Eric Wohlberg. Both ride for U.S. squads, and are rarely seen racing in Canada. Walton was the third starter and, as is the case with early starters, had no one to measure himself against, and no knowledge of how his competition was doing (Wohlberg was the final starter). Despite this handicap, Walton put in a strong ride that fell only 4 seconds short of the winning time of 56:10. Wohlberg was particularly pleased with his ride, saying that it was the first real time trial he had done since the Tour of Malaysia in the spring. Time checks had shown the Olympic time triallist ahead of his rival throughout the race, albeit by small margins. Road racer turned mountain biker Jacques Landry was third, 56 seconds behind Wohlberg.  (Vel Mag Publisher Pierre Hamel assisted with this report)  Senior Women  1 Linda Jackson Ontario 1:03:26 2 Annie Gariepy Quebec at 3:16 3 Lyne Bessette Quebec 4:09 4 Andria Hannos B.C. 4:13 5 Odessa Gunn Alberta 5:53 6 Leah Goldstein B.C. 6:14 7 Cybil Di Guistini B.C. 6:38 8 Vanessa Corbin Alberta 8:13 9 Stephanie Hannos B.C. 8:18 10 Amy Jarvis Ontario 8:42  Espoir Men  1 Mark Walters Ontario 59:19 2 Guillaume Belzile Quebec at 1:32 3 Paul Kelly Alberta 2:37 4 Min Van Velzen B.C. 3:07 5 Nathaniel Faulkner Ontario 3:27 6 Matthew Hansen Ontario 3;41 7 Alexandre Bernard Quebec 3:54 8 Pascal Choquette Quebec 5:06 9 Leonard Simon Quebec 6:15 10 Jonathane Cloutier Quebec 7:13  Senior Men  1 Eric Wohlberg Ontario 56:10 2 Brain Walton B.C. at 0:04 3 Jacques Landry Quebec 0:56 4 Mat Anand Alberta 2:14 5 Andrew Randell Ontario 2:52 6 Mark Hibbard Ontario 3:24 7 Alexandre cloutier Quebec 4:12 8 Mark Ernsting B.C. 4:26 9 Peter Wedge New Brunswick 5:21 10 Mathieu Fagnan Quebec 5:31   Tour of the Rockies Underway in Colorado  Stage 1, Burgess Creek XC  Women - 13.5 miles  1 Ruthie Matthes USA Powerbar 1:02:18 2 Tammy Jacques USA Schwinn-Toyota at 0:15 3 Beth Coats USA Shimano 0:41 4 Lesley Tomlinson CAN Kona 1:21 6 Chrissy Redden CAN Ritchey 5:05  GC - the same  Men - 22.5 miles  1 Michael Rasmussen DEN Trek-Volkswagen 1:26:09 2 Jerome Chiotti FRA GT at 0:39 3 Carl Swenson USA ProFlex 1:41  GC - the same   Ontario News (thanks to Chuck Bonnaffon)  The Cyclosport/Bodywise mid-week crit in Oakville and the McMaster mid-week crit have been officially cancelled.  The Mississauga Matheson mid-week series is getting stronger. The last race saw 36 entries. Also, two new race sponsors have joined Pavan: Racer Sportif and La Bicicletta. As of July 16 two Cyclepath stores, a pizzeria on the course, and a local sign company have joined the swelling ranks of sponsors. Also 37 entries turned up including a minime, a good number of women, and a guest rider from Trinidad!  The 1997 CCA Rule Book is now available. Send cheque or money order for $15 (made payable to Valerie Davidge) to:  Ontario College of Commissaires 6706 Snowgoose Lane Mississauga, Ontario L5N 5J1  Your copy will be shipped immediately.   The Tour of Silicon Valley North (Aug.15-17) is a go, but without a national sanction. There will be both an Ontario and Quebec provincial sanction. Quebec‚s approval allows the use of the Gatineau Park for a road stage. This means Camp Fortune and lots of climbing! $4,000 cash, $6,000 merchandise. For further info on this event check out their slick web page at http://www.storm.ca/~phunter/the tour/  Check out Brampton CC website prior to the provincial ITT championships for information, entry form, and map. http://www.aracnet.net/~bcc/index.html  56 year old Jorn Hansen was 12th overall in the 1,2's race at Effingham!  At the last directors meeting funds were made available for repairs and upgrades at the Delhi track. Unfortunately, no contractor has been located who is willing to send his paving equipment up on the bankings!  If enough interest is shown, an instructor is available for a mid-September Level 1 coaching course. Contact Dave Butler at 416-465-6245 or Tim Farrar at 416-426-7242  Veteran Level 3 Coach, Colin Hearth, will accompany the provincial track team to the nationals (Calgary, August 1-3). Shortly thereafter Colin will be taking up a UCI teaching post in Cuba.  Recently, Lisa Colombo, on behalf of the Alberta Bicycle Association, presented last year‚s ORC chair, Peter McCaffery with a certificate and gold badge in recognition of his many contributions to Alberta competitive cycling. In a twenty year span Peter filled many roles in Alberta cycling: organizer, promoter, advisor, executive and official. Peter is now focusing his energies in the Mississauga area where he lives. He is the organizer of mid week racing at the Matheson circuit. There is land there suitable for cyclo-cross and also there is a potential site for a velodrome. The city has given encouraging signs regarding these projects and is waiting to see how midweek road racing turns out before committing themselves.  Ontario road racing is desperately short of commissaires. We are now down to single digits! Valerie Davidge, as chief commissaire is taking actions and putting in place a strategy to change this situation. If you would like to be part of the action, make some extra money, or put something back in the sport, Ontario road racing fans are welcome to call Valerie to find out about the courses starting this fall. They can be tailored to fit your group and/or region. Fax your intention to (905)824-8906, E-Mail to bigvalto@aol.com or call (905) 824-8906 and leave a message.   Attention other provinces: we want to put up your information also - just e-mail it to us at: ccyclist@rogers.wave.ca   Check out the new Product Reviews, Tours, Classifieds and Links - all up within the last 8 days.   Today was the rest day for the Tour de France, the action will start up again tomorrow.