March 28/02 5:52 am - Bessette Leads Solano, Setmana-Catalana, First Union Teams

Posted by Editor on 03/28/02
 

Solano Cycling Classic - California
Courtesy Saturn Cycling

Held under bright sunny skies and strong, gusty winds, the Solano Bicycle Classic began its three day trek through the Solano, Fairfield and Napa counties today. Racing through over the dales of Northern California, the first stage, a 91 mile road race for the men, and a 60 mile road race for the women, saw familiar faces on the podium at the end of the day when once again it was Chris Horner and Lyne Bessette dressed in Yellow on the top of the podium stand.

The men's race kicked off early with aggressive racing from all teams in the strong cross winds. By the first climb a group of five went clear of the main group. In it were race contenders, Saturn's Trent Klasna, Danny Pate (Prime Alliance), Mercury's Henk Vogels and 7-Up's John Lieswyn.

This looked to be a strong race-winning move for all teams represented, however, when Klasna suffered some trouble in the head wind and lost contact with the group, the Saturn Team began a chase to bring the group of now four to within reach. At the bottom of the final steep climb up Cantelow road, the group of four was nearly brought back thanks to the efforts of the Saturn Team. And then it was Horner doing what he does so well with only Mercury's Chris Wherry able to follow his lead. Bridging to the break with enough time to recover before the final sprint, Horner's move brought him the stage win and the Race Lead over second place finisher Wherry. Lieswyn was third in the small group sprint. At about a minute down was a chase group with Saturn's Eric Wohlberg investing all he had to bring as much time back as possible so that an excellent effort in tomorrow's 12.2 mile time trial might bring the Race Lead within reach.

The women's 60 mile road race was splintered by the climbs, not the wind as in the men's race. On the first climb a small group containing Saturn teammates Lyne Bessette, Judith Arndt, and Kimberly Bruckner cleared the field with Alison Sydor (Canada), Susie Pryde (Talgo), Sue Palmer-Komar (Talgo), and Trish Choo. On the second climb it was Arndt and Bessette powering away from the small group. Choo, Palmer and Pryde worked diligently into the cross winds, but Arndt and Bessette, now well accustomed to long break-aways, managed to hold them off for Bessette to claim top honors over her teammate Arndt. Saturn's Bruckner attacked the group on the final climb, 10 miles from the finish and came in solo, roughly 2 minutes down on Bessette and Arndt for third. The main field finished nearly 6 minutes down, making for tomorrow's 12.2 mile time trial a race between the top six spots.

Results:

Men:
1. Chris Horner - Prime Alliance
2. Chris Wherry - Mercury
3. John Lieswyn - 7-Up

Women:
1. Lyne Bessette - Saturn Cycling Team
2. Judith Arndt - Saturn Cycling Team
3. Kimberly Bruckner - Saturn Cycling Team

4. Sue Palmer - Talgo America
7. Alison Sydor - Canadian National Team


Setmana-Catalana - Spain

Stage 4 - Bago to Vic 176 km

1 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Esp) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 4:30:39
2 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom
3 Stefan Kupfernagel (Ger) Phonak Hearing Systems
4 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
5 Sebastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole
6 Angel Edo (Esp) Milaneza-MSS
7 Gonzalo Bayarri (Esp) Jazztel - Costa Almeria
8 Joaquin Rodriguez (Esp) ONCE-Eroski
9 David Etxebarria (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
10 Thomas Bruun (Den) CSC-Tiscali

28 Fernando Escartin (Esp) Team Coast
62 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank all s.t.
DNF Tyler Hamilton (USA) CSC-Tiscali

GC

1 Juan Miguel Mercado (Esp) iBanesto.com 15:45:07
2 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) Team Telekom at 0:15
3 Serhiy Honchar (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo 0:27
4 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Esp) Phonak Hearing Systems 0:34
5 Fernando Escartin (Esp) Team Coast 0:47
6 Rui Lavarinhas (Por) Milaneza-MSS 1:08
7 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1:15
8 Gonzalo Bayarri (Esp) Jazztel - Costa Almeria 1:23
9 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 1:33
10 Joaquin Rodriguez (Esp) ONCE-Eroski 1:42

15 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 2:13
53 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom 16:18


First Union Announces Men's Team List

An internationally diverse field of 19 teams, comprised of more than 100 of the world's greatest professional cyclists, will compete in the 18th annual 2002 First Union Cycling Series, the nation's elite week of cycling, it was announced today.

Top professional men's teams from around the globe will compete in the series beginning with the First Union Invitational in Lancaster, PA, on June 4, continuing in Trenton, NJ, on June 6 with the First Union Classic and culminating with the First Union USPRO Championship in Philadelphia, PA, on June 9.

"The caliber of the teams will be a huge draw for the thousands of cycling fans who have helped make the First Union USPRO Championship the single largest one-day sporting event in the region," said Robert L. Reid, State CEO, First Union, Pennsylvania/Delaware.

The following teams are scheduled to compete in the 2002 First Union Cycling Series:

• ITeam Nova.com (Australia)
• Jelly Belly (US)
• Jittery Joe's Coffee (US)
• Landouwkredit (Belgium)
• Lombardi Sports (US)
• Lotto (Belgium)
• Mapei (Italy)
• Mercury (US)
• Mroz (Poland)
• Navigators (US)
• Panaria (Italy)
• Prime Alliance (US)
• Saeco (Italy)
• Saturn (US)
• Schroeder Iron (US)
• 7 Up Nutra Fig (US)
• Sierra Nevada (US)
• Sympatico.ca-Jet Fuel (Canada)
• United States Postal Service (US)