April 4/02 8:52 am - IOC Study, Sympatico & Opus Team Reports, De Panne

Posted by Editor on 04/4/02
 

New IOC Study
Courtesy Lister Farrar

The International Olympic Committee has released a new study on nutritional supplements that has alarming implications for athletes who take these products. It turns out that many contained banned substances, substances that do not appear on the list of ingredients, but will still show up in a drug test. Check out the report at the following link: www.olympic.org/uk/news/publications/press_uk.asp?release=266.

Sympatico-Jet Fuel Coffee Team Update

Building on the success of last year's trip to the FBD Milk RAS race, the team is expanding its Euro schedule.

We've developed a schedule of challenging races for the team. We'll be seeing lots of Europe over the next eight weeks of racing.

Here's our schedule of races:

April 7 Tour de Lac Leman - Geneva, Switzerland (UCI 1.5)
April 10-14 Paths of King Nicola - Montenegro (UCI 2.5)
April 21 Rund um Duren - Duren, Germany (UCI 1.5)
April 28 Danish Cup race - Horsens, Denmark
May 1-5 GP Ringerike - Ringerike, Norway (UCI 2.5)
May 12 Lincoln GP - Lincoln, England (UCI 1.5)
May 19-25 FBD Milk RAS, Ireland (UCI 2.5)

The riders for these schedule of races are; Joe Giuliano, Josh Hall, Buck Miller, Bruno Nella, Andrew Randell and Dominique Rollin. Some races only allow five riders per race (Paths of King Nicola and FBD Milk RAS) so the roster will be slightly different for these events.

We'll be sending Canadian Cyclist regular updates. The team would like to thank everyone for their support as we try to step up another level with our program.

Dave Butler
Team Manager


Opus Team Update

The Opus Women's Cycling Team has taken to the road again. We have arrived in Arizona for the Tucson Bicycle Classic. The air temperature is currently 36 degrees Celsius and there isn't a cloud in the sky.

Our trip began on Tuesday,in Phoenix, with the TommyKnocker Criterium. This was a great chance to get the "travel legs" worked out before the real racing began. The course consisted of a 600m loop in a parking lot. Fast and absolutely no hills or wind. If you ever go to Phoenix, this is definitely a good place to find fun and lively racing.

Our team for the trip includes 3 women and 3 guest riders. Diana Bladon, Jenny Trew (both of Calgary) and Sarah Stuart (Victoria) will represent Opus Bicycles for the race. Our guest riders include Erica Drew - Team Kappa (Victoria) and Junior Men, Eric Holland and Jamie Sparling representing Bow Cycle (Calgary).

Sarah Stuart is the newest rider on our team. She is a former rower and triathlete. This is Sarah's first real road event and she will be racing with us in the Pro Women's field. This might sound like a tall order, but Sarah has proven to be a truly exceptional talent. In Victoria road races, she has consistently finished on the podium against some very well known and respected women riders. Sarah is so strong that she may prove to be our best athlete for the event. We feel really fortunate to have discovered this exceptional athlete. Funny part is ... she has been riding well for a couple years now, yet no one from the cycling scene asked her if she would like to race seriously on a team. We should all be on the look-out for unproven talent like Sarah.

The course for the weekend looks to be extremely challenging and exciting.

Day 1 is a rolling time trial (5km) through the desert near Old Tucson. The riders will be greeted by hot weather (35 degrees +) and 2 challenging climbs - complete with cactus and tumble weed. The scene for this stage is straight out of an old western.

Day 2 is a 100km road race that takes in one of the most scenic roads in Arizona. Riders will challenge themselves with a 6km climb over Gates Pass that includes a final pitch of 12%. The riders descend from this vantage point to the valley floor and the city of Tucson before heading out into the desert for 2 more laps. The race will be decided on this stage - the winner being the best climber in the event. Last year was won by Genevieve Jeanson (Rona). She is back this year with a stronger team - so Canada should be well represented at the top of the podium.

Day 3 is a 42 mile "criterium" through City streets in Tucson (only 6 laps). Both the road race and the criterium start at 6:30-7:00am in order to beat the heat.

Many of Canada's best teams are in attendance at this event. The big players in the Women's event will certainly be Rona.

Our goal for the event is to ride well in the G.C. We don't have the horse power to be on the podium yet - but we expect some strong results from the young women (and men) that we have brought to this event. Tucson will definitely be the toughest race on the Opus Women's Team calendar to date.

Dan Proulx
Director
Opus Women's Cycling


Three Days of De Panne - Belgium

Stage 3a - De Panne 114 km

1 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 2:32:11
2 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
3 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Gerolsteiner
4 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service
5 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step
6 Mauro Zinetti (Ita) Index Alexia
7 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Adecco
8 Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo
9 Luciano Pagliarini Mendonca (Bra) Lampre-Daikin
10 Tom Steels (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step

19 Tom Boonen (Bel) US Postal Service
22 Antonio Cruz (USA) US Postal Service
28 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
44 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal Service all s.t.
49 Jeff Louder (USA) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago at 6:26
52 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
100 Dylan Casey (USA) US Postal Service
112 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites
DNF David Clinger (USA) US Postal Service
DNF Guido Trenti (USA) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo

Stage 3b - De Panne ITT 14 km

1 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 17:00.34
2 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service at 0:19.09
3 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 0:23.41
4 Dylan Casey (USA) US Postal Service 0:29.41
5 Robert Hunter (RSA) Mapei-Quick Step 0:30.71
6 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 0:38.52
7 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis 0:39.81
8 Tom Boonen (Bel) US Postal Service 0:40.63
9 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 0:41.04
10 Remco Van Der Ven (Ned) Bankgiroloterij-Batavus 0:42.74

25 Antonio Cruz (USA) US Postal Service 1:06.02
26 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 1:08.81
48 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal Service 1:31.40
55 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1:35.86
64 Gianpaolo Mondini (Ita) US Postal Service 1:46.17
111 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 3:40.66

Final GC

1 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 12:24:23
2 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step at 0:32
3 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service 1:03
4 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Adecco s.t.
5 Robert Hunter (RSA) Mapei-Quick Step 1:12
6 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Mapei-Quick Step 1:14
7 Tom Boonen (Bel) US Postal Service 1:24
8 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 1:25
9 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Lampre-Daikin 1:27
10 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1:28

13 Antonio Cruz (USA) US Postal Service 1:50
23 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 2:20
77 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 10:51
100 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal Service 24:01
106 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 30:05