July 29/98 3:09 am - Sad Notice, Tour Stage Cancelled

Posted by Editor on 07/29/98
 

On A Sadder Note...

It is with deep regret that we inform you that a Masters Sport racer, Perry Elliott, suffered a severe coronary at the Mansfield Ontario Cup race on Sunday, July 26th, and passed away. Perry was an enthusiastic competitor on the Ontario Cup circuit, and a well-known member of the Spokes Å’N Slopes racing team from Milton. He will be missed by all.

Visitations will be Wednesday, July 29th, at the Davidson Funeral Home, 135 Clarence (at Elm), in Port Colborne. Times are 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm.

The funeral will be held at the Davidson Funeral Home on Thursday, July 30th, at 11 am. Donations can be made in Perry Elliott‚s name to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Spokes ŒN Slopes will be holding a memorial barbeque at Kelso Conservation Area after the club‚s Tuesday night race. Contact the store for more details at: (905) 876-7676.


Tour Stage Cancelled

Another bizarre and unique day in Tour history today. After 6 hours, the peleton finally completed the 149 kilometre stage. Last night police raided the TVM team at their hotel and hauled off riders for questioning. The field rode as far as the first sprint of today‚s stage, and held a sit-down protest. Shortly afterwards, Laurent Jalabert‚s ONCE team withdrew from the race, as did Banesto. Risso-Scotti also pulled out. The rest of the field removed their race numbers and rode very slowly for the whole day. At the end of the stage, the TVM team rode across the finish line front of the field.

At this point, the Tour will continue, and race officials have promised to work with the police to reduce police harassment to a minimum.