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Longo spices up Gila in New Mexico
This report filed May 5, 2000
By
VeloNews Interactive
wire services
On Friday, 1996 Olympic road race gold medalist Jeanie Longo will be giving U.S. Olympic hopeful Mari Holden (Timex) all she can handle in the ups and downs of the Black Range in New Mexico's Gila National Forest.
With elevations topping out at around 7500-feet over the course of 73 miles and temperatures reaching 90-degrees at altitude, the biggest-ever Tour of the Gila aims to test even the strongest of the world's riders.
Even still, the finish should be tight, as riders will scream down New Mexico Highway 152 at speeds near 50 mph before making a hard right turn into the Fort Bayard national guard installation. On the men's side, Gord Fraser (Mercury) might be looking out for the wheel of teammate Roy Knickman.
On the women's side, Autotrader.com teammates Andrea Ratkovic and Kimberly Bruckner could be looking to put their mark on the GC in a race Bruckner won last year.
But that's all conjecture. Here's what already has happened over the last two days in extreme southwestern New Mexico.
The all-important time trial resulted in predictable results on the women's side. Mari Holden followed Jeanie Longo by 26 seconds. Consequently, the duo has a respectable cushion atop the field despite a breakaway-and-hold win by Andrea Ratkovic on Thursday. Ratkovic, who was named the most aggressive rider in the field during the 1999 HP Laserjet Challenge in Idaho, broke through here last year with the first top-5 result of her young road career.
Canadian national team rider Eric Wohlberg has already put the Shaklee stamp on this event in the men's pro category. In an event won by Saturn's Chris Wherry last year due to a strong performance in the day-one time trial, Wohlberg seems to have taken the same tack. His time of 35 minutes over 16 miles was 52 seconds better than 7-Up-Colorado Cyclist's Clark Sheehan. Sheehan took second place overall behind Wherry in 1999.
After Thursday's 92-mile trek, Sheehan dropped another 50 seconds behind Wohlberg. Mercury's Derek Bouchard-Hall towed Wohlberg up the mountaintop finish in Mogollon. Bouchard-Hall now sits second in the general table as a result of his victory.
The event continues on Saturday with a criterium in downtown Silver City and a 100-mile (men) and 70-mile (women) finale in Sunday.
In other news, women's U.S. Olympic Road coach Henny Top is in town directing a group of riders who are resident athletes at the OTC in Colorado Springs. With the Olympic Trials race in Jackson, Mississippi, just two weeks up the road, don't think she's not looking at all the senior women riders to be in form against Longo.
Tour of the Gila, Silver City, New Mexico. May 3-7.
General Classification after two stages:
Pro Men:1. Eric Wohlberg (Can), Shaklee, in 4:32:00; 2. Derek Bouchard-Hall, Mercury, at 01:33; 3. Eddy Gragus, Jelly Belly, at 01:37; 4. Clark Sheehan, 7-Up-Colorado Cyclist, at 01:47; 5. Bart Bowen, Saturn, at 02:09.
Pro Women: 1. Jeanie Longo (F), in 4:14:26; 2. Mari Holden, Timex, at 01:16; 3. Andrea Ratkovic, Autotrader.com, at 03:07; 4. Julie Hansen, Saturn, at 03:46; 5. Sarah Ulmer at 03:51.
Stage 2 (Silver City to Mogollon) Results, May 4:
Pro Men: 1. Derek Bouchard-Hall, Mercury, 92 mi in 3:57:08; 2. Eric Wohlberg (Can), Shaklee, at 00:02; 3. Arquimedes Lam Zamora (Mex), Tecos, at 00:09; 4. Damon Kluck, The Spokesman, at 00:18; 5. Jimi Killen, Boulder Chaos, at 00:19.
Pro Women
1. Andrea Ratkovic, Autotrader.com, 70 mi in 03:34:08, 2. Sarah Ulmer at 00:46; 3. Lysle Wilhelm, 800.com, at 00:54; 4. Jeanie Longo (F), at 1:04; 5. Nicole Freedman, Charles Schwab, at 01:29.
Stage 1 (Tyrone Time Trial)
Pro Men: 1. Eric Wohlberg (Can), Shaklee, 16 mi in 35:00.79; 2. Clark Sheehan, 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist, at 00:51; 3. 3. Eddy Gragus, Jelly Belly, at 1:02; 4. Adham Sbeih, Navigators, at 01:29; 5. Bart Bowen, Saturn, at 01:35.
Pro Women: 1. Jeanie Longo (F) 16 mi in 39:14.37; 2. Mari Holden, Timex, at 00:25; 3. Julie Hansen, Saturn, at 02:34; 4. Tracy Gaudry, Timex, at 03:00; 5. Katrina Berger, Charles Schwab, at 03:19.
This report filed May 6, 2000
By
VeloNews Interactive
wire services
American legend Kent Bostick seriously broke his leg in a crash during a descent at Friday's stage of the Tour of the Gila. The 73-mile stage is known for it's hair-rasing downhill section which covers 10 miles and loses 1600 feet of altitude over a course of off-camber switchbacks.
Unfortunately for Bostick, it may have been too much to handle at breakneck speeds.
"I was right there when he went down," said Doug Ziewacz of 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist. "You know when you crash, you usually skid across the pavement? Kent went down and stayed down."
It was quickly clear that the 46-year-old former Olympian who had just competed at the Olympic track trials a week ago in Frisco, Texas was not getting up. He had broken his femur (the major bone in the upper-leg) in two places.
Shaklee teammate John Lieswyn picks up the story:
"We were really trying to keep the pace slow, because we know how tough that section is. Then a couple of Mercury guys went off the front, and Kent was trying to bring them back when he crashed. An ambulance rushed him to the airport where they flew him to University Hospital in Albuquerque. They said that they were going to have to do surgery to insert pins in his leg."
Lieswyn also expressed his disappointment that Bostick would not be able to help him two weeks from now at the road trials in Jackson, Mississipi.
Bostick is expected to spend time convalescing at his residence in Corrales, New Mexico, a suburb of Albuquerque.
This report filed May 6, 2000
By
VeloNews Interactive
wire services
After two stages of the Tour of the Gila, Kimberly Bruckner (Autotrader.com) seemed resigned to race for third place over this five-day stage race. The cycling goddesses were here in the form of Jeanie Longo and Mari Holden. She figured her chance to defend her title was likely over when the duo picked up their race numbers.
She was wrong.
Bruckner made the second big breakaway of the 73-mile stage to bridge up to Holden from her 15-rider chase group with about 20 miles left in the race. Holden had already been away alone for about 30 miles.
With 10 miles to go, Bruckner caught the reigning American double road champ (time trial and road race) and they worked together until the finish line. Bruckner crossed the line first, by the length of an inner tube, thereby giving the former champ a stage win.
The duo, assisted by Autotrader.com and Timex teammates who were slowing the chase pack, won by four-minutes. Holden, with her double sprint time bonuses, put a stranglehold on the overall standings. She now sits more than three minutes clear of the field.
Holden, a 29-year old from Colorado Springs who has won four of the last five national time trial titles, added the stars and bars jersey to her wardrobe after winning in Cincinnati last year. She said she almost thought of taking a flyer after the first sprint mark, but it was too early. Instead she waited for the descent which defeated Bostick earlier to make her attack.
"It was a real hairy descent, and a couple of girls went off the road," Holden said while soaking her overheated feet inside her team Timex van at the finish. "I got the corner and was really surprised (they overshot the turn), because I thought we were taking it a little conservative. At that point I figured it might be a good spot to try and pick it up a little bit."
The gutsy move led to a 2 minute 40 second lead on the chase group with about 20 miles to go.
'I've done it before, but not in the states, and it never used to work out that way," Holden said. "We'd always get caught at the end. I'm not upset that Kimberly won the stage, I have the jersey and that's what I wanted."
Bruckner's move to close the gap gained her five spots in the overall standings. Now in third place, she's still within shouting distance of a win, despite what she thought on Thursday.
The men's field had a much tighter finish, with about five riders crossing the line only ten seconds ahead of the pack. The big ride of the day came from Mercury's Michael Sayers, who outsprinted Clark Sheehan (7-Up/Colorado Cyclist) for the stage win. Sheehan, however, remains a contender for the overall title, having entered the day in fourth place, but moved up to second heading into Saturday's downtown criterium. Overall race leader Eric Wohlberg (Shaklee) took fourth.
With Sayers' victory, Derek-Bouchard Hall's Thursday win and sprinter Gord Fraser set to go for the win at today's criterium, Mercury has a chance to win three consecutive Gila stages.
"Were not really in this for the GC," Sayers said. "It's really our group of sprinters and young guys here while the rest of the team is racing in Spain. This team is so competitive that we just feel obligated to win, but I'm also trying to solidify my spot on the team for the East Coast races coming up."
Tour of the Gila
General Classification After Three Stages
Pro Women: 1. Mari Holden, Timex, in 7:51:59; 2. Jeanie Longo (F), at 03:24; 3. Kimberly Bruckner, Autotrader.com, at 04:04; 4. Andrea Ratkovic, Autotrader.com at 06:32; 5. Sarah Ulmer, at 07:10.
Pro Men: 1. Eric Wohlberg (Can), Shaklee, in 7:34:32; 2. Clark Sheehan, 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist, at 01:34; 3. Eddy Gragus, Jelly Belly, at 01:42; 4. Derek Bouchard-Hall, Mercury, at 01:50; 5. Bart Bowen, Saturn, at 02:24.
Inner Loop Road Race May 5, 2000
Pro Women: 1. Kimberly Bruckner, Autotrader.com, 73 mi in 3:36:46. 2. Mari Holden, Timex, same time; 3. Tina Mayolo, Autotrader.com, at 4:06; 4. Sarah Ulmer; 5. Nicole Freedman, Charles Schwab all same time.
Pro Men: 1. Michael Sayers, Mercury, 73 mi in 3:02:28; 2. Clark Sheehan, 7-Up/Colordo Cyclist, at 0:01; 3. Florencio Ramos Torres, Tecos, at 00:04; 4. Eric Wohlberg, Shaklee, at 00:04; 5. Burke Swindlehurst, Navigators, at 00:07
Fraser wins 13th of the season at Gila
This report filed May 7, 2000
By
VeloNews Interactive
wire services
On Saturday afternoon in downtown Silver City, New Mexico, Gord Fraser put the 13th notch on his belt in this still young road season by winning stage four of the five-day Tour of the Gila. And he did it in typical Mercury style, riding the seafoam train to the victory over U.S. national criterium champion Antonio Cruz (Saturn). Vasily Davidenko of the Navigators finished third after 40 laps of the 1-mile circuit.
The riders called it an especially tough course for a crit, with Silver City's near 6000-foot elevation and the notoriously rough roads of Bullard and Cooper streets which made up the homestretch and backstretch of the four turn race.
The high speeds of the men's race made it difficult for riders to breakaway successfully. In fact Cruz said he left his legs back on the homestretch one lap early.
"I took a lot out of myself getting across to one of the Mexican guys (from the Tecos team) who I thought was going to try and get away, but he was only going for a prime. So I went for the prime since I was already sprinting, but I didn't have much left afterward," Cruz said.
That miscalculation left the door open for the Mercury train to move up to the front. Jan Bratkowski, Jon Peeters, Roy Knickman and Michael Sayers led the push as Fraser sat on.
"It was looking a little grim to do the train for the last lap, because just about everyone but Derek fell off early," Fraser said. "And it was all I could do to hold his wheel until the last 200 meters."
But Fraser held the wheel, took his second crit in as many Saturdays and gave Mercury its third straight Gila stage win.
Cruz still had enough to hold off Davidenko for second place.
"We might go for the stage win again on Sunday, we'll see. But really, we're quite pleased with this Tour of the Gila," Fraser said.
In earlier action, Autotrader.com's stage race crew, which includes last year's Gila winner Kimberly Bruckner, Laura Shuford, Pam Shuster, Andrea Ratkovic, Tina Mayolo, Anke Erlank and Julie Young managed to pull off a coup by winning the women's 20-lap criterium.
"Who says we're not a crit team?" they yelled while congratulating each other after the race. The win comes on the heels of a near-win by Shannon Hutchison last weekend in Athens.
Autotrader's win was its third consecutive Gila stage.Eventual winner Mayolo had to bridge up to Saturn's Julie Hansen during the downhill heading into the circuit's final corner.
"Just coming into the final turn, Mike Neel (the Autotrader.com manager) was yelling at me to go for it," said Mayolo. "And I rode the tailwind down the home stretch and passed Julie with just two blocks to go."
Elita's Sarah Ulmer held Mayolo's wheel to the line and managed to steal second place away from Hansen.
The tour concludes Sunday with a 100-mile race (men) and 70-mile race (women).
Tour of the Gila, New Mexico, May 3-7.
General Classification after Four Stages
Pro Women: 1. Mari Holden, Timex, in 8:46:16; 2. Jeanie Longo (F), Vitall/Jeanielongo.com, at 03:24; 3. Kimberly Bruckner, Autotrader.com, at 04:04; 4. Andrea Ratkovic, Autotrader.com, at 06:32; 5. Sarah Ulmer (NZ), Elita, at 06:52.
Pro Men: 1. Eric Wohlberg (Can), in 9:11:02; 2. Clark Sheehan, 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist, at 01:34; 3. Eddy Gragus, Jelly Belly, at 01:42; 4. Derek Bouchard-Hall, Mercury, at 01:50; 5. Bart Bowen, Saturn, at 02:24.
Stage Four
Downtown Silver City Criterium
Pro Women: 1. Tina Mayolo, Autotrader.com, 20 mi in 54:09; 2. Sarah Ulmer (NZ), Elita; 3. Julie Hansen, Saturn, both same time; 4. Lara Ruthven, Texas Cycle Sport, at 00:02; 5. Katrina Berger, Charles Schwab, same time.
Pro Men: 1. Gord Fraser, Mercury, 40 mi in 1:36:30; 2. Antonio Cruz, Saturn; 3. Vasily Davidenko, Navigators; 4. Derek Bouchard-Hall, Mercury; 5. Eddy Gragus, Jelly Belly, all same time.
Wohlberg, Holden hang on for overall wins at Gila
This report filed May 8, 2000
By
VeloNews Interactive
wire services
Sunday night, Kent Bostick received a perfect get-well present from Eric Wohlberg and his Shaklee teammates: a Tour of the Gila leader's jersey.
Bostick had crashed out of the Tour of the Gila on Friday, breaking his femur, and was recovering at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque. After the Friday crash, Shaklee was determined to bring the white jersey back to the 46-year-old former Olympian, and the plan worked out courtesy of Wohlberg. The Canadian national team member had a lead of 1:30 on the rest of the field coming into Sunday's 100-mile, climb-filled "Gila Monster" road race.
He knew there were certain riders he could let out of his sights, and there were others that he would have to shadow throughout the day to win the 5-day event.
So when two-time (1998 and 1996) Gila champion Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators) took off with Jimi Killen (Boulder Chaos) and Arquimedes Lam (Tecos) climbing out of the Gila cliff dwellings midway through the race, he wasn't worried.
"We knew that we could let them get up to four minutes, but there were other guys in our group that couldn't let it get that far away, so that made it close at the end," Wohlberg said.
The escape group took almost a three-minute lead on Wohlberg's pack, which included strong riders such as John Lieswyn (Shaklee), Saturn's Antonio Cruz, and eventual second-place finisher Eddy Gragus of Jelly Belly. But they ended up crossing the line only 30 seconds in front of the pursuing group.
Gragus, who finished in the top-five at this race last year, tried numerous times to get away from the Wohlberg, but his attacks never succeeded, especially after another New Mexican, Bart Bowen (Saturn), who had started the day in fifth place, crashed on the descent into the cliff dwellings park.
"Bart was going really well today," Gragus said at the finish in Pinos Altos. "If he hadn't crashed, we might have been able to work together to put some time on Wohlberg."
In the end, Wohlberg was pleased to have come through for Bostick.
"It's too bad (Bostick and Bowen crashed)," Wohlberg said. "There are a lot of great riders here and you don't like to see anyone getting hurt. I felt I had a lot of pressure just to do the job for my teammates and to bring the leader's jersey back to Albuquerque. Those guys just put everything on the line for me, and I really appreciate that."
Bowen went to the hospital in Silver City for road rash and a head injury which required stitches. As he was leaving the hospital, he fainted, and was kept overnight for observation. He should recover fully.
It was the best-ever pro field at the event, and the largest overall number of riders to have ever competed in the Gila.
The women's field didn't disappoint either. Mari Holden and Jeanie Longo had outpaced the entire women's field by Friday. So on Sunday, it was just a question of which rider would persevere in the two-bike battle.
It was Holden, the current American road racing champion.
The 29-year-old Timex rider from Colorado Springs used a solo attack during Friday's stage to set herself away from the pack by more than three minutes, so on Sunday, she just had to stay within shouting distance of Longo, the only rider in the field who might have been able to close that gap.
Longo did what she had to do, breaking away from Holden during the race's major ascent, but she didn't have enough to win by required time to steal victory.
"I knew it was just me against Longo and that was that," said Holden, a favorite to represent the U.S. at the Olympics this September in Australia. "Longo shot ahead and dropped me, and I chased her up the climb the whole way. I was trying to keep the gap in and my teammate Kim Smith came up and helped me stay with her."
Last year's champion, Kimberly Bruckner (Autotrader.com), finished third overall.
Tour of the Gila, New Mexico. May 3-7.
Final General Classification
Pro Men: 1. Eric Wohlberg (Can), Shaklee, in 13:44:47; 2. Eddy Gragus, Jelly Belly, at 01:30; 3. Doug Ziewacz, 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist, at 03:05; 4. Burke Swindlehurst, Navigators, at 03:24; 5. Clark Sheehan, 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist, at 03:29.
Pro Women: 1. Mari Holden, Timex, in 12:10:35; 2. Jeanie Longo (F), Vitall/Jeanielongo.com, at 01:11; 3. Kimberly Bruckner, Autotrader.com, at 04:09; 4. Katrina Berger, Charles Schwab, at 09:05; 5. Andrea Ratkovic, Autotrader.com, at 09:24.
Stage Five
Gila Monster Road Race, May 7
Pro Men: 1. Burke Swindlehurst, Navigators, 100 mi in 4:32:40; 2. Arquimedes Lam (Mex), Tecos, at 00:17; 3. Jimi Killen, Boulder Chaos, at 00:32; 4. Ron Schmeer, Nutra Fig, at 00:54; 5. Eddy Gragus, Jelly Belly, at 01:03.
Pro Women: 1. Jeanie Longo (F), Vitall/Jeanielongo.com, 70 mi in 3:22:21; 2. Mari Holden, Timex, at 02:08; 3. Kimberly Bruckner, Autotrader.com, same time; 4. Katrina Berger, Charles Schwab, at 02:21; 5. Kim Smith, Timex, at 04:16.
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