What was the biggest news from World Cup 1 Madrid, Spain? Filip Meirhaeghe, the World Champion, won the second World Cup event with his Full Suspension Specialized Epic. Gunn-Rita Dahle, World Cup Champion for women, took over from Meirhaeghe. Maybe neither were the most important news for Americans. We wanted to see which athletes were able to make it to the U.S. Olympic Team’s two women and one man.
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We wanted to see what Paolo Pezzo, a retired mother and the only Women Olympic MTB Champion Paolo Pezzo, would do in her first major test in four years. Miguel Martinez, Olympic Champion? Pezzo was a surprise to all, finishing in sixth place. Commencal-Oxbows Martinez came in 22nd. Frances Martinez moved to road racing after he won the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. This is his expected comeback year. He is part of the same downhill team as Anne Caroline Chausson.
Notable was also the continued woes of Roland Greens, 2001 and 2002 World Champions. The Canadian was unable to finish due to a derailleur problem. It was a disappointing result for Ryder Hesjedal, his compatriot in training and NORBA Series Champion Ryder Hesjedal.
MADRID, SPAIN WORLD CUP RESULTS
1 Filip Meirhaeghe, Bel)Specialized29.8 Miles in 2 RoelPaulissen (Bel),Siemens Mobile Cannondaleat 01/18
3 Julien Absalon (Fra)Bianchi Agos01.35
4 Lado Fumic, (Ger),Team T-Mobile0 5 Christoph Sauser, (Swi),Siemens Mobile Cannondales.t.
6 Bart Brentjens, Ned)Team T-Mobile07 Ralph Naef (Swi).Multivan-Merida
8 Jean-Christophe Peraud, (Fra),Lapierre
9 Sid Taberlay (Aus)TIS-CN-Avanti0 10 Carsten Bresser (Ger)Ralph Denk
11 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi)Swisspower0 18 Jeremy Horgan-KobelskiRLX Ralph Lauren0 24 Ryder Hesjedal (Can)Subaru-Gary Fisher
48 Todd WellsGT-Hyuandai1 92 Jeremiah BishopTrek-Volkswagen1 130 Michael Broderick-1 lap
DNF Roland Green (Can-Trek)Volkswagen
DNF Adam CraigGiant-Pearl Izuzmi
Women
1 Gunn-Rita Dahle (Nor)Multivan-Merida 2 Irina Kalentieva (Rus)Multivan-Meridaat 0 3 Ivonne Kraft (Ger)Ghost International
4 Alison Sydor (Can)Rocky Mtn-Business Objects
5 Annabella Stropparo (Ita)Italian National
6 Paola Pezzo (Ita)..Gatorade-Specialized0 7 Barbara Blatter (Swi)Specialized
8 Alison DunlapLuna Chix0 9 Petra Henzi (Swi)
10 Marie-Helene Premont, (Can)
14 Mary McConnelougSeven Cycles0 15 Susan HaywoodTrek-Volkswagen0
ALISON Dunlop WORLD CUP JOURNAL
It’s been a fascinating three days. On Friday, my bike and I arrived in Madrid at mid-morning. My huge duffle bag, which I call? The Big Pig? The Big Pig? did not arrive. After filing a lost luggage claim for half an hour, Waldek and Zack met me outside. We drove about 15 minutes to our hotel. Our first task was to find lunch. The hotel is located in an industrial area, so the restaurants are tucked between warehouses and factories. After our disappointing lunch, we drove to the golf course. Waldek found a spare pair and a jersey for me, as I didn’t have any luggage. Waldek ran a lap alongside me. The exact same course as two years back. There was not a single difference. It started to pour just as we were about to return to the van. It poured for 24 hours. Waldek went to registration, Zach cleaned my bike, and I changed. He returned with my #40 start number (aaagh!
Saturday morning my lost luggage arrived. After breakfast, I got organized and unpacked. It was such a relief. Madrid was buzzing about the big royal wedding. On Saturday, the Prince of Spain got married. He was getting married to a commoner, his first royal wedding in over a century. Gasp! Gasp! The wedding was live-broadcast on television throughout the day. This kind of stuff is my favorite so I watched. They anticipated that over a million people would be downtown, so Madrid’s center was closed to traffic.
Our first world cup was held today, Sunday. The course took place in Madrid’s central park, Casa de Campo. Two years ago, we were there. It’s a beautiful park with many paved roads and bike paths as well as great trails.
Yesterday’s torrential downpour was over by the time I woke-up on race day. I rode a lap in heavy rain on Saturday. The course was very muddy and slippery so it was a great challenge. I was glad to wake up to the sun. Due to my shoulder injury, I was called up 40th today. It is very stressful to be in the fourth row. I tried to sneak up on the side, but was squished into barriers right after the start. After a 180-degree U-turn, the race moved onto a section of dirt. There were four large mud pits within the first 1km that made it difficult to ride through. The field was forced to the right for about twenty feet. It can be very frustrating when you race down a double-track path at twenty miles per hour, and then suddenly you must shift to the right or left. Even if you are not among the top five, it can be difficult to see the problems coming. I knew that the mud pits could cause problems so I created new lines around them before the start. It worked well and I was able pass at least two girls every time I took my lines.
After putting in a lot of effort, I reached the top ten at the first climb. However, I was not able to keep up with the leaders and paid for my efforts. I kept my cool knowing my legs would soon recover. They did, and I was able slowly to pull riders back. There were some very steep climbs on the course, with the most difficult one at almost 25%. It was a great course and I enjoyed it four times. Many riders had to push. The entire race was a great experience. There were no mistakes or crashes. Due to the seven-page Solo Bici feature that I did on myself, Velo News of Spanish Spain had many fans. Eighth place was my finish. I finished eighth behind Barbara Blatter and Paola Pezzo, who are two of the top world cup riders. Gunn Rita Dahle, a Russian rider, won again. Alison Sydor, a fourth-place finisher, and Alison Kraft, a German rider, were third and fourth, respectively. Annabella Stropparo finished fifth. My two greatest competitors, Mary McConnelog (from Russia) and Sue Haywood (from the United States), finished 14th, 15th, and 15th, respectively, in my never-ending quest to be an Olympic athlete. That was a good result for me. It’s not clear how many UCI points that I have earned today. We calculated that if all my points from all races I have done were added to my score (the UCI adds points slowly), I would be in top thirty. Yeah! It’s getting better! I’m done with the Giro and waiting for Waldek back from a ride to give me a much-needed massage. Tonight we’re going downtown for dinner. It should be delicious! Tomorrow is Waldek’s departure and Zach will drive 18 hours to Brussels. If everything goes according to plan, they will meet me at the airport upon my arrival. Then it’s on to Houfalize in Belgium for the next world cup. The fun never ends.
Bis dahin.
Alison
