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Conference noted::bicycle

Title: Bicycling
Notice:Bicycling for Fun
Moderator:JAMIN::WASSER
Created:Mon Apr 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:3214
Total number of notes:31946

3129.0. "Olympic cyclling and mtb" by DECC::SULLIVAN (Jeff Sullivan) Thu Jul 25 1996 21:44

Does anyone know if they will cover any of the mountain biking events?

There was a short story today on the track cycling team and their custom (GT?)
composite bikes today.

-Jeff
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3129.1PCBUOA::KRATZFri Jul 26 1996 19:311
    Thursday (I think) there'e coverage of the Men's mtn bike finals.
3129.2Mountain bike final resultsCONSLT::MCBRIDEIdleness, the holiday of foolsWed Jul 31 1996 16:5646
    Here are the results from the finals.
    
    PLACE  	ATHLETE 		COUNTRY		TIME
    =====  	=======			=======		====
    1 		Paola Pezzo 		Italy		1:50:51
    2		Alison Sydor    	Canada		1:51:58
    3    	Susan De Mattei 	United States	1:52:36
    4    	Gunn-Rita Dahle 	Norway		1:53:50
    5    	Elsbeth Vink    	Netherlands 	1:54:38
    6    	Annabella Stropparo     Italy		1:55:56
    7    	Regina Marunde          Germany		1:51:21
    8    	Kathy Lynch		New Zealand	1:57:40
    9    	Eva Orvosova		Slovak Republic 1:57:56
    10    	Juliana Furtado		United States	1:58:32
    11    	Laurence Leboucher      France 		1:59:00
    12    	Daniela Gassman		Switzerland	1:59:11
    13    	Lesley Tomlinson  	Canada  	2:01:04
    
    PLACE  	ATHLETE 		COUNTRY		TIME
    =====  	=======			=======		====
    1    	Bart Brentjens		Netherlands	2:17:38
    2    	Thomas Frischknecht	Switzerland	2:20:14
    3		Miguel Martinez		France		2:20:36
    4    	Christophe Dupouey      France  	2:25:03
    5    	Daniele Pontoni		Italy 		2:25:08
    6    	Jose Andres Bremes 	Costa Rica	2:25:51
    7    	Lennie Kristensen 	Denmark 	2:26:02
    8    	Luca Bramati		Italy		2:26:05
    9    	Cadel Evans		Australia	2:26:15
    10    	Ralph Berner		Germany		2:27:45
    11    	Rune Hoydahl 		Norway          2:28:16
    12    	Gary Foord		Britain		2:29:10
    13    	Warren Sallenback	Canada		2:29:57
    
    No full suspension.
    
    It was nice to see Susan D. do well but Juli Furtado blew up after
    the first lap due to the heat.  I was hoping she would do a lot better
    but the conditions were not that good.  Tinker and Don Myrah were close
    to each other but way off the pace.  17 minutes or so behind the 
    leaders. The course did not seem too tough.  Not real technical, 1,000' per
    lap climb, no water to speak of.  I taped the mens and the coverage was
    pretty good.  The women's was so so.  Pezza put on a great race after
    crashing and getting hurt.  She ran a good portion of it to catch up! 
    
    Brian
3129.3QUAKKS::BURTONJim Burton, DTN 381-0272Wed Jul 31 1996 17:275
I assume this is the men's and women's mountain biking.  The thing that
immediately strikes me is that mountain biking was invented in the U.S. and
there is not a single U.S. man in the top 13 finishers.

Jim
3129.4CONSLT::MCBRIDEIdleness, the holiday of foolsWed Jul 31 1996 18:366
    Oops!  Yes, mtb finals.  This was a comment shared by the commentators
    as well.  They attributed it to the fact that cyclocross has been
    popular in Europe since well before mountain biking even existed.  It
    appears to be a natural cross over to mountain biking.  
    
    Brian
3129.5shocksPCBUOA::KRATZWed Jul 31 1996 20:3510
    From what I saw of the route of the woman's race, I would have saved
    a few pounds and gone with a carbon fixed front fork.  I didn't see
    anything but relatively smooth dirt singletrack, bare rock, and grass;
    nothing required a shock.  Besides the weight savings, the women were
    bobbing up and down on their forks when climbing too, spending precious
    energy in the heat.  Yet every bike was shock-equipped.  I have nothing
    against shocks (I own one), and I suppose the riders have to ride what
    the sponsors sell (and nothing priced in the race-worthy category these
    days doesn't have a shock).
    Kratz
3129.63 cycle crossersIJSAPL::JMULDERThu Aug 01 1996 09:2812
>
>    Oops!  Yes, mtb finals.  This was a comment shared by the commentators
>    as well.  They attributed it to the fact that cyclocross has been
>    popular in Europe since well before mountain biking even existed.  It
>    appears to be a natural cross over to mountain biking.  
>    

	I spotted 3 cyclists among the first 13 who are also active as cycle 
	crossers. Note that mountain bike races are much longer than cycle
	crosses: 2 to 3 hours against 1 hour. Brentjens did a lot of training
	on the road to get used to long hours on the bike, and for the speed. 
						jan
3129.7STARCH::WHALENRich WhalenThu Aug 01 1996 12:1617
    A friend who is at the olympics (working for ACOG) sent me the
    following:
    
    Sniping between Twigg &Carmichael is being hashed out in the papers,
    and Twigg went home -- won't compete in TT Saturday! (Women's track)
    Also USA Cycling is really under the gun for its disappointing
    performance.  There is the possibility of more gossip in Sunday's
    Worcester Telegram.
    
    ------
    
    Maybe now they will realize the error in their ways in chosing
    unknowns, who just happen to be on the "right" team (e.g. Greg
    Randolph, Motorola) instead of the best finishers (e.g. Frank
    McCormack, Saturn) in the trials.
    
    Rich
3129.8back from the Games...COOKIE::MUNNSdaveMon Aug 05 1996 21:5940
    I just returned from Atlanta and the Olympics and was fortunate to watch
    both the men's & women's mtb races and the men's road race.

    The mtb course was filled with lots of turns, up & down hills (nothing too
    steep), but the biggest factor in the mtb races was heat/humidity.  The 
    spectators were suffering as they sat in the shade, imagine how the riders 
    felt.  You could see it on their faces.

    I wish the races had started earlier to beat the heat.  Men's race at 10 AM 
    & women's race at 2:30 PM !  Bart Brenjens of the Netherlands had a 2+ 
    minute lead over Thomas Frischknecht, Switzerland and Miguel Martinez, 
    France who battled for 2nd & 3rd the entire race.  It was fun cheering 
    each rider by name and they acknowledged us with renewed vigor and smiles.  

    Mtb hardware varied, but all seemed to have front suspensions.
    
    The men's road race, 138 miles, was completed by the winner in just under
    5 hours.  A cool, overcast day greeted riders on this course.  Pascal 
    Richard, Switzerland, won the gold in a final sprint that brought the 
    medal winners in within 2 seconds of each other.  

    Lance Armstrong, USA, made a break with 5 laps to go but could get no one 
    to join him and the pack swallowed him by the next lap.  We watched from 
    the only significant uphill, about 400 meters worth.  With 1 lap to go the 
    3 medalists had a big lead on the pack and USA's Frankie ?  was in 4th 
    all alone trying to catch them.  It turns out that the pack almost caught 
    him at the finish and he placed 4th by 1/2 a wheel.

    This is the 1st road race I have watched that had such big names.  The
    winner of the Tour de France had a flat on our hill in the 1st lap and
    a stop at the pit got him going again quickly.  The Italian team worked
    together, the USA team did not.  One of the spectators was a girl from 
    Canada who inspired her boyfriend in the pack by standing on our ladder 
    and holding the Canadian flag.  A spectator splashed Frankie in the chest 
    with water and my son kept the crowd hydrated with his lemonade stand 
    ($ .50, best deal in town).  

    I took plenty of photographs and have great admiration for those
    racers.  I definitely recommend the Olympic experience. It is very 
    uplifting to see the best athletes in the world doing what they do best.