|
After celebrating Rona's Montreal World Cup win, we rolled our legs over very slowly
on Sunday, along the lake frontage in Lachine, near Genevieve's home. It was incredible
windy but so picturesque with many people out sailing, jogging and cycling.
The Tour of Greater Montreal is made up of 4 stages over 3 days with the first day being
the double stage event. Stage 1 was a 3km prologue on a narrow bike path in Lachine.
Tina Pic (Genesis) rode like a demon to clock up the fastest time and don the
yellow jersey. Katrina finished in the top 10 while the rest of Rona all finished
within 10sec of each other.
That evening we raced a fast and furious 4 corner criterium in the Little Italy area
of Montreal. With generous bonus seconds up for grabs, Petra Rossner (Nurnberger-
Versicherung) won the criterium, and took the overall lead from Pic. Rona
featured actively in the criterium but it inevitably came down to a bunch kick.
The GC is still tight with Katrina Grove, Genevieve Jeanson, Erinne Willock and I
within 28sec of the leader.
Stage 3 unfolded under a cold heavy rain with temperatures of only 11-12° celsius.
The course was mostly rolling, but included 3 ascents of Bourget hill, a 2km climb
that steepens to 22% in a few places. Many thought the peloton would explode up the
climb but the rain made it difficult to attack in the steeper parts of the hill.
I got into a break after 35km with fellow Aussie Alison Wright (Nobili
Rubinetterie) and Canadian Amy Moore (Quark). We worked hard for 70km
and our biggest lead was 2mins 40sec but after Moore dropped Wright and I on the
final climb over Bourget our break was doomed. The remains of the chasing peloton
swept up Wright and I with 10km to go, while Moore was caught 4km from the finish
line. Judith Arndt (Nurnberger-Versicherung) won the 111km stage in 3hrs,
36mins, averaging 30.8km/hr. Arndt now has an 11 seconds advantage over T Mobile's
Dede Demet Barry, and Canadian Lyne Bessette (Quark) is third in the general
classification, 12 seconds back.
The final stage consisted of 8 laps around a 10km road circuit in Terrebonne, North
of Montreal. With 19 bonus seconds for any one rider, between the intermediary sprints
and the stage win, the overall race was far from over. Petra Rossner, Arndt's team-mate
and one of the best sprinters in the world, won the three intermediary sprints - and a
total of 9 bonus seconds - thus minimizing the take for the contenders. It was up to
Arndt to prevent any serious break to form. She had to chase herself several attempts
to leave the pack. The race was not particularly aggressive, but a few riders attacked
several times but each time the pack prevented anything from materializing.
The field completed the 80km in 2hrs1min with Regina Schleicher (Safi-Pasta Zara
Manhattan) crossing the line ahead of Anita Valen (SATS). In the overall
classification, Arndt took the victory with a slim 5-second lead over Anita Valen
(SATS), while Lyne Bessette (Quark) finished 3rd. Rona's Katrina Grove
finishes in 6th place overall, 16sec behind Arndt. Genevieve Jeanson and Erinne Willock,
finished respectively 15th and 17th, 30 and 35 seconds down. Genesis Scuba won the
team general classification 16 seconds ahead of Team Rona.
|
|
