Thursday 13 April 2000

Hudson native's deep pockets might result in Olympic berth for Lachine's Jeanson

DAVE STUBBS
The Gazette

In Phoenix, Ariz., there is a Hudson native with deep pockets who knows a winner when he sees one. Yesterday, Lachine cyclist Genevieve Jeanson kept a promise to this man, and she might be on her way to the Sydney Olympics because of his generous heart.

Jeanson, 19, scored a stunning victory in the La Fleche Wallonne women's road race yesterday, a 91-kilometre World Cup event in Huy, Belgium, against a truly sensational international field. It was a huge victory, one that gave her the second of two required top-8 major finishes to be considered for selection to Canada's team to Sydney.

She now joins Knowlton's Lyne Bessette, Bromont's Annie Gariepy, Toronto's Anne Samplonius and Alison Sydor of Victoria as pre-qualifiers; Canada will choose three riders for the Olympic road-race after its national championships, July 13-16 in Peterborough, Ont.

The 19-year-old double world junior champion covered the cool, windy and often brutally hilly course of the Flemish Ardennes in two hours, 38 minutes and nine seconds at an average speed of 34.52 km/h, outsprinting Finland's Pia Sundstedt by 10 seconds to the finish. Fany Lecourtois of France was 23 seconds back, with the over-all World Cup leader, Lithuania's Diana Ziliute, 37 seconds off the pace in fourth place.

Jeanson attacked on the first climb, as she typically does, breaking several top contenders. With 33 km to go, she charged out again, establishing a lead pack with nine other cyclists, and wouldn't be seriously challenged the rest of the way in the field of 95. She took the lead for good on the final climb to the famous Mur de Huy finish.

"I really, really wanted to win this race," a tired but quite delighted Jeanson said last night from her hotel room in Belgium. "Now we know what we have to focus on (to prepare for the Olympic trials)."

It was Jeanson's second major victory this season, having won the Tour de Snowy stage race through the mountains of southern Australia last month. Exhausted, she went on from that event to a 37th-place finish in a World Cup event in Melbourne a few days later, leaving her one top-8 standard from Olympic consideration.

Jeanson and her coach, Andre Aubut, returned to their Arizona training base thrilled with the Tour success, but crestfallen at the result in Melbourne, realizing their last chance to make the standard was at the World Cup stop May 28 on Mount Royal.

The young cyclist was largely bankrolled to her world junior championship success last year by Manon Gilbert, a good friend of Aubut's who lives in Arizona. A friend of Gilbert, Hudson native Ron McRae, a real-estate developer, was impressed by Jeanson's talent and determination and decided to get behind her. He raised enough at a cocktail party in Phoenix to send her and Aubut to Australia to race.

"We got back from Melbourne and Ron asked us what was next," Jeanson recalled. "We told him the Montreal race was probably our last chance because we couldn't afford to go to Belgium.

"He asked if Belgium was a good course for me and I told him it was. He asked us how much it would cost, and we told him (an appreciable sum). So he just wrote me a b-i-g cheque. I was very shy when I went to pick it up, but I promised him I wouldn't waste the money."

Jeanson and Aubut continued to train in Arizona, drove cross-country to North Carolina the past week, and flew to Belgium overnight on Monday, arriving Tuesday morning.

"I didn't sleep at all Monday night," she said, "but I did (Tuesday) and I figure I'll sleep fine tonight."

Jeanson returns to Toronto today, where she will receive an achievement award from YTV, the youth television network, before heading back to the Carolinas to train until May 4, when she returns to Montreal.

She'll arrive home tied with Australia's Anna Wilson for second place in the World Cup standings with 75 points, even though she's raced in only two of the three World Cup races held so far this year. Zilute leads the pack with 105.

Late last night, Jeanson got in touch with Ron McRae in Phoenix.

"He was thrilled I had won," she said. "He was happy I had kept my promise that his money would be well spent.

"And better yet, he said we'd have to talk soon about the future!"

This page of Genevieve Jeanson's www site (a part of VELOPTIMUM), was updated on April 13, 2000 by