Tuesday 7 March 2000

Australian mountains suit Lachine cyclist in Tour de Snowy

DAVE STUBBS

Lachine cyclist Genevieve Jeanson adores mountainous terrain, and yesterday she felt right at home in the brutal, steep climbs between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.

Jeanson charged to the over-all lead of the six-day, nine-stage Tour de Snowy, winning the grueling 110.8-kilometre "Queen Stage" from Khancoban to Cabramurra. Beginning the blistering-hot day in sixth place in the general classification, 43 seconds out of the lead, Jeanson now leads the event by one minute, 34 seconds. The winner of two gold medals at last October's world junior championships in Italy, Jeanson laid back from an early break in yesterday's fourth stage before the first major climb, a 600-plus-metre ascent that began at the 42-km mark.

By the fast descent at 86 km, the Team Canada rider led Australian Tracey Gaudry of Team Timex by 1:36, a gap that closed by about 30 seconds before the next hard climb, a 900-metre, 15-km ascent. Again, Jeanson pulled away from Gaudry, the Tour's over-all winner last year, stretching her lead to more than two minutes, and finally coasted to the finish with her ultimate 1:39 margin of victory.

"I had planned this," an exhausted Jeanson told Cycling News at the finish. "I knew the race was today. I like to climb, and I like the heat.

"It was hard, and Tracey was really good. I'm not really good on the downhills, and Tracey (gained) 40 seconds in 5 kilometres. After that, I just maintained a time-trial pace up the final climb to win."

Jeanson's heart rate soared into the 180s during the stage, and she admitted, "I was dying, dreaming to the end." The 18-year-old, coached by Andre Aubut, said the climbs were among the toughest she's ever faced, not having spent much time racing in Europe. And she knows that, with five stages to go, this race of nearly 80 riders is a long way from its finish, with the experienced Gaudry and her supportive teammates still very much within striking distance.

"Yes, but I'm not going to let that (leader's) jersey go," Jeanson said.

The Tour de Snowy, the highest-ranked stage race in Australia, could prove to be a monumental event for Jeanson. Canadian road-cyclists need two top-8 finishes in high-grade international competition to earn pre-qualification for the Sydney Olympic team, and Jeanson could achieve those standards as early as next weekend with solid performances here and a World Cup race in Canberra Sunday.

Then, with a top-3 finish at July's national road-race championships in Peterborough, Ont., she'll be Olympics-bound come September.

Today's fifth stage is an 83.6-km ride from Adaminaby to Jindabyne, featuring a sprint and one climb.

This page of Genevieve Jeanson's www site (a part of VELOPTIMUM), was updated on March 7, 2000 by