August 25, 2000

Canadian cycling superstar in making gears up for first Olympic appearance.

Beverley Smith
Sports Reporter

Cyclist Geneviève Jeanson doesn't tiptoe. She doesn't whisper. She spins her wheels into the centre of the fray and then lands, swashbuckling on top.

She's only 18, and tomorrow she will leave for the Olympic Games in Sydney. Don't expect too much, she says. It will be her first appearance at an Olympics, but it likely won't be her last. She's a superstar in the making, by all accounts.

Wherever Jeanson wheels, controversy seems to follow. But she's one of the most exciting elements to come along in women's road racing in Canada for a while.

Loaded with talent
And that's saying plenty, because Canada is loaded with talented female road racers, such as two-time Olympic bronze medalist Clara Hughes of Winnipeg and Lyn Bessette of Knowlton, Que., who won the Tour de l'Aude in France last year.

But Jeanson, of Lachine, Que., has been stirring the pot since she burst onto the world scene, doing things that were unprecedented, such as winning gold medals in both road racing and the time trial at the world junior championships.

She leaped into the senior realm this year, and right off the bat, she won her first senior contest, the Tour de Snowy in Australia in March. She had some help from her Canadian teammates, but she left some talented international cyclists in her dust during the six-day, 473-kilometre stage race.

Two months later, she did it again, winning the Fleche de Wallonne World Cup race in Belgium.

Off those efforts, her coach, André Aubut, requested a straight bye for her to compete at Sydney, based on her world junior results. They rejected the idea outright, saying she had to compete at the Olympic trials, as everybody else had to.

Last month in Peterborough, Ont., tempers flared again when Aubut protested against Hughes's win over Jeanson in the individual time trial after a mixup on the final turn.

Hughes had raced the final part of the race on the wrong side of the barriers lining the course. The protest was rejected.

Jeanson finally clinched her Olympic berth at the Peterborough trials when she finished first among the five Olympic-qualified cyclists in the road race. She sprinted past Bessette, who yelled encouragement.

Jeanson said yesterday she and Aubut land in the middle of controversy because "I think we are very different. We do our own things. We are new in the sport."

Recently, they created more controversy by skipping an international race in order to train for Sydney, but "we are sticking to our plan," Jeanson said. "I think we are believing in our team. We just do the things that we know are going to be the best for me and for my development."

Jeanson credits Aubut for much of her success. A former athlete, Aubut participated in canoeing, but lost his chance to compete at an Olympics because of the boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980.

Aubut taught her to be strong and confident and how to act in certain situations, she says. Before he came along, she didn't like a lot of things about cycling.

"I didn't like time trial," she said. "I didn't like hills. I didn't like training. I was always alone and stressing myself out. He brought me a different approach. Then, I was young. I was 14, 15 years old. Right now, I'm loving everything about biking."

And she has more to learn. She's no longer alone. In road racing, there isn't a team event, but the Canadian crew will work together to produce the best result possible. Jeanson will be new at this. She smells a medal, if all goes well, but she's not expecting anything special from the Olympics -- just to do her best.

"For sure, I have some hopes of getting some medals, but I'm giving all I have to have the tools to get a medal. . . . If I have a good day, and I can get a medal on the road race with the help of my teammates, I will be very proud," she said.

"But if it's the day of Clara or of Lyn, I will be proud just the same because I have helped get a medal for Canada."

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