THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
North American Awards
Whether it was Geneviève Jeanson’s amazing performance at Redlands or cross country day at the world championships in Vail, North America and North Americans provided some of the year’s best bike racing. In this final installment of the 2001 VeloNews Awards we reveal the winners of the North American Awards.
Note: All awards are for performances on North American soil.
RIDE OF THE YEAR
Geneviève Jeanson entered the 99km final stage of the Redlands stage race with a healthy lead of nearly two minutes. Well, she didn't rest on her laurels. Within a kilometer of the start of the tough Sunset circuit race, Jeanson was on the attack and rode solo the rest of the way to win the stage by a phenomenal seven minutes. Kim Bruckner, who finished second in the overall standings, put it best when she said, "They kept giving us time splits. At one point we just said, ‘Fine, don't tell us any more.’ Whether it was two minutes or five, she was long gone." Long gone, indeed.
BEST DAY OF RACING
The first-year San Francisco Grand Prix could have won on atmosphere alone, but race winner George Hincapie and a fired-up Saturn men's team made sure the throngs of fans crowding the streets of San Francisco had something to cheer for. What a show.
MOUNTAIN-BIKE RACE OF THE YEAR
In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, no one would have been surprised if organizers had canceled the world championships in Vail. Instead, they played it right and pressed on, citing the hundreds of athletes from all over the world that had made the trip to America, and who deserved a chance to race.
BEST MEN'S ROAD TEAM
Early in the season at Redlands and Sea Otter, the race wins by Saturn looked to be those of a team simply capitalizing on squabbling between big players Mercury and U.S. Postal. But as the North American season rolled on, it was Saturn that turned out to be the big player, its wins including Willamette, Housatonic, Fitchburg-Longsjo, Tour de Toona and USPRO Criterium. It was one of the most wide-open seasons in the past few years, with several teams stepping it up, but Saturn gets our nod as best men's road team.
BEST WOMEN'S ROAD TEAM
Saturn. Who else?
MALE ROADIE OF THE YEAR
Trent Klasna had a spring to remember and set the tone for his Saturn team's great season. Wins at Redlands, Sea Otter, Housatonic and the U.S. time trial championship; the overall NRC and Pro Cycling Tour titles; and podium finishes at the USPRO Championship, First Union Invitational in Lancaster and the San Francisco Grand Prix all add up to an unforgettable season.
FEMALE ROADIE OF THE YEAR
In addition to winning Philadelphia’s First Union Liberty Classic World Cup for the fourth time running, Petra Rossner emerged this year as a formidable all-arounder. The German powerhouse could even be seen climbing with the leaders at the Hewlett-Packard Women's Challenge. What's more, Rossner has used her extensive experience to emerge as her team's leader and tactician, contributing greatly to Saturn's phenomenal 2001 season.
MOUNTAIN-BIKE MAN OF THE YEAR
Because it wasn't an Olympic year, Roland Green's 2001 season will fall short in best-ever conversations. But not by much. Green took a World Cup win in Mont-Ste-Anne and the overall World Cup title, plus NORBA's cross-country and short-track crowns; then finished up with a convincing win at the world championships in Vail.
MOUNTAIN-BIKE WOMAN OF THE YEAR
When it came to racing on North American soil in 2001, few rivaled Mary Grigson. The transplanted Australian, who now lives outside Denver, won three of five NORBA cross-country races, her second straight overall NORBA title, and the World Cup race in Durango.
TRACK MAN OF THE YEAR
No one could match Marty Nothstein's four-gold medal-performance at the U.S. track nationals: match sprint, keirin, kilometer and Olympic sprint. Want to argue? Go out and beat him.
TRACK WOMAN OF THE YEAR
Sure, she had the home-track advantage, but that in no way diminished Sarah Uhl's gold medal-winning ride in the match sprint at the junior world's in Trexlertown. Uhl brought home the first world track title for an American junior since 1991.
CYCLO-CROSS WOMAN OF THE YEAR
If we had a ’cross rookie of the year award, she’d win that, too. From the start of the 2001-02 season, Lyne Bessette has shown herself to be the woman to beat, despite the fact that she took on the discipline as a way to relax in the off-season. What if she ever gets serious about this stuff?
CYCLO-CROSS MAN OF THE YEAR
Tim Johnson, Marc Gullickson: We don't mean to be wishy-washy, but how can we pick one over the other? That's right, it's a tie.
MALE JUNIOR OF THE YEAR
Roundly considered one of America's next great hopes on the track, Christian Stahl showed why with his bronze-medal effort in the kilo at the junior track world's. The 18-year-old also took home the national junior Olympic sprint title and won the kilo at American Velodrome Challenge No. 3 in Texas.
FEMALE JUNIOR OF THE YEAR
It seems that 16-year-old Magen Long has an insatiable appetite for racing. At road nationals this year, she took home a time trial title and finished second in the criterium. In the dirt, she finished fifth at the world junior championships. Mixing the two, she won the cyclo-cross nationals. Did we mention she also races BMX and triathlons?
AMATEUR ROAD RACER OF THE YEAR
Usually, comparing amateurs and pros is like apples and oranges. This year, Alex Candelario made it a lot easier, mixing it up with the big boys week-in, week-out, with consistent top-five results in field-sprint finishes. That show of speed earned him a spot on the growing Prime Alliance squad for 2002.
COLLEGIATE TEAM OF THE YEAR
The U.S. Air Force Academy shone on both the pavement and the dirt, taking the Division II team titles at both road and mountain-bike nationals.
COLLEGIATE MAN OF THE YEAR
Princeton's Tyler Wren won both cross-country events at collegiate mountain-bike nationals (regular and short-track), and the national road title to boot.
COLLEGIATE WOMAN OF THE YEAR
U.C. Berkeley's Kate Maher not only won the cross-country national title and the individual mountain-bike omnium, she showed incredible versatility: XC, 1st; STXC, 2nd; DH, 7th; road race, 7th; criterium, 6th; team time trial, 7th; mountain-bike omnium, 1st; road omnium, 5th.
COMEBACK OF THE YEAR
In the mid-1990s he was one of America's new cross-country hopes. In the late ’90s he was a beer-drinking college kid with an eye on a career in computers. But this year Todd Wells was back on the bike, cashing in vacation and sick time from his job at IBM so he could go to the races. And, if not for NORBA's silly throw-out rule Wells would have been the national champion. As it was, he hooked up with Mongoose-Hyundai for the second half of the season, kissing his corporate gig good-bye.
MASTERS RACERS OF THE YEAR
Male: Albert Piemme is still racing downhill (and winning world titles) at age 70. That's what masters racing should be about.Female: Between road and track, Katie Safford entered seven masters national championship events. She found her way onto the podium in all seven, including the 2000-meter time trial national title.
