Masters cross-country titles battled in Bromont

By Kris Westwood, Canadian Cyclist

Close to 400 cyclists from 23 countries gathered in Bromont, Quebec,as competition got underway Saturday in the cross-country events at themasters world mountain bike championships, for athletes aged 30 and over.Americans dominated the results sheets in most of the events, includingthe first race of the day for women aged 60 to 64, won by the lone starter,Cherie Oates from Colorado.  Defending champion Ann Budge from Ontariodid not start due to a knee injury.”I made it!” said Oates after crossing the line with blood running downher leg from one of several crashes.Oates said back home she usually trains with younger riders, but hasnever considered racing before.”This is really my first mountain bike race,” she said.Canada’s only gold medal of the day came in the women’s 45-49 category,won by two-time defending champion Nancy Manning of Chelsea, Quebec.Manning finished the 16-kilometre race almost three minutes ahead ofMary Ann Davies (Montana), despite some technical problems.”I couldn’t get my foot in (my pedal) at the start, and later my chainfell off,” said Manning, whose two sons were at the finish line to congratulateher.Two Flagstaff, AZ, residents won the marquee events in the 30-34 agegroup: Jason Tullous took the men’s title and defending champion Mary LanieMason won the women’s.  Tullous, who hadn’t raced for a month sinceBig Bear, only decided to come to Bromont three weeks ago after winninga local event.”This course is the exact same conditions as Flagstaff,” said Tullous,who manages a coffee shop for a living.  “This was a great competition– there was always somebody close behind me.”Mason ran away with her race, which she described as “pretty straightforward,”putting over three minutes into Quebec’s Brigitte Lacaille.Steve Tilford from Kansas, who was one of the top international ridersduring mountain biking’s formative years in the early 1990s, won the men’s40-44 race for the third year in a row with yet another dominant performanceand was quick to praise the race course.”This is a good venue,” he said.Tilford’s only complaint was the dust the riders kicked up in the dryconditions.  “It was crazy dusty out there,” he said.Although because of poor exchange rates fewer Europeans made the tripthan last year, the foreign contingent still put on a strong showing: Italypicked up two golds and a silver, and French riders won three events.Frenchman Jean-Claude Grange repeated his 2001 win in the 50-54 event,to add to his world cyclocross title, and echoed Tilford’s praise of thecourse.”It’s an excellent course here,” he said.  “It’s a real pleasureto ride.”A surprise entrant in the 54-59 event was American cycling legend JohnHoward, who only decided to come to Bromont two weeks ago after winningthe U.S. masters championships.Howard, who finished fourth, said his performance was “a little bitof a let down.”  His long list of accomplishments include a bronzemedal at the worlds in Chateau d’Oex in 1997.The masters worlds have been held in Bromont each year since they werefirst organized in 1998.  Competition concludes Sunday with the downhillevents.

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Results Day 1Women 30-34 (24km)
1. May Lanie-Mason (USA) 1:33:24
2. Brigitte Lacaille (Can) at 3:05
3. Petra Rocha (Aut) 5:47
4. Marie-Claude Letarte (Can) 8:35
5. Tiffany Mann (USA) 12:32Women 35-39  (24km)
1. Linda Murphy (USA) 1:37:35
2. Shelly WHisenhant (USA) at 1:02
3. Anne Grabowski (USA) 5:19
4. Ellen Carroll (USA) 6:09
5. Dawn Bourque (USA) 7:70Women 40-44
1. Gjertrud Boe (Nor) 1:06:13
2. Shelley Wilson  (USA) at 0:30
3. Sharon Larson McDowwell (Can) 2:11
4. Sheryl Loan (USA) 2:56
5. Loretta Simpson (USA) 4:36Women 45-49 (16 km)
1. Nancy Manning (Can) 1:10:40
2. Mary Ann Davies (USA) at 2:46
3. Vivian Chwalinski (USA) 6:33
4. Margaret Thompson (USA) 23:06
5. Francoise Chabanal (Fra) 25:50Women 50-54 (16km)
1. Lydia Barter (USA) 1:15:33
2. Tass Thacker (USA) at 9:23
3. Marlene Van Heerden (RSA) 10:54
4. Willi Broeren (Can) 23:56
5. Kathy Burns (USA) 28:32Women 60-64 (8km)
1. Cherie Oates (USA) 58:17Men 30-34 (32 km)
1. Jason Tullous (USA) 1:42:55
2. Daniel Duske (Ger) at 2:57
3. Geoffry Maes (Bel) 3:25
4. Stig Somme (Nor) 6:16
5. Kevin Brennan (USA) 6:24Men 35-39 (32 km)
1. Roberto Maestroni (Ita) 1:44:49
2. Joachim Oechsner (Ger) at 1:37
3. Antonio Masini (Ita) 6:26
4. Richard Knapp (USA) 7:48
5. Andrew Evans (NZl) 7:59Men 40-44
1. Steve Tilford (USA) 1:17:28
2. Natale Bettineschi (Ita) at 3:28
3. John Mathews (USA) 6:23
4. Christian Lalancette (Can) 6:38
5. Michael Scanlon (USA) 8:10Men 45-49
1. James Silvano (Ita) 1:23:29
2. Bruce Muhlfeld (USA) at 5:04
3. Robert Anderson (USA) 6:45
4. David Wallace (USA) 7:46
5. David Zimbelman (USA) 10:36Men 50-54   (16km)
1. Jean-Claude Grange (Fra)    59:31
2.  Paul Krewet (USA) at 2:18.
3. Marcus Watters  (USA)  3:09
4. Timothy  Messersmith (USA) 3:49
5. Phillip Bannister (USA) 6:17.13Men 55-59 (16km)
1. Christian Jupillat (Fra) 59:19
2. Richard Tetrault (Can) at 2:55.91
3. Gianalberto Del Zotto (Ita) 4:07
4. John Howard (USA) 4:57
5. Victor Barnett (GBR) 5:37Men 60-64 (16km)
1. Ed Hawkins (USA)  1:08:44
2. Charles Fleming  (USA) 0:35
3. Marcel Roy (Can)   2:15
4. Jim Nance  (USA) 8:34
5. Ron Near (Can) 14:58Men 64+ (16km)
1. Alain Boisy (Fra) 1:17:31
2. Frederic Schmid (USA) at 1:20
3. Bill Stinson (USA) 43:25.