http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=141977&sc=98Tour de P.E.I. returns to province
More than 100 international cyclists go past the start/finish line in Summerside Sunday as they participated in leg one of the second Tour de P.E.I. The course was 9.9 kilometres, which the riders did 10 times. The next leg is today and is a time trial across the Confederation Bridge. Racers will leave one by one from the New Brunswick side in the 14.5-kilometre time trial. The bridge will be closed from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Guardian photo by Brian McInnis
A thrilling finish
Gilmore prevails in sprint to finish
Gilmore prevails in sprint to finish
SUMMERSIDE
STEPHEN BRUN
The Journal Pioneer
Italy’s Rochelle Gilmore from the Menikini-Selle Italia/Master Color team won the first stage of the Tour de P.E.I. Tanja Hennes of Specialized Designs for Women from Switzerland placed second, while Sophie Creux of team ESGL 93 Gestion from France placed third.
Even though the weather turned cold and rainy Sunday evening, Italy’s Rochelle Gilmore should have enough attire to keep her warm.
The member of team Menikini-Selle Italia/Master Color won the first stage of the Tour de P.E.I., capturing the yellow leader’s jersey and the red sprinter’s jersey.
The Italian won two of three sprints, which were held on Laps 3, 5 and 7 of the road race. Cyclists did 10 laps of the 9.9-kilometre looped course in the City of Summerside.
“I had some strong teammates and I guess the responsibility was on them to get me to the finish and keep me near the front,” said Gilmore. “Without them, I think it would’ve been quite tough.
“They did a perfect job and stuck to the plan and they’re all strong enough to do exactly what we needed them to do.”
Placed second
Tanja Hennes of Specialized Designs for Women from Switzerland placed second, while Sophie Creux of team ESGL 93 Gestion from France placed third in the 87-cyclist field.
The Italian team was regarded as a strong contender before the Tour began, and proved their skill in the opening stage by setting the pace for the other racers on many laps.
Technical challenges
The tight finish on Harbour Drive offered some technical challenges for the sprint to the finish line, said Gilmore.
“I definitely wanted to be on the inside, which meant you had to be on the outside for the first bend (of the home stretch), then inside for the second bend and my teammate took me right to the finish and it worked perfectly,” explained Gilmore.
Top Canadian Jenny Trew of Calgary, Alta., who finished fourth overall, said Gilmore’s win was expected among the cyclists in the field.
“Rochelle proved her dominance out there with three sprint wins and the ultimate win for the stage,” she said. “We’re not really surprised, we all kind of knew that was going to be the case, but it meant we could relax a little bit going in.”
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=141979&sc=99Italian cyclist dons two jerseys
Rochelle Gilmore leads Italian team to victory in the first stage of the Tour de P.E.I.
STEPHEN BRUN
Transcontinental Media
SUMMERSIDE — Even though the weather turned cold and rainy Sunday evening, Italy’s Rochelle Gilmore should have enough attire to keep her warm.
The member of team Menikini-Selle Italia/
Master Color won the first stage of the second Tour de P.E.I., capturing the yellow leader’s jersey and the red sprinter’s jersey.
The Italians won two of three sprints, which were held on Laps 3, 5 and 7 of the road race.
Cyclists did 10 laps of the 9.9-kilometre looped course in the City of Summerside.
“I had some strong teammates and I guess the responsibility was on them to get me to the finish and keep me near the front,” said Gilmore. “Without them, I think it would’ve been quite tough.
“They did a perfect job and stuck to the plan and they’re all strong enough to do exactly what we needed them to do.”
Tanja Hennes of Specialized Designs for Women from Switzerland placed second, while Sophie Creux of team ESGL 93 Gestion from France placed third in the 87-cyclist field.
The Italian team was regarded as a strong contender before the tour began and proved its skill in the opening stage by setting the pace for the other racers on many laps.
The tight finish on Harbour Drive offered some technical challenges for the sprint to the finish line, said Gilmore.
“I definitely wanted to be on the inside, which meant you had to be on the outside for the first bend (of the home stretch), then inside for the second bend and my teammate took me right to the finish and it worked perfectly,” said Gilmore.
Top Canadian Jenny Trew said Gilmore’s win was expected among the cyclists in the field.
“Rochelle proved her dominance out there with three sprint wins and the ultimate win for the stage,” she said.
“We’re not really surprised, we all kind of knew that was going to be the case, but it meant we could relax a little bit going in.”
Representing New Brunswick’s Atlantic Cycling Centre, Trew said she’s a sprinter by nature but is happy with her finish.
“It would’ve been great to be top three, but I’m super stoked to be top four,” she said.
“My goal for the day was to take the Canadian jersey, so I’m pretty excited.”
Trew was born in Calgary but now lives in Vancouver.
(www.tourdepei.com)
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Tour de P.E.I. schedule:
* Today - The 14.540-kilmotre time trial starts at 11 a.m. in Cape Jourimain, N.B., and ends at about 1:30 p.m. on the P.E.I. side of the Confederation Bridge.
* Tuesday - The 120-kilometre race begins in Kensington at 2 p.m. and is expected to end around 5:45 p.m. in Rustico.
* Wednesday - The 119-kilometre races starts at 2 p.m. at the National Park and continues into Montague, ending in Stratford.
* Thursday - The final stage begins at 5:30 p.m. and will wind through the streets of Charlottetown, ending with the awards ceremony at 7 p.m.
Tour accident sends two cyclists to hospital
SUMMERSIDESTEPHEN BRUN
The Journal Pioneer
The sound of two vehicles crunching together isn’t pleasant in any circumstance, let alone when you’re in the middle of 87 cyclists during a world-class road race.
But that’s exactly what I heard shortly after I hopped into a van for members of the media in the middle of the first stage of the Tour de P.E.I. in Summerside Sunday afternoon.
As we pulled out into the course, a yellow motorcycle suddenly materialized out of a blind spot to our right. There was nothing the driver of the van could do — the two vehicles sideswiped each other, with the motorcycle getting the worst of it.
I looked back in shock as the motorcycle toppled over and cyclists parted around it — or at least most did.
Two Ukranian riders, Svitlana Galyuk and Yelizaveta Bochkarova, along with several other cyclists toppled over. The Ukranian pair was taken to hospital.
“It’s an incident where two vehicles were near, touched, and some riders couldn’t go by. I don’t believe (it could’ve been prevented,)” said event organizer Daniel Manibal. “We’re very sorry for the riders. That’s cycling.”
He said a similar incident happened during a recent race in Montreal on the last curve of the race, but such mishaps are common in the sport when a troupe of cyclists is mixed with the entourage of vehicles that follows them.
Canadian cyclist Jenny Trew saw the incident take place, but was able to avoid it.
“I was pretty lucky, and I was parallel with it. I saw the bike go down and went to the left and the crash was on the right,” said Trew. “But that’s part of bike racing, unfortunately.”
Manibal said all would be forgotten by that evening, and the cyclists don’t like to dwell on the hazardous possibilities of road cycling.
“It emphasized how fragile a cyclist is when he meets a car on the road,” he said. “It tells us all to be very, very careful with cyclists and be courteous of each other.”
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