Tuesday, July 1, 2003

This past weekend, the Hamilton 2003 Organizing Committee and the Canadian Cycling Association hosted the Tim Hortons Road Nationals as a test event for the 2003 Road World Championships, which will be held in Hamilton from October 6 to 12. The Tim Hortons Road Nationals were comprised of the Time Trial on Friday, June 27, a Criterium on Saturday, June 28 and the Elite Men's and Women's Road Race on Sunday, June 29.

Charley Mottet, Technical Delegate for the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale), was at The Tim Hortons Road Nationals as an observer and was pleased with the organization and execution of the event. He was very satisfied with the operation of the race and indicated that only some little details needed to be corrected for the Worlds in October.

He felt the course was excellent and when asked what type of rider would excel on the difficult 12.4 km Road Race Course Mottet said, "The course in Hamilton is a hard course that will not necessarily favour climbers or sprinters, it will take a very complete rider to win. I thought, the spectators along the course were very enthusiastic for all the riders on Sunday, not just the Canadians. I believe we can look forward to a successful Road Worlds in Hamilton in October."

Pierre Hutsebaut, Hamilton 2003 Technical Director and Executive and National Racing Program Director for the CCA said, "We learned a lot from this event as it was the first time we could see the course without any traffic. From a sporting side, the Worlds will be a success. I think the Road Race Course is one of the best five in cycling history, and one of the most difficult."

During the Elite Men's and Women's Road Races on Sunday, in excess of 10,000 spectators were on the course. The Road Race Course is 12.4 km long and features two climbs of the Niagara Escarpment, the amount of climbing per lap is 215 metres (705 feet). In the Elite Men's Road Race 17 of the 121 cyclists who started, finished the 15 lap, 186 km race, which was won by Australian Nathan O'Neill (Saturn) in 5:01:33.80 while Dominique Perras (Flanders-iteamNova) won the Maple Leaf jersey as top Canadian in 5:05:08.71. In the Elite Women's Road Race 22 of the 79 riders who started, finished the 9 lap, 111.6 km race, won by Genevieve Jeanson (Rona-Esker) in a thrilling sprint over Lyne Bessette, the time 3:16:50.

The Road World Cycling Championships will be staged in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada from October 6 to 12, 2003. Hamilton, a city of 500,000, is located on the western edge of Lake Ontario, roughly midway between Niagara Falls and Toronto, and approximately a one-hour drive from Buffalo, New York. Over 800 athletes from over 50 different countries will compete in ten different races. There are two disciplines - the individual time trial and the road race with five different classifications, elite men and women, junior men and women, as well as Under 23 men. It will be only the sixth time the Road World Championships have been held outside Europe and the second time in Canada, the first occasion was 1974 in Montreal. For more information, visit the official website, www.hamilton2003.com.