Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 30, 1995 TAG: 9505310032
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For the second straight year Monday, a less-than-primed Walton turned the event's main course - the 45-kilometer men's professional division race - into a leisurely Memorial Day cruise.
Finding his will late, not to mention his legs, Walton left the field behind with 12 laps to go on the .6-mile rectangular course through downtown Roanoke and rode uncontested to victory. The Canadian's time of 53 minutes, 47.36 seconds was nine seconds faster than that of runner-up Scott Fortner, Walton's teammate. (Results in Scoreboard. B4)
Walton, a winner of two gold medals at the 1995 Pan American Games, didn't plan on finishing in another ZIP code ahead of the field for a second straight year. Last year, despite battling bronchitis, Walton also was the class of the field.
``Yeah, it was really hard to get geared up for this,'' Walton, a 31-year-old Canadian, said. ``I've been on a bicycle for eight straight days now and I need a break.
``I got in here about 10:15 last night, and morning sure came early. It was tough to get going. My legs were really sore out there today.''
Little wonder. On Sunday, Walton completed a third-place overall finish in the Kmart Classic, a grueling six-day, 514-mile hike through the Pennsylvania and West Virginia mountains that was won by 1995 Tour DuPont champion Lance Armstrong.
``I was dead tired from the Kmart race and I wasn't planning on winning today,'' Walton said. ``The team plan was for Scott [Fortner] to win today. But he didn't feel good, either, so ... We needed somebody from Saturn to win, so I took off.''
And waved goodbye to the 40 other riders. Walton led by as many as 20 seconds before shifting into a conservative gear for the final five laps.
``I just put my head down and went for it,'' said Walton of his charge that left the field in his wake.
``This place sure has been good to me. Hey, I love Roanoke. After I won here last year, I got on a roll and the wins kept coming. I'm in top form. All I'm thinking about now is the 1996 Olympics.''
Fortner, who also finished second in Sunday's Mill Mountain hillclimb time trial, wasn't operating at 100 percent, either.
``I've had a touch of the flu the last few days,'' he said. ``The original plan today was for everybody else to work for me, but about halfway through the race I told Brian to go ahead and race for himself and that somebody else had to do it today.''
Chris Pic, a senior at Georgia State, finished a length behind Fortner and picked up third-place money for the second staight day.
If Walton finished in a different ZIP code than his competition, Clara Hughes' winning margin in the women's pro class could be classified as another area code.
Hughes, a 22-year-old Canadian, left her only pursuer, Bonnie Breeze, with six laps left and romped to the finish line. Hughes, whose time for the 30-kilometer jaunt was 37:54.47, had enough time to shower before Breeze crossed the stripe more than a minute later.
Hughes also captured Sunday's pro women's hillclimb.
``It may have looked easy, but, believe me, it wasn't,'' Hughes said. ``It's never easy.
``I'm just so glad I came down here. I love this place. I'll be back again, mark it down.''
by CNB