ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 28, 1996 TAG: 9605290038
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
Things worked out in the Saturn Festival Cup bicycle races Monday almost exactly as the primary sponsor hoped.
The weather temporarily cleared, allowing the completion of the men's and women's pro category races without incident - and, oh yes - the respective winners were representatives of Team Saturn.
Clara Hughes and Steve Bauer, picking up where they left off Sunday afternoon when they won their respective divisions in the Roanoke Orthopaedic Center HillClimb up Mill Mountain, prevailed again less than 24 hours later. Their routes to victory over the same one-kilometer circuit through downtown Roanoke were conducted in remarkably different fashion, however.
Hughes opened such a commanding lead in her 25-kilometer race that she lapped the racers bringing up the rear by her ninth loop of downtown; by the 12th lap, she had passed the entire field of 17 other racers. Mercifully, the race had been shortened from 30 kilometers because an early rain shower pushed the race behind schedule.
The final distance between Hughes and second-place finisher Laura Mullen was approximately a lap and a half (about one mile on a course of just over 15 miles). Hughes' time was 33 minutes, 48.14 seconds.
Bauer, however, won by the thinnest of margins over 33 other pros in the men's competition. The Canadian, who turns 37 in two weeks, overcame a flat tire and a series of early leaders to defeat Matthew Koschara and Christopher Blake by a fraction of a second in their 45-kilometer competition. Bauer's time was 54:44.63.
``It always looks easier than it is,'' said the 23-year-old Hughes, a 12-time Canadian national champion in road and track events. Hughes said she approached the Memorial Day event like a time trial in that she rode ``flat out'' for as long as she could, not resting until she caught up with the pack, a lap ahead.
``The coach always says if the race isn't hard enough, you have to make it hard on yourself,'' said Hughes, who also won this race in 1995 and will be competing in the Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
``I think I had a technical advantage over the other riders because I just came back from Europe where I've been racing over some twisty, gnarly downhill roads that were wet,'' Hughes said.
As Hughes jumped ahead at the start, the sun broke through a heavy cloud cover and began to dry the downtown pavement.
``It was my lucky day,'' Hughes said. ``The sun came out right from the start. I still had to be careful, because [some portions of the road] seemed to be dry, but weren't.''
Bauer, who won a silver medal in the 1984 Olympics, has raced in 11 Tours de France and has led a stage of the Tour DuPont as recently as 1994.
``It wasn't a cakewalk,'' said Bauer, who needed to employ more strategy than Hughes. ``There were a lot of young guys out there giving me a hard time.''
Saturn sweetened the pot of the men's pro race with 15 primes of $100 each, prizes to winners of individual laps. Bauer admitted the primes helped him win the overall race, because he saved his sprint for the end.
``I let the other guys take the money in the primes,'' Bauer said. ``The guys with me were working hard for those.''
Bauer suffered a flat tire on lap 15, but because the race allowed each entrant one ``free'' lap, the momentary delay didn't hurt. ``It was like getting a little rest,'' Bauer said.
Bauer began his final sprint about 200 meters from the finish. Koschara, representing Team Shaklee, finished second, just ahead of Blake, who also was third in Sunday's HillClimb.
Monday's races included competition in a number of other divisions. A total purse of $14,500 was distributed among the top finishers, with the largest portion going to the men's pro division. Bauer picked up an extra $500 prize for winning both Sunday and Monday competitions.
An early morning race Monday featured three tykes on bicycles with training wheels. All three pedaled furiously for about 50 yards, with a finish too close to call.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. 1. Clara Hughes (left) takes the earlyby CNBlead as the pack entersturn 2 of the Saturn Festival Cup bike race
in downtown Roanoke. 2. The men's pro field heads up Church Avenue
toward the start/finish line. 3. ERIC BRADY/Staff. Steve Bauer
(right) crosses the finish line ahead of runner-up Matthew Koschara
to win the Men's Pro division of the Festival Cup race. color. 4.
WAYNE DEEL/Staff. Clara Hughes takes the lead a second time after
lapping the rest of the field in the women's pro race. 5. (headshot)
Hughes.