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T-Mobile preview: Webcor wants another win, and they have plenty of fast company

Published: Sep. 11, 2004

With six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong out of Sunday’s T-Mobile International in San Francisco, the 108-mile race is wide open.

And while defending champion Chris Horner (Webcor Builders) was hesitant to predict victory, as he did a year ago, Horner’s teammate Charles Dionne was less reluctant.

The Canadian sprinter, who won the race in 2002 and has enjoyed a strong showing this season after an injury-plagued 2003, said his form “is similar, if not better than in 2002.”

“I’ve been training on the hills in Québec, which is similar to San Francisco but with less traffic,” Dionne said. “We’ll see how the team wants to play it, but one Webcor rider is going to win it.”

If that Webcor rider is neither Horner nor Dionne, it could well be Justin England. The recent winner of the Mount Washington Hillclimb, England could prove to be the surprise that Dionne was in 2002. Armstrong hadn’t heard of Dionne back then – and his Euro’-focused team may not watching out for a wild card this time around.

Good news, bad news

Friday brought both good and bad news for the T-Mobile International, now in its fourth year (in its first two years, the race was called the San Francisco Grand Prix). While Armstrong’s withdrawal seems likely to diminish spectatorship and media attention, Mayor Gavin Newsom’s undeniable enthusiasm for the event — a major question mark following the departure of his predecessor, Willie Brown, an advocate for the costly race — was underlined by his announcement that the race would return in 2005 and beyond.

“I am very enthusiastic about the prospect of this race, for this year and years to come,” Newsom said in proclaiming September 10 “Lance Armstrong Day” in the city and county of San Francisco.

“We projected 600,000 spectators last year, and we’re hoping to break the 1 million mark this year. And if we don’t do it this year, I can assure you we’ll do it next year or the year after that, because every year this thing is going to build in momentum.”

As for Armstrong, who has finished the San Francisco race just once in four attempts, in 2002, the six-time Tour winner thought it best to give his tendonitis a rest and sit out this year’s race in hopes of coming back strong in 2005.

“I’m still a professional rider, and I intend to be one next year, so I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that,” he said.

In his absence, 2001 champion George Hincapie hopes to bring good legs to San Francisco – he recently won the U.S. 100K road race in Marietta, Georgia – but the 31-year-old pegged Rubiera as the Postal rider to watch, saying the Spaniard is “riding really well” right now.

Webcor, Colavita and Health Net ready to race

Defending champion Horner says his form “is coming good” going into Sunday’s title defense.

“It’s on par with last year,” he said.

That borders on self-doubt for Horner, who in 2003 delivered a golden quote following the pre-T-Mobile San Rafael Classic, which was canceled this year. “Oh, I’m going to win tomorrow,” he said. And he backed that prediction up, with an amazing late-race move that couldn’t be slowed by an inopportune wheel change.

“I said that right after the San Rafael criterium,” Horner said, “so I knew the legs were good. It would be nice to have had San Rafael again this year. I knew how exactly how my legs were. It was great to be able to be that confident going into San Francisco.”

Asked who he’s going to be watching this year, Horner replied: “Oh, the Americans coming over from Europe, Levi [Leipheimer], Bobby [Julich], George [Hincapie], two or three other Postal riders. Ekimov is always going good. He seems to be the most professional rider in the whole of the world. He’s always on form.”

Last year’s runner-up, Mark McCormack is ready to ride, too. Now with Colavita Olive Oil-Bolla Wines, the cagey vet says he feels as fit as he did last year, and proved it by outsprinting Dionne at last weekend’s Green Mountain Stage Race.

While the hills will likely take the legs out of Colavita’s star sprinter Ivan Dominguez, the T-Mobile’s difficult climbs up Taylor and Fillmore streets are fertile ground for a rider of Nathan O’Neill’s ability. And with Will Frischkorn and Todd Herriott also on form — Frischkorn finished seventh here in 2002 and recently won the Colorado Cyclist Challenge NRC stage race — a Colavita jersey atop the podium is as likely as any.

Health Net-Maxxis is another team to watch, with Chris Wherry and Jason Lokkesmoe, who played vital roles in early breakaways last year; Mike Sayers (10th in 2003), and Scott Moninger, Danny Pate, Mike Jones, Jason McCartney and John Lieswyn.

The European invasion

Phonak brings its Slovenian sprinter, Uros Murn — runner-up in the 2003 Pro Cycling Tour to McCormack and fifth last year in San Francisco — but the hilly course is less suited to a sprint finish than Philadelphia. The addition of one more of the smaller, 5-mile laps that hits only the Taylor Street climb, coupled with the elimination of one of the flatter recovery sections near the Marina, makes it less likely a large group will be coming to the finish together. Phonak also brings Niki Abersold, Swiss champion Daniel Schnider and 1999 Tour runner-up Alex Zülle, expected to be racing in his final season.

Rabobank’s Leipheimer will be riding on a composite squad alongside fellow Bay Area resident and current USPRO national champion Fred Rodriguez’s Aqua Sapone-Cafe Mokambo squad, and there’s a strong possibility one of these European-based Americans could make the podium. Alas, the rumor mill has Olympic time trial bronze medalist Bobby Julich (CSC) suffering an ear infection and likely to sit out the race in order to prepare for the world championships.

As the Tour de Georgia demonstrated, it’s a tough task for riders with little knowledge of the domestic peloton to know which moves to follow. Still, many would consider it a nice touch to see the national champion’s stars and stripes jersey cross the line first.

Other international riders looking to play a role include Saeco’s Salavatore Commesso, a surprisingly talented climber for a stout, sprinter; two former Paris-Roubaix winners from Alessio-Bianchi — Swede Magnus Backstedt and Italian Andrea Tafi — and Saunier Duval’s Ruben Lobato and Olivier Zaugg, led by American Tim Johnson.

Other domestic hopefuls

Jittery Joe’s Cesar Grajales could repeat as King of the Mountains. Grajales got into the early break last year, sat on until the KOM spots and leaped ahead each time to secure the prize. Last to finish the race, he got the KOM and brought his Jittery Joe’s team a moment of national attention. There’s no reason Grajales couldn’t repeat the feat this year, but there’s been talk he’s looking for a different kind of podium finish this year.

Other domestic squads likely to play a role include the Bay Area-based Ofoto-Lombardi Sports squad, led by 2003 Madison national champs Jackson Stewart and Erik Saunders and climbing specialists Dominique Perras and Andy Bajadali; Sierra Nevada, led by Eric Wohlberg, Trent Klasna, Ben Jacques-Maynes and Glen Mitchell; and Jelly Belly-Aramark, with Alex Candelario, Doug Ollerenshaw and Aussie Ben Brooks.

A dark horse is Jelly Belly’s 23-year-old Aussie, Caleb Manion. If he’s riding like he did at the Nature Valley Grand Prix’s Stillwater Criterium — a tough crit course with similar power climbs often referred to as a “mini-San Francisco” — Manion could be the revelation of the race

T-Mobile’s women hunting a win

In the women’s race, T-Mobile will again be looking for victory at the race funded by its international sponsor. Led by Dede Barry, silver medalist in the Olympic time trial, the T-Mobile squad will again attempt to fend off the strength of 21-year-old Brit Nicole Cooke (Safi Pasta-Zara Manhattan), who rode away from the field on the final climb last year and soloed to victory.

Cooke will again be backed by former world champion Diana Ziliute, who crashed out of the lead group last year just as she and Cooke looked poised to launch a double-pronged attack. Although sidelined by a knee injury for the first half of the season, Cooke returned to take the overall victory at the women’s Giro d’Italia but was disappointed in her top-10 finish at the Olympics.

Other women looking to stop Cooke include area resident Christine Thorburn (Webcor Builders), who took fourth in the Olympic time trial and sixth in San Francisco in 2003, earning a spot on last year’s national team for the world championships; Lyne Bessette (Quark), also a recent Olympian, who hopes to have a strong showing following a disappointing ride in Athens, where she got caught in a crash; Lithuanian twins Jolanta and Rasa Polikeviciute, who join PCT leader Gina Grain on Victory Brewing; and Canadian Olympian Sue Palmer-Komar, who rides for the NRC-leading Genesis Scuba-FFCC squad.

The T-Mobile International, presented by BMC Software, will begin at 7 a.m. on Sunday with a 56-mile women’s race. The 108-mile men’s race rolls out at 10 a.m. Both events feature brutal climbs up Fillmore and Taylor Streets that make this the most feared race in North America. Check back to VeloNews.com on Sunday for race coverage, results and photos.