09.26.07 - Road cycling – World championships - Satisfaction and disappointment for Canadians in Stuttgart

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September 26, 2007 – Anne Samplonius and David Veilleux were the top Canadians in Wednesday’s time trial races at the world championships in road cycling being held in Stuttgart, Germany.

Samplonius placed 15th clocking within two minutes and 02.92 seconds off the winning time posted by Hanka Kupfernagel of Germany. Kupfernagel finished ahead of Kristin Armstrong of the U.S., by 23.47 seconds and Christiane Soeder of Austria by 41.53 seconds.

Veilleux was 34th in the men’s under-23 race. He finished 3:03.50 seconds behind winner Lars Boom of the Netherlands. Mikhail Ignatiev of Russia was second and Jerome Coppel of France third, respectively 9.06 and 45.59 seconds behind the Dutchman.

Kris Westwood, high performance director for the Canadian Cycling Association, wasn’t too disappointed that Samplonius didn’t reach her top-10 goal. ‘’Anne had a great race. She was in medal contention most of the way. The top-riders passed her at the end.’’

A top-10 would have earned another spot for Canada at the Olympic Games.

‘’I’m a bit disappointed to not reach the top-10 but looking at the times I was close to my goal,’’ said Samplonius. ‘’If I would have been 10 or 20 seconds faster I would have been even closer.’’

‘’I had a very good second lap but I started too slowly and probably paid for it in the end. That may have been the difference between a top-10 and top-15. I know I have the capabilities to finish in the top-10.’’

The Montreal resident wasn’t comfortable on the course. ‘’We only trained for an hour on the course yesterday,’’ she said. ‘’If I would have been able to train a little bit longer it would have made a difference.’’

‘’Usually you start slowly in a time trial. You don’t want to go all out from the start,’’ she continued. ‘’But in this race that’s what I should have done in the first two kilometres because afterwards it was downhill for five kilometres.’’

‘’It’s little things like that that make the difference. I lost a lot of time in the first seven kilometres. At the first split I was far behind. That’s where I made my biggest mistake,’’ said Samplonius, who was 30th at that split.

‘’I would have really liked to have been more familiar with the course. To ride it twice is not enough. It makes a difference in the first seven kilometres. Afterwards I had a good race,’’ concluded the 39-year-old

Alex Wrubleski of Regina was 31st finishing 3:13.84 behind Kupfernagel. ‘’That’s pretty disappointing. She had a bad day, ‘’ said Westwood.

Bad cream

‘’I’m satisfied with 34th place. I had a good clocking,’’ said Veilleux who reached his goal to finish in the top half of the field


He admitted to making a preparation error. ‘’It was seven or eight degrees (Celsius). On the flats it was chilly. I should have put some warmer cream on my legs. When I arrived on the hills I had trouble adjusting to the gear changes.

‘’He had a good race,’’ said Westwood. ‘’He probably started too fast because he seemed tired at the end. But he’s starting to have some solid performances in this event.’’

Veilleux didn’t have trouble riding the bikes lent by the Gerolsteiner professional team after the Canadian bikes were stolen on Monday. ‘’They were really good bikes. It didn’t affect me in a negative way. It was a bit tiresome to change positions but it wasn’t the end of the world.’’

The Cap-Rouge rider was 50th in the time trial at last year’s worlds in Salzburg, Austria.

‘’It’s good to see improvement. Last year I was bothered by a sore back. This year I was a little sore but not as much. I still have two years riding in the Espoir division. I think I can improve even more.’’

Christian Meier of Sussex, N.B., was 48th, four minutes off Boom’s time. ‘’On the first lap he felt limited. He never got untracked,’’ said Westwood.

On Thursday, Svein Tuft and Ryder Hesjedal, both of B.C., race in the men’s elite time trial.