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03.23.06 - Canada's Marie-Hélène Prémont (QC) takes gold today at the Commonwealth Games Mountain Bike Competition
March, 23, 2006 (Melbourne, AUS) - Commonwealth Games - Marie-Hélène Prémont (Château-Richer, QC) took gold, and Kiara Bisaro (Courtenay, BC) and Seamus McGrath (Waterdown, ON) bronze in Women's and Men's mountain bike cross country races, held today under extreme temperatures at beautiful Lysterfield National Park in Melbourne, Australia.
Prémont gave a commanding performance, leading the race from start to finish and widening her lead with every lap of the six-kilometre circuit. Prémont, Canadian champion and Olympic silver-medallist, took the gold in a time of 1:55.31. "It was a very good race today considering that this is the start of the season for the Canadians" said the 28 year-old. "My legs felt good and I was able to execute my plan of pushing the pace from the start. The heat was intense, about 30C, good chance that I liked it!"
Kiara Bisaro crossed the line in third place to round out Canadians on the podium. Bisaro, 31, a regular top-10 finisher on the World Cup circuit, battled for a couple laps in second place, but the heat factor played a role in her case and she settled for bronze with a time of 1:57.59. Rosara Joseph from New Zealand took the silver medal.
Bisaro explained: "We came here to a wide open field not really knowing how the rest of the girls would be like to race against. The sun and heat really got to me today and I just didn't have what it took to finish second, but I'm super happy with the bronze. I had fun on the course today and I'm looking forward to the next World Cup race."
On the men's side, 29 riders from 14 countries took the start in the afternoon. Seamus McGrath who took the silver in the cross country in Manchester 2002, and came in 9th on similar trails at the Athens Olympics, was the bright spot for Canada in the men's race. He played things very smart today ending up in a pack with two English riders in the last lap, but fell back on the final uphill and cruised in for the bronze medal. Liam Killen (England), a top World Cup rider, took the gold at an average speed of 24.215, followed by teammate Oli Beckingsale.
McGrath enjoyed the fast course: "I felt really good at the start of the race and I knew right away this was going to be the kind of race where I would have to pick my spot. The two English riders had numbers on me in the last lap, and with the sun and the heat, I just didn't have it left in my legs to get to the line first." Geoff Kabush (Courtenay, BC), who was the early favourite, finished in 11th spot and was understandably disappointed.
The mountain bike racers will now head to Curaçao in the Caribbean for the first stage of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup taking place on April 1-2.
RESULTS
Women's cross country
1 PREMONT Marie-Helene, Canada Time: 1:55:04 Speed: 21.144
2 JOSEPH Rosara, New Zealand 1:56:31 (at 1:27) Speed: 20.881
3 BISARO Kiara, Canada 1:57:59 (at 2:55) Speed: 20.622
Men's Cross Country
1 KILLEEN Liam, England 2:13:11 Speed: 24.215
2 BECKINGSALE Oli, England 2:13:26 (at 15") Speed: 24.169
3 MCGRATH Seamus Patrick, Canada 2:13:43 (at 32") Speed: 24.118
Schedule of competitions for Sunday, March 26:
Road race (final) on the Royal Botanic Gardens Circuit
Women start at 9:00 am local ( Eastern Time)
Men start at 1:00 pm local ( Eastern Time)
Canadian Women participating
- Sue Palmer-Komar (Collingwood, ON)
- Erinne Willock (North Saanich, BC)
- Amy Moore (Welland, ON)
- Gina Grain (Lachine, QC)
- Mandy Poitras (Montréal,QC)
Canadian Men participating
- François Parisien (Montréal, QC)
- Svein Tuft (White Rock, BC)
- Gord Fraser (Ottawa, ON)
- Dominique Perras (Napierville, QC)
- Martin Gilbert (Châteauguay, QC)
- Zach Bell (Whitehorse, YK)
- Geoff Kabush (Comox, BC)
Action shots on the media-protected site http://media.commonwealthgames.ca
Feature stories with photos and riders interviews are posted on the site: www.commonwealthgames.ca
CONTACTS IN CANADA
Florence Bourg
Communications Manager
Canadian Cycling Association
Tel. 1-418-824-9207
Fax. 1-418-824-3499
Cell. 1-418-558-4559
florence.bourg@canadian-cycling.com
Lisette Johnson-Stapley
Home Team Co-ordinator
Commonwealth Games
(613) 836-9961 (Tues., Thurs. to Sun.),
(613) 748-5674 ext 224 (Mon., Wed.)
Cell (613) 867-1287
lisette@synchro.ca
www.commonwealthgames.ca
CONTACTS IN MELBOURNE
Andrew Exner
Media Coordinator for Cycling
Commonwealth Games
+1- 61 4 1281 4204
andrew.exner@commonwealthgames.ca
www.commonwealthgames.ca
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