Slick roads and pouring rain plagued cyclists again on Tuesday as they competed in the Crown America/Cambria CVB Road Race in and around Johnstown, that is Stage Two of the International Tour de ‘Toona.
Torrential downpours covered the 72.9 mile course, causing mishaps that resulted in several injuries in the last lap of the men’s race. The men’s stage leader, Doug Ollerenshaw, of the Jelly Belly team, who crossed the finish line with a time of 2:36.23, was one of several riders who suffered rain-related injuries.
“The final corner was really wet,” Ollerenshaw said of the conditions. He said they were going faster tham the other times they had been around the corner because it was the last lap. He knew he was “going to hit another rider or go down. I chose the latter.”
Tina Pic, of Genesis Scuba Pro, was able to out-sprint her competitors en route to a stage victory in the women’s race. The Georgian, who also was able to take the Merrill Lynch Sprint jersey, explained that the difficulty the men had in the morning affected the pace that the women would take in the afternoon.
“There were a lot of nasty crashes today,” said Pic. “We wanted to play off the other teams and let them dictate. We wanted to keep Sue’s (Genesis teammate Canadian Olympian Susan Palmer-Kmar) GC standing and take the stage win, if possible.”
After Tuesday’s stage, Jason McCartney, of Health Net, takes the Waste Management leader’s jersey as the overall leader in the general classification, with teammate Scott Moninger following a second behind. Lyne Bessette, the Canadian Olympic hopeful, and the defending women’s champion of Q uark Racing, was able to stay in front of the main pack all day and finished third, keeping the Hershey Food women’s yellow jersey she earned on the first stage, Monday. Bessette was also able to win two of the climbs of the day to wear the PA Turnpike Queen of the Mountain jersey as well.
Will Frischkorn, of Colavita Olive Oil Team, took the Phoenix Property Group King of the Nountain jersey for the men with Doug Ollerenshaw second and Jason Bausch of the Ofoto Team third. Bausch garnered the UOS Sprint jersey with Ivan Dominguez of Colavita Olive Oil and Ollerenshaw one point behind.
Tuesday’s top teams were Jell Belly/Aramark, Ofoto and Colavita olive Oil. Overall top teama after the second day of competition are Colavita Olive Oil, Health Net and Webcore Cycling Team.
On the women’s side Bessette’s teammate Magali LeFloch’s second place finish helped Quark Cycling maintain their second place standing in women’s team standings, two seconds behind Rona.
Nathan O’Neill, of Colavita Olive Oil, did not finish Tuesday’s stage due to injuries sustained in a crash during the first lap. He was taken to the hospital and released. Because he did not finish, he will be ineligible to compete in the rst of the race. O’Neill fractured a vertebrae in his neck in the 2003 International.
Tuesday’s stage was the second of two rain-soaked stages. Monday’s Shhetz Time Trials in Altoona were drenched with the beginnings of more than an inch of rain that soaked central Pennsylvania overnight and into Tuesday.
