September 12, 2004 – In a nail-biting finale, Quebec City’s Charles Dionne (Webcor Builders) scored a glorious second T-Mobile International win, while Jason McCartney (Healthnet-Maxxis), was left wondering what might have been.

The hilly San Francisco course, that seems best suited to sprinters with good all-round skills too, produced yet another delightfully unpredicatable race that kept almost 500,000 fans enthralled right to the end.

McCartney had featured in a strong early break that lasted about 70 miles. The Healthnet-Maxxis team had been instrumental in initiating the break of some 14 riders that grew to almost two minutes before McCartney blew it apart with an attack that looked to many spectators like the race-winning move.

Men raced for nine 9-mile laps including the Fillmore and Taylor Street climbs, and then an additional five 5-mile laps that included only the Taylor Street ascent. As they approached the last of the 9-mile laps, the time seemed right for a big move.

McCartney chose the penultimate climb up Fillmore Street for his bid for victory. He left behind riders such as Pavel Padrnos (USPS), Massimo Ianetti and Valerio Agnoli (Domina Vacanze) and rode away into a lead that quickly grew to three minutes.

The breakaway was soon engulfed by the main field as Viatcheslav Ekimov teamed up with Chris Horner to take control of the race. Horner had seen Dionne looking good and offered to work for him. “You see, I can work for other riders too!” Joked Horner at the end. He added: “With Jason (McCartney) almost four minutes up the road and only 25 miles to go, we knew we would have to work together to catch him. Ekimov was great earlier on and then Jose Rubiera (USPS) was a powerhouse. I drove us hard up the stepped climbs, and he took over on the flat sections.”

McCartney looked good, but the Webcor/Postal express was coming up fast behind him. Early into the final five-mile lap it was anyone’s race. “If Jason had been another 15 or 20 seconds ahead of us, I don’t think we’d have caught him,” Said George Hincapie (USPS) after the finish.

Maybe Dionne saw it otherwise. Given Dionne’s pedigree on a course that closely resembles his steep training hills of Quebec city, it should not have been a surprise that he would be the one to blaze past McCartney like he was standing still on the steep Taylor Street climb.

“He was too fast for me. I guess I wasn’t having a great day” Said a disappointed George Hincapie (USPS), who had been set up for the win by his team and ended up with third. US champion, Freddie Rodriguez (Aqua e Sapone), a local rider who had hoped to win today, was the only rider who made any effort to respond, but a recurring leg injury and malfunctioning bicycle prevented him from giving his best on the climb, and he waited for others to catch up before dropping them on the flatter sections to claim second place.

From the moment he exploded up the climb past McCartney, it was all Dionne, and with three miles remaining there seemed no doubt about the outcome. “When I woke up today I looked in the mirror and I said ‘My name is Charles Dionne and today I am going to win the T-Mobile International’. And then I did!”

Top Ten
1. Charles Dionne (Webcor Builders) 4:24:32
2. Fred Rodriguez (Aqua e Sapone) @8 seconds
3. George Hincapie (USPS) @16
4. Ben Brooks (Jelly Belly) st
5. Kirk O’Bee (Navigators) st
6. Massimilano Mori (Domina Vacanze) st
7. Uros Murn (Phonak) st
8. Massimo Giunti (Domina Vacanze) st
9. Caleb Manion (Jelly Belly) st
10. Johan Tschopp (Phonak) st



WOMEN
51.6 miles

Lyne Bessette (Quark) made a solid attempt to control the 52 mile race,
covering the attacks of the bombastic Briton Nicole Cooke (Safi Pasta) up
the steep slopes of Fillmore and Taylor Streets. One year ago Cook had
proved her mettle on the San Francisco course, and Bessette did what she
could to prevent it happening again.

As the race wore on, Bessette rose time and again to meet Cooke’s challenge.
Mounting the Fillmore Street climb the two of them went off the front,
locked in what looked like a personal battle.

A year ago, Cooke chose the final ascent of Taylor Street for her winning
attack, hanging on to finish just ahead of a fast-finishing bunch. This year
she adopted the same tactic and once again it worked.

Bessette seemed unable to respond to the pace of the Briton’s final move,
and when the chase formed itself, she was unable to motivate the riders to
catch the leader.

When it came to the sprint, Tina Mayolo-Pic (Genesis-Scuba) outpaced Cooke’s
team-mate Modesta Vzesniauskaite for second and third places, only two
seconds back. Bessette finished sixth in the group of six.

As for Cooke, she was delighted with her second win here in two years. “I
knew I was going to get it with about 50 metres to go. I really don’t care
that the gap was only 2 seconds. A win’s a win!.”

Top Ten
1. Nicole Cooke (Safi Pasta Zara Manhattan) 2:25:46
2. Tina Mayolo-Pic (Genesis Scuba FFCC) @ 2 seconds
3. Modesto Vzesniauskaite (Safi Pasta Zara Manhattan) st
4. Christine Thorburn (Webcor Builders) st
5. Kristen Armstrong (T-Mobile) st
6. Amber Neben (T-Mobile) st
7. Lyne Bessette (Quark) st
8. Kori Kelly (Genesis Scuba FFCC) @11
9. Deidre Barry (Quark) @14
10. Laura Van Guilder (Genesis Scuba FFCC) @32