June 5, 2004 (Fort William, Scotland) — The Canadian women scooped up three of the five podium spots today in the Scottish Chapter of the World Cup series. Quebec’s Marie-Helene Premont (Oryx) maintained a solid second place throughout the race behind series leader and winner Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan/Merida).
Kiara Bisaro (Gears Racing) and Alison Sydor (Rocky Mountain Business Objects) duked it out for third, with Bisaro just edging Sydor out at the finish.
Teammates Christoph Sauser (Siemens Mobile Cannondale) and Roel Paulissen (Siemens Mobile Cannondale) took control of the race early, working together and forming a gap of about 30 seconds by the start of the second lap. They just turned up the heat as the race clock ticked away and widened the gap together over the remaining laps until Sauser made his move on lap five, the final lap. He dropped Paulissen and rode in alone for the win. Paulissen retained a solid second place and Filip Meirhaeghe (Specialized), who had been chasing hard all day, rode into a well-deserved third.
The best Canadian finish goes to Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru Gary Fisher) in 13th place. He soared up from the mid-30s near the beginning of the race.
Today’s race dished out more bad luck to Roland Green (Trek VW) when a spectator stepped onto the course and took him out. Green was forced to abandon with an injured elbow.
After Green DNF’d in the first World Cup race because of a mechanical, he was stuck starting near the back for race number two, making it difficult for him to move up.
Women
1. Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan Merida) 1:51:46
2. Marie-Helene Premont (ORYX) at 1:46
3. Kiara Bisaro (Gears Racing) 3:11
4. Alison Sydor (Rocky Mountain Business Objects) s.t.
5. Irina Kalentieva (Multivan Merida) 3:29
Other Canadians
19. Chrissy Redden (Subaru Gary Fisher) 8:36
24. Trish Sinclair (Gears Racing) 10:51
41. Melanie McQuaid (Team Ford) 18:27
Men
1. Christoph Sauser (Siemens Mobile Cannondale) 1:59:32
2. Roel Paulissen (Siemens Mobile Cannondale) at 1:24
3. Filip Meirhaeghe (Specialized) 2:33
4. Liam Killeen (Subaru Gary Fisher) 3:30
5. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Lapierre International) 3:32
Canadians
13. Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru Gary Fisher) 6:06
24. Mathieu Toulouse (Gears Racing) 8:58
47. Seamus Mcgrath (Haro-adidas) 12:47
59. Geoff Kabush (Maaxis) 14:17
81. Ricky Federau (Gears Racing) 21:37
DNF Roland Green (Trek VW)