From: lars@craycos.com (Ron Larson)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.racing
Subject: Celestial Seasoning Classic, Stage 4
Date: 27 Aug 92 18:56:14 GMT
Organization: Cray Computer Corporation

Coors Light continues to dominate Celestial Classic

Golay takes crit; Thompson regains lead

By Tom Horrocks
Vail Daily Sports Writer

Coors Light continues to dominate the Celestial Seasonings Bicycle
Classic Saturday at the Vail Time Trial and the Vail Village
Criterium.

They hold the top four positions overall going into today's final stage
in Boulder - the Morgul Bismark.

The racers tackled a l0 mile time trial up Vail Pass in the morning and
Michael Engleman led his Coors Light team as they swept the top three
places for the third straight stage. Steve Swart finished second
followed by Dave Mann.

Going into the afternoon criterium, Coors Light held the top four
positions overall with Engleman leading, followed by Swart, Phinney and
Mann.

Mann led the Silver Bullet squad in the criterium, winning in a time of
- 1:37:19 in the 45-mile event.  Phinney was second, 21 seconds back.
However, IME Bollo rider Paul McCormick, broke into the top three with
a third place finish, the first non-Coors Light rider to do so, and
Andrew Lawson was fourth.  Swart won the field sprint to finish fifth.

After the criterium, Coors Light still held the top four overall
positions with the only change being Mann moving into third and Phinney
falling to fourth.

In the criterium, Mann lead a breakaway just before the halfway mark
with Colorado Cyclist rider Carlos Ravelo and TCBY Yogurt rider Phil
Vorhees in hot pursuit.

But once again the Coors Light team was too hot to handle as Ravelo and
Vorhees were soon chasing after a faster Mann. Mann rode off from the
two riders as if they were riding backwards. He had built a lead of
more than 40 seconds over the main field. And with his Coors Light
teammates blocking and keeping the field from chasing, it turned into a
one-Mann show.

"In a criterium it's far more difficult to control the field," Mann
said. "So if we can get away early it puts us in the driver's seat."

With eight laps remaining, Phinney made a move and McCormick followed.
But Mann, with a steady rain beginning to fall, had built up such a big
lead there was no threat to his victory. Besides, Len Pettyjohn, Coors
Light team director, told Phinney not to catch Mann, but just stay away
from the main field of riders.

"I had been out there a long time and if Davis had brought Paul up,
there was a good chance I would have finished third," Mann said.
"Whereas me being out there on my own, we were guaranteed a win.  And
in the wet conditions you don't want to be taking any risks, so we did
the right thing and guaranteed the win."

Vail's Chris Doyle finished 23rd in the criterium and 20th in the time
trial, moving him into 16th overall, 5:29 behind Engleman. His teammate
Ravelo is in 30th overall, 9:12 back.

The women also raced the time trial and as expected Inga Thompson
regained the leader's jersey she lost on Friday to teammate Tricia
Walters.

  Thompson turned in a time of 31:44.57 on the 10-mile course, 1:32
faster than second place finisher Janice Bolland. And going into the
criterium, Thompson held a 1:32 lead over Bolland and a 2:08 margin on
Dede Demet overall.

In the criterium, National Team rider Jeanee Goley outsprinted Shaklee
rider Sally Zack and Walters for the win. Golay finished with a time of
1:21.58 in the 35-mile event.

The three riders broke away from the field a third of the way into the
race and stayed away.  Although Thompson wasn't in the break she didn't
feel threatened by any of the riders in the breakaway because Walters,
her Kahlua teammate, was controlling the break.

"We knew that there were five National Team riders, and we knew that
they would start attacking until one of them got off," Thompson said.
"We didn't want to catch the breakaway, but we tried to keep them in
sight and keep a comfortable tempo. And we wanted to keep Tricia
(Walters) up there."

The race continues today with the final stage on the Morgul Bismark
course South of Boulder. The men will start their 106 mile race at
noon. And the women will race 66 miles at 12:05 p.m.
-- 
Ron Larson                       |   If pro is the opposite of con,
Cray Computer Corporation        |   what is the opposite of progress??
lars@craycos.com  (719)-540-4232 |              Frank & Ernest